Thank God for all the great Winter clothing options available these days. I know some people just love the cold and others simply don’t feel it but I certainly do.

I never used to enjoy fishing during the cooler months, not for lack of fish but purely because I was not comfortable. But I have since invested a few dollars and sourced some great Winter clothing and the difference it has made to enjoying my time on the water during the cooler months is unbelievable.

I strongly recommend you grab a few Winter essentials and let the good times roll through the cooler months. Musts for me are long thermals top and bottom, a fleecy neck warmer, good windproof top and pants and a snug beanie.

Now we’re all set to tackle the great fish on offer in Lake Macquarie at the moment.

There are some great bream being caught.

The flats have certainly slowed down, as expected, but there are still some good bream coming off them if you put the hours in.

The boat moorings throughout the lake are also producing some nice bream. Lightly weighted peeled prawns have been working well around the moorings. Soft plastics on 1/12oz jig heads and vibe style lures worked slowly along the bottom are also catching heaps.

The whiting have thinned out, as expected, but there are still a few about and there have been a few fish to 40cm among them.

Flathead are coming from the 20’-plus depths off Wangi, where 5” soft plastics are working well and live bait is also taking its fair share.

It can be difficult at this time of year to locate good live bait in the lake so I often duck outside to one of the inshore reefs and secure my bait before returning to the lake to soak them down deep in an attempt to bag a few nice flathead.

There have been some quality tailor about but there have been a lot of small fish to get through before locating the bigger models, and this can become frustrating.

Salmon should continue to entertain anglers around Salts Bay and they are a great light tackle option and a good way to get the kids into fishing.

Offshore fishing is producing some good results.

There have been some quality snapper landed over the past month and this is a good time to dust off the snapper gear and give them a go.

Some nice reds have been taken on soft plastics and on the offshore reefs there have been some solid kingfish jigged up. Most kings have been around 4-6kg but models to 10kg have been landed.

Jigging for kings in the deeper water is not an easy task but the rewards can certainly make it worth your while.

You will need a good selection of 200-400g jigs in various colours. It is also important to make sure you locate these fish on the sounder before deploying your jigs because you don’t want to be wasting time and burning energy fishing where there are no fish to catch.

The leatherjackets appear to be back again this year and although they’re not welcome by those anglers chasing reds and kings, the old jacket is a great alternative for those looking to take home a nice feed.

The game fishing scene always goes a little quiet during these cooler months but there have been some sharks captured by a few of the Lake Macquarie Game Fishing Club boats.

There have also been some yellowfin tuna captures reported, which is always a good thing for those who venture out wide over Winter. The odd blue marlin is still lurking about out wide.