Although it may not feel like it, given the inclement weather of late, summer has officially arrived. Fingers crossed for some welcome sunshine in the not too distant future, and some red hot angling to go with it.
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In the estuary, at the time of writing the Hastings is slowly beginning to clear after last week's fresh, however with plenty of rain this week and more forecast for the weekend, we should see even more colour come down.
As such, the bulk of action has been focused on the lower reaches. While the fresh wasn't significant enough to really fire up the mulloway, a few fish were caught from the north wall on lures.
Also off the walls, a few nice bream were taken, with mullet strips working well.
Settlement Point and Limeburners also produced a few flathead, along with some terrific hard-fighting trevally.
South at Lake Cathie, the recent rains have seen a significant rise in the water level, albeit still well short of the opening trigger of 1.6 metres AHD.
While some sections of the community are desperately hoping for more rainfall in order to see the lake opened before Christmas, the prawning enthusiasts are privately hoping for another moon phase with the system shut.
While this latest dark saw a little more effort required than in the past two months, results were again spectacular.
For all the doom and gloom espoused since the system closed about four months ago, it seems the prawns have certainly thrived.
Flathead and whiting have also - which is no real surprise given the amount of prawns and whitebait for them to gorge themselves on.
Off the beaches, a few bream and whiting are about with Lighthouse and North beaches worth a look.
For mulloway enthusiasts best reports have come from Diamond Head and Grants Beach, with the tides this weekend ideal for evening sessions, weather permitting.
Off the rocks, results remain average.
Best bet is to chase a few tailor at first light from the Lighthouse. Around Shelly Beach is worth a look for blackfish and the odd bream.
Those travelling south to either Crowdy or Diamond Head are still finding a sporadic showing of late season drummer.
Offshore, conditions have been largely awful over recent weeks, with scarcely an opportunity to head out in any degree of comfort.
On the positive side it seems the waters may be finally beginning to warm and improve in colour.
Hopefully this will lead to significant improvement on the pelagic and bottom-fishing fronts.
