In the estuaries flathead and whiting continue to be the best bets with the Hastings and Lake Cathie both producing excellent bags of quality fish.
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Best flattie catches have come from around the Dennis Bridge while Settlement Point and Blackmans Point are both worth a throw.
Those fishing the Dennis Bridge with either live bait or lures are still encountering the odd mulloway, albeit not always successfully.
On the whiting front, Lake Cathie has been fishing well as is often the case during the dark of the moon when the prawns run. While good results have been achieved during daylight hours on surface poppers and stick baits, those content to fish the evening with either live prawns or worms have also been generally well rewarded. While there has been a marked increase in prawn activity this latest dark, in the main, the size remains only average.
No doubt by next moon they will have grown somewhat, but I suspect the best of the season will not begin until early 2017, or until mother nature decides it’s time for the lake to shut for a while.
On the beaches, the recent full moon phase saw a few school mulloway taken from both North Beach and Lighthouse. Most ranged from just legal up to around a metre with live worms the bait of choice. Lighthouse has also been producing some bream to around a kilo although not in great numbers. The odd salmon is still present on most beaches with pilchards as good as any bait if targeting these hard fighting fish.
Off the rocks, the Lighthouse locally and Plomer to the north continue to give up a sprinkling of tailor at first light. A few drummer also remain on offer south around Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head.
Offshore, at last we are beginning to see improved conditions with a few more boats able to get out. Those heading wide have been scoring a few nice marlin, as well as some nice mahi mahi around the FAD. Kingfish remain consistent closer in around trag rock, while a few snapper have been taken close in off Cathie and Bonny Hills on both soft plastics and live baits.