Yep, it’s a wee bit chillier these days to say the least. I must be getting softer as I get older, because old Jase is finding it hard to get out of bed and into the fish on some of these mornings lately. On the plus side, there are plenty of great fish on offer, so once you shake the winter chill whilst having a nice hot coffee before your trip, you shouldn’t have any problems finding a few quality fish around Lake Macquarie.

If it’s a little sportfishing action you’re after, then you’re in luck. The annual salmon run is as thick as ever, with thousands of fish entering the lake, and the number 1 spot once again is Salts Bay at the mouth of Swansea Channel. There are not only plenty available, but there are absolute cracking fish in the schools too. They provide hours of entertainment for the family and are a great way to get the kids into good fish. With the action so hot, they won’t get the chance to become bored, so get them into it and hopefully they will love the sport as a result.

Now obviously the old salmon is not everyone’s cup of tea, but there is plenty of alternatives. Some good flathead are now back on the chew. During these cold months they are found deep, and a few lucky anglers will also manage to bump into the odd mulloway as bycatch when chasing these deep-water lizards.

The key to finding these species is to first find the bait balls. At this time of year, that will usually mean finding the tailor schools. A good place to start is water 7-10m deep. The bait balls are very easy to locate on a quality sounder, and once found I suggest working soft plastics in the 4-5” range. As a rule, I prefer a paddle tail style plastic, and make sure you are using a jighead that’s not too heavy, but does have sufficient weight to get to the bottom.

As far as colours go, I generally prefer baitfish type colours like light blues, white and silver. The only time I will stray from this is if we have had some serious rain or fishing into the night. In this case I like colours such as lime green.

Bream are still around in good numbers as well, but like the flathead, they too go deep during the colder periods. I generally look to fish blades or heavier weighted soft plastics during winter. I also like the addition of Sax Scent during winter, as I find the fish are not as aggressive and the scent is often the key to trigger that bite. Hardbody lures are still very productive during the colder months of the year, but I now opt for deep divers. I usually work the 2-5m depths and I like a suspending or a very slow rise lure so it holds down in that strike zone for a longer period. This is important when the fish are not overly keen to eat, as if the lure floats up too quickly from the strike zone they will often not bother putting the effort into chasing it.

Offshore fishing has picked up, but the weather is certainly not making things easy, with plenty of rough weather in between the good days. Shark anglers are having a great time of it, with plenty of big ones being landed. Tiger sharks are coming in regularly, with some huge fish over 400kg appearing at the weigh station. There should also be a few yellowfin and bluefin tuna about offshore now. Trolling a spread of lures in that 6-8” range is a good way to locate them, and then cubing with pilchards once located can also be productive. Certain colours often work better than others, and pinks, green/lime, blues and so on are often successful.

If you’re keen on tangling with a tuna, I’d be heading quite a distance offshore and looking towards the Norah Head Canyon area. They are fairly wide, however, they are still easily accessible even to trailer boat anglers. Just take care, make sure you have another boat out there with you for peace of mind, and don’t forget to log on with marine rescue before venturing out.

Snapper are about in great numbers and the recent run of big seas has only helped fuel the fire. Plenty of good fish are being taken from as little as 4m of water out to 20m. Those 5” stickbait style soft plastics are working a treat. Generally, a 2/0-3/0 hook and enough weight to gradually get the lure down into the zone will do the trick.

Some very solid kingfish are also about, however, they are a little wider during the cooler months and found out on the wider offshore reefs. Areas such as the Perch Grounds and Texas are very productive locations. Deep water jigging and bait fishing are productive options, and a deep set live bait will rarely go unnoticed.

Rock and beach anglers have been taking some really nice catches of bream lately. Peeled prawns and small pilchard cubes are the killer baits. Salmon are also proving plentiful for rock and beach anglers. Half pilchards and whole pilchards on gang hooks are producing well.

Rock anglers are also getting into a few drummer. It is very important when chasing these fish to use a nice solid hook. The hook does not need to be large by any means, but a heavy gauge is critical. A sandy/fishy berley mix is also very important, as it really gets them in the mood. Enjoy the action, but take care, particularly those anglers on the rocks, and those fishing the wide offshore grounds.

I have recently released my own range of hand-made game fishing lures. These have been tested for a very long time before I was happy enough to sell them, and within the first month they have landed many tuna, including some huge Tassie bluefin to 133kg. Email me if you’re interested in my Colorato game fishing lures at --e-mail address hidden--