As the summer transition moves in and the weather warms up, good fish are being caught in our estuaries and offshore.

Local reefs like Longy and Mugs just off Manly Beach have been firing of late with plenty of kingfish over a metre.

Camm Sutherland went to a local inshore reef and landed kingfish over a metre using jigs and working the entire water column during a mid morning session.

Andy Young opted for soft plastics and landed snapper to 48cm. On the return trip home, he stopped off at a few headlands to cast stickbaits into the washes and found a school of kingfish on the chew. It didn’t take long before an 85cm fish had taken to his lure and was boat side. This pack of fish were in 12m of water and Andy said there were bigger fish among them.

The current offshore has picked right up, but the inshore reefs are still very fishable, holding good snapper and decent size kings. The Perez family fished and had a great day recently on both species landing kings to a metre and some very tasty snapper while fishing baits on the ocean floor.

Joe Emmerton worked stickbaits from his IRB over a reef in 20m of water landing fish to 1.05cm. Joe mentioned plenty of fish were sighted on the surface with schools of bait. Finding the birds will help you find the bait and the bigger predators aren’t far behind.

Sydney Harbour has been alive with salmon and tailor. Hovering seagulls are on these schools of feeding fish so be on the lookout. Small to medium metal lures (slugs) are working well once cast into these surface bust ups. The kings are also in on the action and are generally deeper, but can still be raised to the surface on poppers, stickbaits and soft plastics.

Some good flathead are feeding on the drop offs at Clontarf and Balmoral with rubber vibes and bladed lures being very successful. Pittwater has been hot on the kingfish this month – Chad Flemming had a busy morning session on kings using jigs and live baits.

Daniel Crusoe trolled squid from a kayak in the Palm Beach moorings and landed three fish to 79cm. Down rigging on the yak became quite popular over winter and if you need tips on this application, drop into the shop at Brookvale and we’ll fill you in. Often, a good sized sinker on your line is enough to keep your bait down while you’re underway at minimum speed.

Narrabeen Lake has the flathead awakening from their winter slumber and they’re hungry, taking baits and lures around the clock. Ben Petinsky landed some great fish using soft plastics on a late evening session this week. Slow rolling smaller plastics was the key to getting more bites.

The lake hasn’t had much flow lately, due to its closure for dredging, but it’s still worth fishing. Be sure to move around from spot to spot, as this will up your chances of finding more fish. Decent whiting have been feeding on the various flats out there and the king beachworms in store have been a major hit with anglers chasing these fish.

The beaches have a few sharks working beyond the breakers at night with some whalers being caught. Salmon, tailor and bream are around too. Dee Why, Curl Curl, Mona Vale and Manly beaches have all worked for anglers recently.

If you’re looking to try something a little different, grab some lures and head out with your favourite casting gear. Whether it be walking the beach pelting slugs out behind the breakers, launching poppers or stickbaits from the stones or sending some plastics or vibes to the depths from the boat or estuary shoreline, this is a very successful way to fish.

There’s an absolute stack of new lures on the market, as well as a lot of old favourites, so try leaving the bait at home and just go fully artificial to step it up a bit. At the very worst, it’s good exercise and who knows? You might just end up with a bag full. Tight lines and Merry Christmas from myself and all the staff here at Fish Outta Water Tackle World.

1

Andy Young with a lure caught kingfish.

2

Ben Petinsky with a nice flathead.

3

Joe Emmerton with a local inshore kingfish.

4

The Perez family holding a nice snapper.