We’re into a terrific offshore season at the moment with some very good fish being caught out the front of Sydney. Small and big boats alike have been hooking into marlin out wide with some very good mahimahi captures as well.

Small skirted lures on the troll have been accounting for some cracker fish with the reports coming in thick and fast.

Tom Hawley and his buddies fished with Oceanhunter Sportsfishing Charters during the break chasing mahimahi and came up trumps. The boys were out at the 60-fathom mark off North Head and had a great session on these pelagics landing some bigger fish. The guys were live baiting and casting surface poppers and stickbaits with great success. Some of the anglers chasing the mahimahi offshore have been confronted by a few of the bigger size fish while using lighter lines, with most being successfully landed after some real battles.

Brad Kearns and Rod Phillips headed out to the FADs offshore looking for mahimahi and caught a cracker before the rains. Kearns managed to land a 135cm fish while casting topwater stickbaits using 20lb gear. Plenty of flying fish were sighted in the area and these are terrific bait for our surface predators and a good sign that you are in the right zone.

Trolling past on your first approach of any buoys will forfeit your element of surprise. Instead, you should try and drift down onto the spot with the motor off. This method has been very successful this season and often the first fish hooked up is the biggest of the day. These fish will be around while the warm water currents are off our coastline and this should stay the same for a few months yet.

The Northern Beaches rock platforms have seen action aplenty, with some great sized kingfish being taken. Big kings have been very prolific this season and it will be interesting to see how long they hang around for. From casting topwater lures to spinning gars and live baiting, it seems there aren’t too many methods failing the Northern Beaches rock fisho when it comes to chasing the kings.

Fish Outta Water customer David Tysoe fished a local rock ledge recently, spinning big poppers for kingfish, and it didn’t take too long before he hooked up to a decent fish on his 80lb outfit. The fight was over quite quickly and before long the gaff shot was home. Tysoe hooked the big fish at his feet while fishing the edge, which can be common when spinning from the rocks. It wasn’t long before the fish was weighed and measured in store, with a total weight of 17.5kg and measuring a full length of 137cm.

The beaches are firing at the moment with plenty of whiting and bream on the chew. Manly, Curl Curl and Dee Why have been popular spots to target these bread and butter species, with big king beach worms a preferred bait and the early morning sessions before the wind gets up proving to be the best time.

Sydney Harbour is in the midst of another cracker season with plenty of surface action with kings, salmon and tailor all schooling from Sydney Heads to the Harbour Bridge and beyond. These fish are taking poppers, plastics and metals cast in their direction. Generally the fish in the middle of the school are the tailor and salmon while the kings sit on the outside and below the school. Middle Head, Quarantine Point and The Spit have been regular hangouts for these schools and are well inside casting distance from land as they trap baitfish up against the edge and in the wash.

The kayaking brigade have been hitting these schools with great success and I think the stealth approach of these silent craft enable the anglers to get right in amongst the action without startling the fish.

If you have summer species you are wishing to tick off the bucket list, this month is a great time to try and get it done, while the warmer waters are still with us. Kings, marlin and those big mahimahi will be around for a little while yet, but there’s no time like the present.

That’s it for this month, so until next month, stay safe, be careful if heading offshore, and keep yourself protected from the sun.

March is a fantastic month, let’s make it a safe one.