At long last the cold weather is all behind us and local estuaries have warmed up nicely. While fishing may not be in full swing just yet, it’s just about there.

One of my favourite fish to target right now and over the coming months is bream. I scored a solid one just nudging the 40cm fork length mark a few weeks back right down the bottom end of Lake Macquarie. A few more reasonable fish have also been providing some fun around Budgewoi and other parts of Tuggerah Lakes recently.

I’ve found it hard to beat the good old 3” Gulp minnow in colours such as watermelon and pumpkinseed. It would be great if Berkley also made them in motor oil with red fleck like some of the other Gulps. But really, many of us will be tying on surface lures from now on and with the warming waters and prawns about, bream are going to be smashing topwaters from this point onwards.

Early mornings are great as our bream are in a feeding mood while the sun is still low. A nice breeze blowing to make the surface ripple is also helpful, especially later in the morning or afternoon. The bream just aren’t so lure shy when the surface is ruffled.

I’ve heard the prawns are starting to run at The Entrance and Elizabeth Bay so this will also boost the chances of nailing some bream on surface lures. The prawns should get the local flathead more active also, not to mention provide a feed themselves.

Whiting are hitting lures aimed for bream more often now. Some nice size whiting are always possible in Brisbane Waters, over the tidal flats and through The Entrance Channel. Some big ones often smash topwaters around the southern parts of Lake Macquarie, with thick 40cm fish not out of the ordinary.

Those who prefer to fish baits should do well on the whiting at The Entrance or other spots with plenty of sandy flats. As always, bloodworms or beachworms are the best but a fresh prawn, pipi or pink nipper will be quickly demolished if the whiting spot it.

Offshore anglers who launch at Norah Head will be hoping the new ramp is completed very soon. It’s been a giant project and work has taken many months. Some bad weather and big seas probably slowed the progress a bit, but it’s still supposed to be ready by the start of the holiday season.

The sea temperatures are improving now. We won’t see the really warm currents for a while yet, but for now most of the coldest stuff has gone. With some luck this will mean improved fishing. In recent times the usual pan-sized snapper, some morwong and flathead have provided some food for the table at the end of the day.

This month often marks the start of those smaller rat kingfish turning up over the inshore marks and near the headlands and bommies. Salmon are still around and so there is a good chance of enjoying some light line action on both the rat kings and the sambos in the one session. Maybe not everyone’s idea of fun, but many of us do like that sort of sport.

Beaches and rocks have still been mainly dominated by numbers of salmon. This year they haven’t been as thick as some other recent years, but still they have turned up just the same. Many are also not as big as I have seen them in the past, with plenty of smaller fish around 1kg.

Some tailor and mulloway have hit the beaches lately, mainly at the usual places like North Entrance near the run out and along Budgewoi. If the sea gets warmer there should be more whiting along the beaches and possibly some bream and flathead as well if you fish small worm or pipi baits in gutters.

This month there shouldn’t be a problem finding some drummer and blackfish from the rocks or even groper for that matter.

All up, November sees some more options beginning to open up regardless of what sort of fishing you prefer to do. I’ll be focusing mainly on bream, flathead and whiting.