Even though the water is now cold and many of the fish may be a bit sluggish, there will be still plenty of places where you will be able to target bream, whiting, leatherjackets, luderick, silver trevally and the odd mulloway.

Bait fishers will need to ensure they are using prime baits like Hawkesbury prawns, live pink nippers, beach or blood worms, salted strips of slimy mackerel, pilchard tails, fresh squid and strips of fresh mullet.

They could also catch their own poddy mullet, squid, pilchards and small yellowtail.

Anglers using soft plastics, hardbodies and blades should try enhancing them with a spray or gel fish attractant.

I also have found during the cooler months that I get better results when I work them very slowly.

Bic Fox took the family for a picnic and a fish in the Georges River at Sandy Point and managed a number of bream using unweighted pilchards fillets cast up against the rock walls. The four bream in the photo in this report were 800g-900g.

A pilchard fillet would have to rate right up there as a bait but many anglers try it once or twice, only to find that it flies off the hook when you cast it. All you need to do is put a couple of half hitches around the tail.

Winter is a great time to chase leatherjackets and luderick in Port Hacking.

Try off the old Fisheries Institute site, the outsides of marinas, Lilli Pilli and Gymea baths and the deep water at the entrances to Gymea Bay and North West Arm. You could also try any of the rock walls in South West Arm.

When targeting leatherjackets I like to use small pieces or prawn or squid, especially if they have been lightly salted down to toughen them up.

For estuary luderick many anglers prefer green weed but the green ‘cabbage’ weed found on the ocean rocks is also superb bait. Luderick like a bit of variety in their diet, just as we all do.

You could try chasing whiting in Port Hacking or Botany Bay. Anchor on the edge of a sand bar and fish back into the deep water at the bottom of the tide. When the tide comes up, fish right on top of the sand.

The sand bar just off Lilli Pilli Baths in Port Hacking is a great whiting spot.

Just remember when you are berleying, less is better; you want to attract the whiting, not feed them.

Bream, sliver trevally, tailor, salmon, luderick, drummer and groper are off the rocks in the Royal National Park. Good spots include North Garie Point, Wattamolla Point and South Era Point. Further south, try the northern and southern ends of Stanwell Park Beach. The beach at Stanwell Park will also produce bream, salmon, tailor and the odd whiting, especially early morning and late afternoon.

Terry Grima has been targeting mulloway in Botany Bay for some time now and has started to work out a pattern with soft plastics and blades. In one session he caught an 85cm mulloway after only 15 minutes on the water and a short time later picked up a 95cm model that he dropped overboard from his kayak while a neighbour was filming.