By now the weather and the water should definitely be warm enough for some productive fishing.

A couple of weeks ago I took out my son Chris to chase bream, whiting and flathead in Port Hacking with lures and all we could find inside the Port was 11.3° water. It was so icy that even the soft plastics, blades and deep-diving lures we used came out of the water as if I had put them in the bottom part of my fridge at home.

So it didn’t take long to decide to go and find some warmer water. We headed just off Bate Bay where we found warmer water and plenty of squid that wanted to grab hold of any squid jig of any colour I took out of the box. Chris outfished me with his personal best squid of 960g.

We used two successful techniques.

The first was to cast the jig out the back of the boat and slowly troll it around 2 knots. To get this speed I put the Minn Kota on autopilot and it was just a matter of watching the rod tips slowly pulsate and then load up when a squid grabbed the squid jig.

Our second technique was to cast the jig as far as we could in about 5m of water and then allow it to sink for about 10 seconds. The retrieve was just a very slow lift, then quickly drop the rod tip down to the water, wind in the slack and repeat.

To find good squid spots along the coast, look for water 1m-6m deep with a bottom that is a combination of small and large boulders, kelp, broken patches of sand and maybe a small drop-off or two.

Just remember when you are fishing inshore like this you will need to be very mindful of the swell. The day that Chris and I ventured outside, the westerly wind made the sea flat as a pancake.

This month we will see an increase in flathead numbers in Port Hacking, Botany Bay and the Georges and Woronora rivers.

Again, you will need to find patches of warm water. Water no deeper than 2m is warmed quicker by plenty of sunshine.

Look for areas with patches of ribbon reeds, broken shells or oysters, sand and small drop-offs (even a 10cm drop will be enough). The flathead will lie in wait for some unsuspecting baitfish, crab or prawn to come along on the tide.

Sand whiting should become more common this month in the same areas. I have also found plenty while chasing bream in deep water with 1/4oz blades and soft plastics.

One of the best techniques for whiting in water up to 10m is to slowly jig the plastic or blade up and down off the bottom. Any questions, just email me.