With less rain than has occurred in past months, the lower Manning has cleared considerably.

Most of the bream in the lower parts of the estuary have now spawned and they are making their way up the river. The flathead have been stirred up by the freshes and good fish to a couple of kilos have been taken on soft plastic lures.

Most of the common species have been a couple of months behind with their spawning this year and one has to wonder whether the seasons are getting later. The westerlies that used to blow all through August years ago don’t start until the middle of September.

The lower Manning is fishing really well for bream, luderick, flathead and a few whiting. Upstream near Wingham, some nice bass are being taken on lures. These fish are moving back up the river after spawning down in the salt near Tinonee.

The end of the sea wall at the mouth of the Manning has produced the best jewfish in quite a long time.

Up to five fish a day have been caught and landed. About twice that many are hooked. Most fish are from 6kg to 15kg with the occasional larger specimen up around 25kg.

There have been some nice bags of bream taken from Crowdy Beach on worms and pipis. One fish went nearly 4lb on the old scale (1.8kg).

A few good whiting have been caught from the southern end of Crowdy Beach on worms while salmon can be caught anywhere along the beaches on lures, worms, squid, pilchards and flesh baits.

The headlands are fishing reasonably well for rock blackfish (drummer) but they have yet to spawn. They are over two months late.

Outside anglers have been scoring well on small snapper and pearl perch from the northern grounds.

Out wide, the kingfish have been taking lures jigged on the deeper reefs. Fish to 6kg or 7kg have been common.

The leatherjackets have moved on, much to the delight of most boat anglers, and sand flathead action is in full swing on the grounds off Crowdy and Harrington.

November is usually a pretty good month for all types of angling. The offshore boys will be trolling for bonito, stripies and mackerel tuna as well as floating live baits around the inshore bommies for jew and big snapper.

On the headlands drummer should be well and truly on the bite after spawning and a few big blue groper should be showing up in the warmer water.

The estuary will be the place to catch big luderick from the walls while live baits could snare a flathead up to 6kg on a bobby cork rig.