There’s certainly no shortage of fish about at the moment with the estuaries, rocks, beaches, inshore and offshore all firing.

With the holiday crowds thinned out, now’s probably the best time of the year to be out there having a go.

Just about everywhere is fishing well. The little bit of rain we had in early Summer was great and the Shoalhaven River will be fishing well now that much of the holiday boat traffic has dispersed.

Most of the usual haunts will be producing bream, flathead and jew but you may need to be a bit cautious and sneaky if the fish are spooky from all that boat traffic. Early morning or late arvo is the go and use the tidal movement or an electric to keep the noise down.

Greenwell Point and Orient Point will be worth a go for flathead with some nice blackfish also on offer. Further south, St Georges Basin should be fishing well for bream and flathead.

Most of the rock platforms will produce some good caches of blackfish and drummer. There should be no shortage of pelagics about, either, so it’s probably worth taking a spin rod and a handful of lures for an early-morning spin session.

The Currarong platforms will be firing for kings and if I’m any sort of judge I reckon here should have been a few marlin hooked or landed by now. The early season up north was a howler and most experienced anglers have been predicting that the black and striped marlin season down here will be good. With most of the Ulladulla longliners out of the way now, we might get a good go at the game fish this season. I didn’t pick a good one to be without a boat, did I?

Bass anglers have been having a good time with some nice fish taken up the Shoalhaven and Tallowa Dam is also fishing well. Obviously late arvo or early mornings are the best times and some of the best fish are being taken by anglers after work during the week, when conditions are at their best.

Surface lures are producing well but soft plastics are also accounting for their fair share. Get them in nice and tight among the snags and timber for best results.

My new boat is on order and should arrive in the next few weeks. All fishos have different requirements of a boat and that’s why there are so many types out there. These requirements usually change over time as fishing preferences evolve and family needs grow.

Ten years ago I was doing a lot of estuary and bay work tossing lures and flies and my three kids were still young and small. We got away for five years with a 4.35m Top Ender with a tiller-steer 40hp that caught a heap of fish and we had some great times.

As the kids grew it became obvious we needed a bigger and more comfortable boat. I had a penchant to get out to chase kings and reds over the inshore reefs but we also wanted something in which we could chase squid and reds on Jervis Bay.

I came a across a second-hand Cruise Craft Reef Finder 5.33m cuddy which we refitted and re-powered and it accounted for heaps of reds to 4kg and kings to 15kg and was a fantastic family boat. We spent many a day on Jervis Bay having picnics and catching squid or chasing pelagics. After a year we started to venture wider and chase bigger fish and started chasing mahi mahi, marlin and yellowfin before we sold it to make way for the new craft.

Being without a boat for several months has been an experience.

I’ve had to fish the rocks for blackfish, drummer and pelagics and have even had the Australis Bass kayak out to chase flathead in the river a few times. I have been lucky that quite a few mates have offered trips out so I really haven’t missed out on any gamefishing.

I must admit it was an eye-opener to just what is available if you don’t have a boat. But I’m hanging out to get the new boat home – more on that next month.