The Georges River should start to produce a good number of bream, school mulloway and whiting.

Peter Rule of Cronulla says he has been anchoring up on the edge of the channel in front of the seafood restaurant at Lugarno on a rising tide and picking up a few bream, whiting and the odd flathead.

You could also try farther upstream at places like the Moons, Alfords Point bridge, the entrance to Salt Pan Creek and just off the baths at Picnic Point. When at anchor you need to berley to get the best results.

Out in Botany Bay the Winter run of silver trevally should come on the chew. Anchor up, berley with bread, mashed pilchards and chicken pellets and use peeled prawns, worms or pink nippers for bait. I also have caught silver trevally on pieces of skinned yellowtail; you will be surprised at how well it stays on the hook.

You could also try trolling in the bay for salmon, tailor, kingfish and bonito. Overcast days, early mornings and late afternoons will usually produce. Small metal lures and 5” Gulp Jerk Shads trolled on 1/2oz jig heads would be worth a try.

I have just put a downrigger on my boat to troll live squid, yellowtail, slimy mackerel and pink nippers – yes, pink nippers. You could also try trolling whole pilchards and strips of squid or mullet. If you slow the boat speed down to about 1-2 knots you are a chance to hook a mulloway.

Port Hacking has cleaned up so you can quite clearly see the bottom in 5m of water. Here I find you must berley to get the best results.

Luderick will have started to school up over the weed beds and along the edges of the main channel that runs from Gunnamatta Bay to Lilli Pilli Baths. Green weed or cabbage can be gathered off the rocks at Cronulla, Bundeena and Boat Harbour.

Stanwell Park and Garie Beaches have been producing bream, whiting, tailor and salmon on pilchards, mullet strips, worms and pink nippers.

During 2011 I went out for a fish on Botany Bay with Anthony and George, who wanted to learn how to catch a feed of fish to take home to their families. We caught trevally, bream, octopus and kingfish.

I have just received an email from Anthony telling how they have started to chase marlin in a mate’s boat. So far they have spent 94 hours at sea, hooking up five marlin and losing all of them. But Anthony was proud of boating a delicious 1.5m mahi mahi.

Anthony has grown a beard and has threatened to cut it off only when he has caught a marlin.

My son Chris and I launched at the Jannali Reserve ramp beside the Woronora Bridge and fished about 2km upstream with little success.

Then we worked from the bridge to the entrance of the Woronora River for a few bream and flathead, but nothing to write home about. We met a couple of locals drifting the channel near Bonnet Bay and they had caught a number of flathead on pilchard tails.

They said that a few days earlier they had drifted the channel beside the soccer fields at Bonnet Bay for a few flathead, bream and whiting.

During May the main fish in your bags will be whiting and bream, while the flathead and crabs start to thin out.

You could try anchoring up at the side of a channel and berleying. Bloodworms, beach worms and tube worms, pillie tails and whole whitebait would be worth a try.

You could also try using strips of mullet, striped tuna and salted down bonito, but by far the best bait that I have found is live pink nippers.

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