Winds have alternated from nor easters to southerlies, with a few storms and little respite in between. Challenging indeed from an angling perspective especially for those wishing to fish open waters, but standard fare for this time of year.

In the estuary, flathead numbers remain terrific from basically all points of the system between Wauchope and the break walls.

The better results are again being achieved on lures, with all profiles worth throwing.

If anything, suspending hard bodied minnows seem to be a slight favourite at present. From a bait fishing perspective, whitebait has been achieving good results, whilst prawns and mullet strips have also seen success.

On the bream front, a few reasonable fish have been taken off the break walls on pilchard pieces, whilst those throwing lures further upstream report steady action.

Look for the bream to become more and more responsive to surface offerings as summer draws nearer.

On the whiting scene, we are seeing a steady improvement, with Big Bay and Blackmans Point both worth a look.

As with the bream, surface lures will become a go to technique over the next few weeks.

On the mulloway front, the upstream holes and structure continue to provide a steady stream of fish to around a metre.

Lures and live herring have both been successful.

For those targeting a larger model from the lower reaches, the moon and evening tides are terrific in the latter part of this week, including the weekend.

On the beaches, despite conditions not being overly cooperative, there have been some terrific fish about for this time of year.

Lighthouse has given up a few nice bream and whiting, with North Beach much the same.

North Haven and South Beach at Dunbogan continue to produce reasonable numbers of mulloway, with whole squid working particularly well at present.

The odd salmon is still about however tailor have been disappointingly elusive.

Off the rocks, drummer are still about albeit not to the extent seen during our terrific winter season.

Those putting the effort in and locating the still washed out gutters are finding a few nice fish approaching 3 kilos.

Locally, Miners has been holding a few bream and blackfish, as too has Plomer to the north.

Tailor have been inconsistent although the upcoming full moon may see some improvement.

Offshore, conditions of late have been poor with only a few windows of opportunity, as usual mid week.

Those who have been out are still finding good numbers of snapper and pearl perch, along with the odd kingfish.

For mahi mahi enthusiasts, the FAD should be worth a look any time from now, having been in positions for a couple of weeks.

For those who missed, the FAD is in a similar location to past seasons, with GPS co-ordinates being S31° 26.749' E153° 04.349'

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.