After 21 years and well over 1000 weekly articles, the time has come, and some might say long past, to pass the piscatorial reporting baton on. I trust you have enjoyed my weekly ramblings as much as I have enjoyed writing them, and I for one look forward to next week's article from your new fresh and enthusiastic local correspondent.

And what a week to wind up on, with last weekend's weather simply as good as you could ever wish for at this time of year. Blue skies, little to no wind, a clean estuary and a calm ocean saw anglers take to water in droves, with some outstanding action enjoyed. This coming week however, looks a totally different story unfortunately.

On the beaches, bream and tailor numbers have been consistent, with both Lighthouse and North beach producing fish. School mulloway numbers have been as prolific as we have seen for some years, albeit with the majority in the juvenile class. The southern and of North beach and around Lake Cathie have both held plenty of fish. A few salmon and the odd nice winter whiting have also been about on most beaches.

Off the rocks, tailor have been consistent with virtually all headlands holding fish. While most have been just in the chopper class, a few fish well above two kilos have been around. Drummer numbers have also been consistent, with great reports from Hat Head, and increasing numbers around Ports various ledges. Bream have been reasonable after dark around Miners, whilst Shelley's is well worth prospecting for blackfish.

In the estuary, flathead numbers remain outstanding, with fish on offer pretty well anywhere downstream of Wauchope. Blackmans Point and the lower section of Maria have arguably been standout locations. On the blackfish front, the break walls have picked up a little, with some nice fish to around a kilo. Bream have also been active off the break walls and up Limeburners, with evening sessions seeing the better results. For mulloway enthusiasts, while the larger fish have been a tad elusive, plenty of school sized fish to around a metre have been taken from the North wall, as well as the deeper upstream locations.

Offshore, the reefs have been fishing exceptionally well with plenty of variety on offer. Snapper and pearl perch have been common in depths ranging from around 30 to 50 metres both off Plomer and Port. A little wider, kingfish numbers are as good as we have seen for some time, with fish to around 10 kilos taken from a variety of locations. Wider still, those with the gear and vessels to fish the deep stuff have been enjoying great success, with bar cod, blue eye trevalla and the odd most welcome although rather uncommon for these parts, flame snapper. And just a quick reminder for those looking for the FAD, save your fuel as it has been removed for its annual winter maintenance.