What a fantastic Christmas week it has been, it was great to see so many people fishing with unreal weather conditions.
Unfortunately, I do have some bad news; we are about to see a change in the weather with large easterly swell and southerly winds predicted for the start of the new year.
I've had so many great reports come through from fishos who go out to sea around the Christmas period.
There was a two-day break in the current and a few fishos managed to fill their freezers with plenty of blue-eye trevella, bass grouper and gemfish caught off Port Macquarie on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
Down off Laurieton there have been catches of snapper, teraglin and pearl perch on the reefs in around sixty metres of water with pilchards and squid the bait of choice.
South West Rocks was the place to be with so many black marlin caught ranging between twenty to forty kilos caught off the gaol on Boxing day and Tuesday.
All the FADs are now holding mahi mahi with mostly smaller sized fish there are a few larger specimens hanging around. It was great to see the boat ramp car parks full and a steady stream of boats crossing the bar in the early hours of the mornings.
It is also a timely reminder that the boat ramps are packed at this time of the year so please be respectful and patient to other boaties.
Fishing off the rocks was also quite successful during the week. With the odd snapper caught off the rocks around Crowdy Head, Point Plomer had a consistent run of bream and the Lighthouse in Port Macquarie saw a few catches of tailor.
Land based game fishos, it is time to dust off your gear and with the start of the warm water off our coast.
I've had some reports from South West Rocks, Hat Head and Crescent Head of black marlin, cobia and kingfish caught off the headlands.
In the rivers, flathead are remaining popular with plenty of fish caught on live bait around the breakwalls on the top of high tide.
If you are wanting to catch a bream or two, try your luck on the local wharfs using strip mullet or prawns.
A few reports came in before Christmas from in the Macleay and Hastings River of whiting in those shallow sand banks, caught on lures.
