While many anglers will be putting down their rods in favour of watching Supercars action in Newcastle, those who opt for a quieter weekend on the water should be rewarded.

A southerly change is due to hit on Friday afternoon and continue over the weekend, bringing in better water and conditions for fishing.

"The fishing has hotted up during the week," Chris Drake, from Tackleworld Port Stephens, said.

"The water has warmed up out the front and cleared up, and there's heaps of bait.

"Charter boats like Pacific Blue and the boys on Hammerhead, they've been getting some quality snapper and nice bigger pearl perch, and some netting line stuff in that 40-50 metre mark.

"There's been some good kingfish show up down here in the marina, inside the estuary and also some good fish out near the islands, out the front and all the way up to Seal Rocks.

"There's been fish speared and caught up to about 18 kilos. I got some nice snapper up near Broughton and Seal Rocks early in the week as well, up to about six and seven kilo.

"The water temp is anywhere between 19-22 at the moment, with pockets of good water, and it will only get better this week when that southerly blows.

"Saturday is pick of the days with pretty much no wind, but it definitely should be fishing well both days."

It's still early days in the search for quality game fishing this season but there have been some promising reports.

John Frith, from Fisherman's Warehouse, Marks Point, said while it was very quiet offshore, Gary Hoff had snared a blue marlin last weekend "out wide somewhere".

"But he can catch them on land, that's how good he is," Frith said.

Drake said some good dolphin fish had been caught out on the FAD.

"It's a bit early for game fishing, but not a lot are putting the effort in yet either," he said.

"But in saying that, I noticed some long liners were back in. They had some tuna and dolphin fish.

"There is some nice looking water out the front, so it would be worth a run.

"The bait and southerlies are there, and not a lot of current."

Estuary fishing is still firing and flatheads remain a go-to target.

Max Galbraith, from Freddy's Fishing World at Broadmeadow, has been enjoying the spoils in Newcastle Harbour.

"The flathead are at the mouth of the harbour and there's a lot of soapy jew around as well," Galbraith said.

"I've had a couple of good bags of flathead in the harbour, just using soft plastics and it's pretty much all hours.

"They are not too picky the flatties. They will pretty much eat anything you throw near their face.

"The fishing lately has been pretty good, now that the water has cleared up with the southerly winds.

"There's a few jew coming off the beaches, and the whiting are starting to fire up. Fishing for whiting on the flats around the lake is getting really good."

He said his best reports had come from bass fisherman at Lake St Clair, who had been pulling in 30-40 a day.

Drake said whiting has been a highlight in his region.

"There's been some big whiting, all the way from the front to the back of the system. Some as big as your forearm," he said.

"There's nice flathead around and the jewies are starting to show up too."

Frith said chasing whiting on the run-out tide in Swansea Channel was the go in Lake Macquarie.

"And the guys are still getting jew in the deep water in the lake, and flathead in the shallows," he said.

The fish of the week contest was an all-kids affair and a tough one to choose.

Pickings can be sparse some weeks, making a winner easy to select, but three entries this week were in contention.

Four-year-old Jack Twyford and his dad, Paul, had a memorable trip to Murrays Beach last Monday.

The spot is a favourite for the Twyfords and they made the most of the day out, with Jack catching his first ever whiting. He also had his first crack at using a handline, on which he pulled in a nice bream.

Young Jess Apthorpe, from Cessnock, went close to taking the prize with her 44cm bream caught in Lake Macquarie on Saturday.

However, there can be only one winner and that was Caitlin Brown, from Floraville, with a 47cm bream snared at Valentine.

Keep the entries coming in, and if you miss out, you could still reel in a win on a quiet week in the future when we're forced to go back through the archives to crown a champion.