Warm sunshine, no rain, little wind and a general sense that it won't get any better than this during a pandemic.

Of course we'll all have to be careful around the school holiday social distancing rules.

Authorities are on high alert as the community flexes it's collective lockdown-relaxation muscles for the first time in quite a while.

Lachland Mangion, from Tackle Power Sandgate, reports some nice bream coming off local beaches.

"Good sized chunky boys from Stockton beach," he said. "The trick has been to find a nice fat gutter with a bit of whitewater and drift a worm or nipper about."

Good numbers of flathead are starting to move up through the Hunter river, good size too, responding to baits and plastics.

"This is a great time of year to target flathead with soft plastics in particular and technique wise, it's not that hard," Lachlan said.

"Try something like a 3-inch or 4-inch curly tailed soft plastic lure - say a Grub or a Nemesis, or a Squidgy Fish. Combine that with an eight ounce 1-0 or 2-0 jig head hook and 10 pound leader.

"Find areas of water that combine a bit of current and broken ground.

"Flathead sit nose to the ground waiting for bait to float over and then the hit it.

"Cast out, let it hit bottom, then do a lift and drop retrieve and see what happens.

"You'll put yourself in the drivers seat to catch a big school holiday lizard.

"But remember, If you get a really big one (anything over 60cm) take a pic and then chuck it back.

"They are the big breeding fish and if we catch and release them, we make more flathead for us all to catch in school holidays to come."

Young Kirra Baker did just that this week, landing a 75cm flathead in Lake Macquarie, near Belmont, using squid as bait.

"It was her first ever flathead and she was super proud," mother Meg said.

Another great school holiday sports fishing option is salmon.

There are some massive ones on the move both inside Lake Macquarie and along our beaches.

"Good size and responding to bait and plastics," Lachlan said.

"Salmon are great fish to catch - they go ballistic on big runs and leap out of the water. They're huge fun."

It's something four-year-old Nicholas Riorden knows only two well, having landed two awesome salmon fishing near Valentine in Lake Macquarie this week.

"He was land-based when he caught these fish but he did need some help from his brother James (6) when his arms got a bit tired," father Grant reported.

Brent "Hammer" Hancock, from Tackle Power Port Stephens reports there's been some great holiday flathead hooked up the bay this week too.

"Aari Grace got an 89cm fish, young Sean Andrews got one 74cm on Wednesday on a Daiwa Bait Junkie soft plastic and believe it or not, I got an 86cm flattie the other day too. They're good fun the big flatties. Four to five inch paddle-tail soft plastics work really well."

Good bream in the bay particularly round the breakwall, which Hammer reports is chock-a-block with holiday warriors this week.

"There's been some blue swimmer crabs and the odd mudcrab on the move in Tilligerry Creek," Hammer added.

"And some really nice snapper caught outside.

"Pacific Blue Charters got an 8kg red yesterday.

"Overall, this long weekend is looming as red hot for fishing."

Interesting follow-up on a story we reported earlier this year.

On February 13, local angler Ben Hall caught something a bit unusual in the Hunter River. He suspected it might be a Japanese sea bass, but wasn't sure, so he posted it and it created a social media storm.

Following interest from government authorities Ben donated the fish for investigation and turns out it was Japanese sea bass - a big one in fact.

DPI experts last week confirmed the species and described it as being "exceptional in both size and growth rates".

"As it turns out, it's only a couple of pounds off the IGFA All Tackle record, a fish which weighed in at 28lb 15oz," a DPI spokesperson said.

The fish now holds pride of place on Ben's lounge room wall, with theories abounding as to how it got into the Hunter River and how/why it grew so big.

Larvae transported by boats is a major suspect.

DPI says it's a great story but urges all anglers to remember bio-security is an important issue.

If you catch something and you're not sure what it is, contact the Animal Disease Emergency Hotline on 1800 675 888.

For your chance to win Fish of the Week and a prize to the value of $45 courtesy of Tackle Power Sandgate, email your pics to fishing@newcastleherald.com.au with catch and contact details.