This is pretty much the pinnacle of our fishing period for the year.

This will be a great month for the beach fishos. The local beaches, especially Blacksmiths, Belmont and Jewells, should be very productive now and results over the previous months support this.

Plenty of whiting up to 40cm, bream and flathead comprise the mainstay of catches but last month’s tailor encounters have been encouraging, to say the least. Some locals have reported fish up to 3kg from the beach gutters and along Blacksmiths Breakwall.

On Lake Macquarie, it just gets better and better. The small jewfish have not stopped and seem to have been consistent for some months now.

Those who have been keen enough have been catching their own squid in Swansea Channel and using them for bait. The jewfish experts maintain that you must use fresh squid and their results seem to support that. Nights have been most productive with some small snapper taking the squid baits as well.

There have also been more shark sightings in Swansea Channel and at places such as the hot water outlets and south western Lake Macquarie. It’s great to see the lake returning to its natural state with predators roaming free, but I must stress that if fishos target these sharks, I can foresee the Fisheries Minister taking action which will force a closure – leave them alone.

April is also prime time off the rocks, when longtail tuna, cobia and large kingfish will be on offer at locations such as Moonee, Catherine Hill Bay and Frazer Park. These spots get pretty crowded with keen rock fishos but I assure you that we will witness some big catches.

During the Interclub Game Fishing Tournament at Port Stephens I boarded Riviera’s flagship Fascination II for a media day – and marlin fishing, of course.

This has to be one of the best luxury game cruisers I have laid eyes on. Its large staterooms can sleep eight, the cockpit is large enough to accommodate eight fishos and the twin 1075hp turbocharged V8 diesels achieve 35 knots.

In 1979 I started my apprenticeship as a shipwright at Carrington Slipways and met fourth-year apprentice Wes Moxey. Wes’s eye for detail and design have taken him on to become Riviera managing director at Coomera, on the Gold Coast, where the company employs 1200 people and builds up to 400 vessels a year with over 50% exported.

We managed to tag one striped marlin of 90kg – I couldn’t help but be excited about the day because I was on the rod.

Still on game scene, congratulations must go to Lake Macquarie boat Running Bear for taking out the tag and release section of the Big Fish Bonanza tournament. My business partner Jason Nunn won champion angler tag and release. Running Bear came home with a total of eight marlin tagged, six on the Saturday and two on Sunday.

• Don’t forget the ABT Lake Macquarie Bream Classic with $10,000 in cash and prizes on May 19 and 20. For details visit www.fishermanswarehouse.com.au