The 28m, 90-tonne structure was towed into place by tug on Wednesday with little or no fanfare and sunk in 28.5m of water approximately 3.5km off Blacksmiths Beach.

"Maybe they didn't want too much traffic while they did the business but it's a good thing and long overdue," Jason "One For" Nunn, from Fisherman's Warehouse at Marks Point said.

"We were due to get the one that went to Port Macquarie a couple of years ago, but no-one poked the bear and if you don't do that you don't get a response."

Indeed, the project has been years in the making, with Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall calling on local anglers to try their luck.

"It's designed to support a large variety of fish species - especially bottom-dwelling and pelagic species that are popular with recreational fishers," Mr Marshall said.

"Although the fish community will rapidly evolve and change in the next few years, patience is the key as the reef will only improve with age."

The reef has been placed on sand, and in fishing terms it promises to turn a desert into an oasis.

"It will take time to get marine growth - barnacles, sponge and weed," Jason said.

"Once that starts you'll see bait fish arrive, and the food chain starts, flathead laying around in wait etc.

"There will be lots of benefits, not the least the ability for people to get to it."

The location was finalised after extensive seabed mapping and community consultation, which took into account the many competing uses of the Newcastle coastline.

"They were going to put it between Redhead and Merewether but that would have reduced accessibility unless you had a bigger boat," Jason said.

"It'll be be interesting on a nice flat day how many boats get out there, but we don't have a lot of bait grounds in close outside so it's a big plus. Kingish and mulloway in particular might find it a good transition spot when moving from coastal into estuary."

NSW Government monitoring has already identified over 50 different fish species on previously deployed offshore reefs, including yellowtail kingfish, bonito, blue mackerel and many more.

"This design deflects currents and creates upwellings, while also providing shelter for fish among the large base structure with its various shapes and crevasses," Mr Marshall said.

"The steel structure is the skeleton of the new thriving fish community; but the ocean will ultimately do the rest with the reef rapidly accumulating a wide variety of attaching marine organisms."

The artificial reef was funded by money from the Recreational Fishing Trust.

"It would be nice to get a couple more but something is better than nothing," Jason said. "It's a good thing for sure but it would have been nice to be told."

This weekend is shaping good for a fish.

Windy and gnarly conditions on the water Thursday night into Friday are expected to abate quite quickly.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday looks very fishable with sunny conditions and medium NE winds easing to light NW by Sunday.

"After a heap of wind and giant seas, that has to mean good snapper fishing along the coast," Jason said.

"Port Stephens will fire up and the deep water on The Farm and off Texas will settle down quickly too.

"It will fire the fish up, particularly as we head into the dark phase of the moon.

"Offshore should be good for those who can take part, providing seas and swell drop off as predicted."

The salmon have fired up in the channel between the heads and there's still a few flathead and mulloway in the lake but the full moon seemed to take the edge off fishing this week.

News of salmon will be music to the ear for this week's Fish of the Week winner, Ray Martyn.

"They call me the 'salmon king'," Ray reported this week.

"I'm a member of the Edgeworth Tavern Fishing Club and every AGM I fight to keep salmon on the list of fish that qualify for our weigh-in because I seem to catch a lot of them.

"That's why I sent in the pic of my snapper because I hardly ever get a snapper off the beach and I just thought it was a bit unusual."

Squid sales went through the roof last Friday after anglers tuned into Fish of the Week winner David Sykes' monster 1.55m mulloway.

The fish broke a long-standing Swansea RSL Fishing Club record and fed five families, according to Sean Griffith, from Fishermans Warehouse.

"Mate, next morning we had so many people chasing squid I had to break out a heap more boxes," Sean said. "My boss [Jason] asked me what the hell's going on, because the squid was just marching out the door."