.Although with a couple of days already seeing the mercury climb well above 30 degrees, you get the feeling a hot summer is certainly on the cards.

In the estuary, flathead continue to improve with excellent numbers of fish becoming increasingly active from most locations. Mark from Castaway Estuary Charters has been putting his clients onto some terrific fish with both soft plastics and blade style lures working best. 

Along with the flatties, some terrific school mulloway have also been taken by Marks customers from several locations in the upper Hastings. Lower down, some reasonable whiting are beginning to show up in Limeburners and the back channel, with live worms and yabbies being by far the best baits. 

With the weather now warming and a few prawns starting to run, look for the surface bite to pick up from this point on. On the bream front, the break walls and Limeburners have produced a few fish after dark with mullet and chicken gut working well. For blackfish enthusiasts, the break walls and around Westport continue to hold a few really nice fish, but overall numbers are tapering off.

On the crustacean front, the upper reaches of the Hastings has been alive with mud crabs, although there are plenty of undersized crabs amongst the keepers. 

Whilst this provides a headache for those utilising witches hats, it is a great sign for the future. On the prawning front, Lake Cathie saw a sprinkling of interest with some encouraging signs for the months ahead. To date the prawns are of reasonable size for this time of year, with next dark most likely to some serious activity.

On the beaches, some excellent bream remain in the surf with Lighthouse, North Beach and South Beach near Diamond Head all giving up some quality fish. Worms and pipis have been the baits of choice. 

A few whiting have also been on offer, with in front of Lake Cathie and the northern end of Lighthouse worth a look. Still plenty of school mulloway after dark, but the larger models remain most elusive. 

Off the rocks, tailor remain quite consistent with Lighthouse and Shelly locally worth a go, as to most ledges around Point Plomer. A few nice bream have been also extracted around the same locations. 

Drummer reports have been a little quiet, however a few anglers continue to manage a fish or two each outing, with the odd fish approaching three kilograms. We have also had a few reports of groper being around Diamond Head and Point Perpendicular in solid numbers, although getting the sea flat enough to access the better locations is paramount to success, and of course safety.

Offshore, results have been mixed which is quite common at this time year. There have been some excellent results enjoyed on the snapper front, with those throwing lures scoring quality fish to around seven kilograms. 

Best results have been achieved south of Port, however the reefs off Plomer are also worth visiting. On the game fishing front, those heading wide continue to score some nice yellowfin tuna, while last weekend saw a couple of blue marlin encounters with one fish of 138 kilos landed, while a much larger model was lost after approximately three hours by one local boat.

Until next week, good fishing and tight lines to all.