Although we are now starting to notice an increase in sunshine and some of the mornings don’t quite have that viciously cold bite to them, it’s still officially winter and unfortunately the month ahead is notoriously tough for fishing.

August is also historically one of the driest months along the east coast, but last year it turned out to be quite wet, thanks to a persistent onshore airflow that kept pushing coastal showers our way. So only time will tell how it pans out this month. Theoretically though, it should be dry, with westerly winds.

Around the lakes and Brisbane Water this month, the usual species like bream, blackfish, flathead and whiting are all on the cards, however, I would mainly be chasing blackfish and flathead over the coming weeks as it’s not really a good month for the others.

Flathead are more likely to be found in the deeper channels or holes at present, although if we do experience some early warm weather they could start poking around the shallow edges looking for relief from the cold and a potential feed. As a starting point though, it’s probably better to concentrate on depths of 2-5m, with natural baits or soft plastics slowly bounced along the bottom.

Blackfish are always a chance at this time of year. Although this is the latter stage of the season, they’ll still be taking the usual weed baits for a while yet. It pays to be aware that they can become a little picky about what they eat during August and September. The green weed you’ve been using in previous weeks may not be as good as some other types including various brown coloured weeds, or even pink nippers, live shrimp or worm baits.

Of course, some anglers would have encountered salmon while fishing for bream or flathead over the past few weeks. Sambos are more likely to show up in the lower to middle reaches of Brisbane Water or anywhere around Lake Macquarie, but a few do still come into Tuggerah Lakes as well. The chance of running into salmon remains high this month, especially if you’re casting soft plastics.

Rock fishing has been up and down in recent weeks, thanks to the typical winter problems of large seas 1 week, followed by dead flat conditions the next. This makes picking a safe day to fish difficult in the first place, but if you manage to get out there with an average to small swell running, then salmon are still the dominant species.

Of course, bream, drummer, luderick, groper, tailor and trevally are others worth a shot at this time of year. Except for groper, who can be caught in very flat, clear water, the other species prefer a bit of wash around to feed in. So apart from the inevitable sambos, I would be inclined to target drummer or luderick, mainly because they’re still a reasonably reliable option at this stage of the season.

Salmon are also abundant along our local beaches, especially North Entrance, Budgewoi, Birdie and Catherine Hill Bay. They really love these northern beaches, but they’ll still be plentiful along Wamberal, Terrigal and Avoca.

Although they’re certainly not around in the same numbers as salmon, there’s still a chance of a few bream, tailor and even the odd mulloway this month. If you’re having baits hammered by the sambos, it could be worth sticking around, as bream or other fish could move in to pick up the scraps, and hopefully your bait. If, however, the beach is exceptionally flat, with little or no whitewash, then I wouldn’t waste too much time out in the cold.

Offshore, it’s been a pretty good snapper season for this region. Numbers of pan-sized reds have been caught on reefs between 20-50m, with the odd larger specimen amongst them. If the sea conditions and water colour look okay, then the reds should be worth a shot over the same depths or even a touch closer in after bigger seas have calmed off.

Silver trevally, kings and those pesky leatherjackets are other species likely to be caught over coming weeks. As is the case with rock fishing though, having some luck and timing the outing with a decent patch of weather is half the battle at this time of year.

August isn’t really what you would call a good month for fishing along the Central Coast and it’s more of a salmon fest than anything else. With some thought, effort and luck though, it’s still possible to enjoy a productive session on other species, ranging from kingfish through to flathead.