Last month I listed land-based fishing spots in southern Sydney so this month, here are some spots you’ll need a boat to fish.

Bate Bay, Port Hacking. Kingfish, snapper and many other species are available in a number of places in Bate Bay. Try Shark Island, Osborn Shoals, Jibbon Bombora and Merries Reef. Take care when fishing these spots, as they all are prone to breaking swells.

You can drift or anchor but I suggest that if you have never fished here before that you keep an eye on how some of the locals do it. About 90 minutes to two hours either side of the tide change, use yellowtail, slimy mackerel or squid when chasing kingfish, snapper, tarwhine, bream, silver trevally and leatherjackets.

If at anchor have a steady but small berley trail of pilchards and bread. If drifting use a paternoster rig. When trolling, use deep-diving minnows and surface poppers.

Little Turriel Bay, Port Hacking. Anchor your boat fore and aft on the top of the sand flats near Hungry Point about two hours before the top of the tide. Have a steady berley trail on the run-in tide for bream, flathead and sand whiting.

Feed out unweighted baits or use a long leader and running sinker. When the tide changes, fish the same way for about an hour but don’t leave it too long and become stranded. This is a good place to use soft plastics.

South-West Arm, Port Hacking. Fish for john dory along the edges of the sand flats and weed beds at the entrance on a run-in tide. Try one outfit with a long leader and another with a paternoster rig. Use small live poddy mullet or yellowtail.

Make sure that you have a steady stream of berley. Anchor just out from the 4-knot marker and use two anchors if possible. Rising or falling tide doesn’t seem to matter.

Yowie and Gymea bays, Port Hacking: Drift or anchor for kingfish among the moored boats.

At anchor, berley with small pieces of pilchard and chicken pellets and use a No 1 ball sinker running down to a 5/0 to 7/0 hook.

On the drift, sinker size will vary with the strength of the wind and the drift. Use small yellowtail, slimy mackerel, pilchards, mullet or garfish.

Third Runway, Botany Bay. Drift or anchor for mulloway near the northeast corner of the Third Runway, just on the end of the drop-off on a falling tide. Try the starboard marker on the western side of the Third Runway on a rising tide.

Suspend a live yellowtail, slimy mackerel or squid on a double-hook snood rig or single-hook paternoster rig about 1m off the bottom. Berley with pieces of pilchards, chicken pellets and bread. Best times are early morning, late afternoon and overcast days.

Molineaux Point, Botany Bay. For kingfish, anchor about 15m from the wall and berley with chopped pilchards and chicken pellets. Use live squid, yellowtail or slimy mackerel in that order. Have one floating bait and rig the other rod so that the sinker is about 1.5m off the bottom.

A third outfit is good for bream and trevally that come into the berley trail; fish as light as the conditions allow.

Tom Uglys, Captain Cook bridges, Georges River. Drift for flathead with half-pilchards, whitebait, mullet, strips of tailor, yellowtail, slimy mackerel and Hawkesbury prawns. Use a two-hook ganged rig for smaller flathead to a four-hook ganged rig for bigger baits and large trophy fish.

The tide doesn’t seem to matter, as long as it is running. Drift using a sea anchor to slow your drift when the wind is up. Fish with soft plastics on the downwind side of the boat.

Lugarno, Georges River. For bream, anchor about 20m away from the old oyster racks on a run-out tide. Use baitrunner-type reels and berley with pilchards and chicken pellets.

The southwestern side is very good for bream at the edge of the drop-off on a run-in tide, drift or anchor there. Use half pilchardsor fillets, garfish fillets, peeled prawns, pink nippers, tubeworms, mullet strips, squid, tuna or bonito.

The northeast corner has deep water, anchor at the edge of the drop-off during Autumn to Winter months for bream and silver trevally.

Picnic Point Boatshed, Georges River. For bream, turn up 90 minutes to an hour either side of a tide change with Hawkesbury prawns, bloodworms, nippers, strips of mullet, chicken or mullet gut, chicken in parmesan cheese or striped tuna.

Feed out half-pilchards or frogmouth pilchards on long leaders for flathead. Use larger pieces of berley.

Woronora River. Bream and flathead here are best-fished early morning or late afternoon. Work the sand bar edge of the channel on a rising tide and the middle of the channel near the bottom of the tide for flathead. When drifting for flathead use a live bait under a bobby cork or a pilchard on ganged hooks.

For bream have one rod set in a rod holder with a baitrunner reel, sinker and long leader and hold onto the other rod which should be fished with as little lead as possible.