With the Christmas holidays now in full swing, as you could imagine pretty well all available pieces of water in the local area are seeing someone enjoying a spot of angling.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the estuary, flathead remain fantastic with good numbers of fish continuing to be found in both the Hastings and in Lake Cathie.
Lures have been by far the most productive form of attack, although whitebait and the humble prawn have also accounted for plenty of fish.
Our other summer staple, whiting, have also been active. Lake Cathie continues to fish very well despite being closed, whilst in the Hastings, Limeburners and Blackmans Point are both worth a look using either surface lures, yabbies or worms.
The break walls have also yielded a few nice bream with mullet strips working well, while up river around Rawdon Island and in the Maria, surface lures have been quite productive.
On the mulloway front, the break walls produced a few reasonable fish to around 15 kilos leading up to the full moon, with both hard bodies lures and live baits successful.
On the crustacean scene, mud crabs and blue swimmers have both been active in the Hastings, while we are just entering prime time for those keen to chase a feed of prawns in Lake Cathie. How productive this dark will be remains to be seen.
On the beaches, the recent southerlies have cleaned up the red weed quite nicely and fingers crossed the nor-easters don’t see it return.
Lighthouse has been worth a look for bream and whiting, while north beach has produced a consistent sprinkling of school mulloway. Tailor remain spasmodic with the best reports again from the Camden Haven.
Off the rocks, Lighthouse is worth a look for tailor at first light, with both pilchards and metals lures worth throwing. Plomer has been quite consistent for bream and blackfish, while Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head have produced tailor and the odd nice mulloway.
With the recent pulse of warm water coming down the coast, Hat Head could be worth the trip for the Land Based Game enthusiasts.
Offshore, with a bit of reasonable weather at long last, quite a few have been out and scoring some terrific results. Fish Port Macquarie Charters have been finding good numbers of snapper and pearl perch in around 40m off Plomer, along with a few terrific mulloway.
The close in reefs off Lighthouse beach have also fished quite well for snapper, while the flathead grounds in around 55m have been as reliable as ever. On the pelagic front, good news with quite a few small black marlin turning up with the latest influx of warm water.
This is just what we wanted to see with the Golden Lure just around the corner.
Mahi mahi have also been quite consistent at the FAD, with a few nice fish in excess of 10 kilos. Spanish and spotted mackerel have also been off South West Rocks, so early prospecting locally may pay dividends.
