"It's looming as the best of the days, wind-wise and swell-wise," Sean said.

"A few boys have been catching trevally in the channel.

"They just showed up in the last week. There's still some nice bream about.

"Flathead have been a little ordinary."

Rain and wind haven't put the jew off, with some good models turning up this week in the lake and Newcastle harbour.

"There's also been some decent kingies coming off Texas reef," Sean said.

"I've been invited to go out on Sunday but will have to speak to the financial advisor [wife]."

Been a few small snapper caught south of Swanea.

Fishermans Warehouse regular "Lethal Lee" took a charter at Terrigal last week for his birthday and got an 85cm red. Well, his wife Cathy caught it, but it was Lee's birthday

Meanwhile, Lee reports a mountain of salmon in the channel.

"There is a big ball of bait fish moving round the southern end of the lake," Sean added. "They're being tailed by salmon, tailor and range of other predators looking for a feed."

Hats off to Fish of the Week winner Mark Driver who landed a very substantial snapper East of Broughton last Monday.

"It's a cool fish," he said. "I was fishing with my lady, Lisa, my fiancee, and we got this one in about 50m of water.

"It took 40m of line before I could turn it around. I thought it was a shark because you never know what you're going to get in that type of water, but 10 minutes later all was revealed.

"The lady done really well netting the fish too."

It was a PB snapper for Mark, one of about eight the pair landed using chunks of mac tuna for bait.

"We decided to chuck a sickie on Monday because the weather forecast looked great and conditions were really good," Mark explained with classic Aussie candour.

"The morning was beautiful so we went out with the cheese and bickies and made a day of it."

Mark and Lisa are keen anglers looking to give game fishing a crack this season.

Mark is selling his 2012 5.75m Bar Crusher, complete with 100hp engine, and getting an upgrade.

"We're going to join a game club and I'm looking to help my lady become champion angler of the year," Mark said. "That would be a cool sort of thing to do."

Mark also reports there was some excellent whale action off Broughton on the Monday.

"They were breaching three quarters out of the water, it was amazing," he said "A lot of people don't get to see stuff like that."

Mark, who hails from Fern Bay, reports some of his mates are getting some decent jew in the Hunter River.

"I can't say where, but they are picking up fish every night," he said.

Congratulations to Hunter Valley Fly Fishing Club which celebrates 20 years of existence this month.

The club originated in Singleton and used to be called the Singleton RSC Fly Fishing Club, reflecting the watering hole in which the founding fathers did their thinking and drinking.

"One of the keys to this club's longevity is the fact the from the very start it was a non-competitive and sharing environment which meant that if one member was catching fish on a particular fly, they were most likely going to share that fly pattern with others so that they too will succeed and catch fish (only to be photographed and released, most of the time)," club spokesman Lawrence Blackburn said.

In 2002 Singleton Fly Fishing Club became incorporated and in 2016 the club changed to its current name, reflecting the regional spread of members.

Now centrally based at Beresfield Bowlo, the club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 6.30pm (with the exception of January).

Over the 20 years there's some notable achievements, not the least the $8000 worth of bass fingerlings purchased via fundraising to restore stocks at Lake St Clair. Money came from events like the time-honoured carp classic at Lake Liddell power station that rid the lake of a pest and provided unique biodynamic source material for a local liquid fertiliser company.

The lake shut down in 2016 and so did the Carp Classic after brain-eating amoeba were discovered

To keep cash flow up, the club established the Salmon Classic, held at Swansea Lakeside Caravan Park.

The club holds an outing each month, and over the years members have ventured far and wide across Australia and overseas fly fishing.

"People come and go but the club remains and will continue to do so for many years to come," Lawrence said.

For more information visit www.huntervalleyflyfishingclub.com.au.