It looks like we may be in for a rather damp summer, with the Bureau of Meteorology officially declaring we are entering another La Nina weather pattern.
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In the estuaries, the recent rain has seen a solid fresh come down the Hastings and Camden Haven rivers.
While this will likely see a temporary slow down in the action upriver, the lower reaches should benefit from this influx of colour.
Bream will no doubt be well worth chasing, pretty well anywhere downstream of Limeburners. Gut baits and mullet strips will prove effective offerings.
Flathead should be quite active on whitebait or pilchards.
Whiting numbers were encouraging and a few blackfish were still around the breakwalls before the fresh.
Chasing school-sized mulloway could well prove rewarding in the lower reaches
South at Lake Cathie, we are now in the middle of another prawn dark, with early indications promising despite the lake rising by a little over 30cm early in the week.
Whether the exceptional numbers of recent months continue remains to be seen, but the quality early in the week was first class.
Those who were prepared to put the effort in did not go unrewarded. The bag limit for prawns is 10 litres per person, which is more than ample for most people.
On the beaches, the recent full moon phase saw a few school mulloway taken from North Beach and Lighthouse, as well as North Haven and Dunbogan to the south. Most ranged from just legal up to about 10 kilograms with live worms the bait of choice.
Lighthouse has also been producing some bream and whiting although not in great numbers. A few tailor were present in the early evening around the full moon.
The odd salmon is still about at most beaches on pilchards if targeting these hard fighting fish.
Off the rocks at Lighthouse, and Plomer to the north, there is a sprinkling of tailor along with some bream and school mulloway. A few drummer and blackfish are on offer around Point Perpendicular and Diamond Head.
Offshore, while the water colour and temperature remain less than desirable, a few nice reef fish have been encountered.
Both charter boats have been scoring some nice snapper and the odd pearl perch, while a reds over 5kg have been taken close in off Shelly and Lighthouse beaches.
Hopefully the water colour and temperature will improve soon and, when it does, it will most likely be accompanied by a 3 knot current from the north, giving us something else to complain about.
