But anglers should not let the lure of Fox Sports keep them at home this weekend, as the fishing remains strong, according to Michelle Carter from Marlin Marine at Tea Gardens.

"Fishing has been great up around Port Stephens," she said.

"There is so much bait fish about and it's been attracting big predators.

"They've been getting longtail tuna off the rocks up around the Gibbers.

"A lot of guys have been spinning, but you can never go past you're good old pillies and squid."

One of the fishing features this last week around Tea Gardens has been the amount of blue swimmer crabs.

"They've been catching them on handlines and scooping them off the jetty at Tea Gardens," Michelle said. "The whiting are still around, moreso off the beaches, and there's still a fair few flatties about."

Tailor and salmon are starting to school up in larger numbers off local beaches. We never really lost the tailor up here, but they're getting bigger now as we move into May," Michelle said.

Local FAD are still producing heaps of dolphin fish and there's been some great catches of snapper around Broughton and Fingal.

Coinciding with the bait fish, anglers report large amounts of arrow squid in local estuaries, and that's good news for people looking for fresh bait and the big predators that chase fresh bait, like jew.

"Karuah and Tea Gardens bridges have been hot spots for jew this week, and guys have been getting them off the beaches north of Hawks Nest as well," Michelle said.

When it comes to catching arrow squid, local Lake Macquarie jew fisho Darren Gould is a big fan of the Yamashita jigs.

"I like the Yamashitas, 2 to 2.5, with size-1 ball sinker and a bit of scent," Darren explained.

"The more natural colours like the browns seem to do better when it's rained and the water is slightly discoloured. What colour works better seems to depend on the light. If its brighter and the water is clearer, they seem to go for colours, like pink."

Bream are well and truly on the march now and anywhere round structure and rocks is producing big healthy fish.

Interestingly, the pros are waiting on the mullet run at Port Stephens.

"We haven't had the consistent westerlies yet," Michelle said.

"The pros can see them sitting and waiting but they just haven't gone."

Marlin Marine is the home of UFish brined baits - produced by Michelle and Paul "Pablo" Viera.

Being brined the UFish baits are preserved and super strong as a bait, and also reusable because they don't break down like conventional defrosted bait.

They also stay on the hook longer.

Michelle revealed this week that she and Paul are looking to relocate UFish from its Tea Gardens base to somewhere close to Newcastle.

"We want to put it out to more people because we really believe in our baits," Michelle said.

"When you buy Ufish bait you buy bait, not berley. There's no throwing away and you can use it again if you don't use it all.

"It really helps to know you've got the bait sorted when you're planning a fishing trip, because so often it's the last thing you remember to do and can be a bit of hassle."

Charlestown Anglers Fishing Club will host representatives from Marine Rescue at their next club Tuesday May 7 starting at 6.30pm at Warners Bay Hotel.

"They are going to talk about boat safety and marine radio," Charlestown Anglers weighmaster Troy Terrill said.

"This is open to the public to come along to learn a few things about Marine Rescue and if any of the public have any questions about boat safety or how to operate a marine radio this would be a great opportunity."

As part of the evening the club will be raffling off a EPIRB and a set of Flares valued over $300.

Anyone who has any questions about the Marine Rescue night or the fishing club can contact Troy on 0402 531 682.

The annual zero bag limit closure for Australian Bass and Estuary Perch from all rivers and estuaries in NSW kicked in on May 1 and will run until September 1.

Fishing for Australian Bass or Estuary Perch is permitted in rivers during the closure but any of these species must be returned to the water immediately with the least possible harm.

The zero bag limit does not apply in freshwater dams or in rivers above impoundments, as they do not breed in these areas.

Fisheries Officers will target anglers illegally retaining these species during the four-month closure.