Fishing over the Easter holidays has been nothing short of spectacular, and should hold up well into the first half of this weekend.
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A southerly is tipped to make things a bit uncomfortable on the Sunday, but the upshot is it should keep the warm water pressed into the coast.
It will also hopefully bring in a bit of swell for the World Surf League event at Newcastle before conditions settle down next week.
Kyle Axisa, from Fishermans Warehouse at Marks Point, reports plenty of bonito and mac tuna off Moon Island, with the odd salmon kicking into gear.
"We've also seen a a few bream caught along the beach and snapper along the inshore reefs," he said.
"Water remains a bit dirty from the floods but is on the improve.
"A real highlight has been the number of spangled emperor caught this week; fish up to 3kg.
"Peeled prawns and stripped baits like bonito have been successful.
"There's been a lot of bream in the wash, fish from 35cm and up.
"Probably coming in for a feed in that murkier water.
"There's also been a great run of squid."
Wide alive
Anglers took the opportunity to test the waters out wide over the Easter break and were well rewarded with multiple reports of blue marlin, dolphin fish and short-bill spearfish.
One such angler was our Fish of the Week winner this week, Luke Weeks, which is a lot of "weeks" to get in one sentence.
But the 130kg striped marlin Luke hooked off Port Stephens last Saturday provided a lifetime of memories for the keen angler.
"Mate I was over the moon, and I can't stop smiling," Luke reported yesterday.
"It was my first marlin and I got it on a Zac Attack Sprocket.
"Mate, it got pretty hectic pretty quick, but to see it jumping around out the back of the boat during the 20-minute fight was awesome to watch and I loved every minute of it.
"Tell you what though, I had a bit of a power/victory spew at the end of it."
Luke was fishing on Jason Houston's boat Top Shelf with deckhands Kaneo Ivyelliott and Chad Watts out of Port Stephens.
"Conditions out wide were pristine," Luke said.
"The first couple of kms were pretty putrid from the aftermath of the floods, but out wide it was sky blue, beautiful, with water temp tween 23 and 26 degrees."
Luke is a keen estuary fisho but has been spreading his wings into the offshore caper lately, with great success.
"I got my first dolphin fish two weeks ago and now I've got my first marlin," he said.
"We're heading out again this weekend with the same crew, probably minus Chad who has something on.
"Like they say, you don't mess with success."
Feeling blue
Pat Nunn, from Fisherman's Warehouse, reports Luke was not alone in getting among the marlin last weekend.
"I think three boats, all from Lake Macquarie, got blues ranging from 123kg up to approximately 150kg," he said.
"The weekend really turned it on.
"I think All Zeroes lost a blue, got a dolphin fish and a short-billed spearfish.
"Matt Smith, fishing on Okaj, might have tagged a blue as well.
"Fishing was good out on the edge and it's made for a very interesting run to the end of the season in the Lake Mac Game Fishing Club Tag and Release race between Fifi and Ellmad
"If all these marlin stick around there will certainly be a lot to talk about."
There were also reports of yellowfin caught last weekend, but as Pat says, you have to do the miles to get the smiles with them.
"You really have to go wide to get yellowfin," he said.
In other news, fellow Fisherman's Warehouse worker Alex Schmaler-Loomes got a 21kg cobia fishing the washes at Broughton for snapper, which is not a bad bicatch on a light soft plastic.
"There were two caught over the weekend, the second one also up around the 20kg mark," Pat said.
Holiday heaven
School holiday anglers certainly can look forward to catching a feed this week, according to Sean Griffiths from Fisherman's Warehouse.
"It's been pleasing to see salmon moving back into the mix alongside lots of big mac tuna and bonito in plague proportions," Sean said.
"On top of that we've been seeing all these spangled emperor, blue swimmer crabs everywhere, prawns on the march and lots of snapper.
"Inside the lake is going really well with bream and flathead, even quite a few tailor
"Not big fish, ranging from 45cm, responding to divers and metal lures
"Whiting have also been going well.
"Fishing has been firing and it's good to see people catching personal best quality fish on holiday.
"Fishing should be good on Saturday, but a bit ordinary Sunday, but look for it to kick back in into next week."