An easing of swell will be welcomed news for anglers keen to get offshore and chase the snapper on offer.
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Pounding swells and fierce westerly winds have hampered attempts to get on open water in recent weeks, and while showers are forecast for the weekend, the swell and winds are tipped to drop.
Mostly four to five-foot swells are forecast and winds are expected to back off slightly and switch nor-westerly to sou-westerly through Friday, which looks the best day to get out.
There's a high chance of rain through the weekend, but only five to 10mm are tipped for Saturday and even less on Sunday.
"With swell easing towards the end of the week, you might see a few guys getting offshore, out towards Broughton Island or around the Texas, those close reefs, because I reckon there will be a lot of nice snapper on the coast again," said Jason Nunn, from Fisherman's Warehouse at Marks Point.
Brent Hancock, from Tackle World Port Stephens, said the sou-westerly will make for bumpy conditions but those sticking to the inshore reefs should be fine.
"We're off the back of the full moon so I think we'll find some nice snapper fishing after that big swell for sure," Hancock said.
"I don't know if the weekend is looking brilliant but it's definitely looking better than last weekend.
"There will be some good reds around this week though, around the shallows.
"There will be kings at Allmark but I think the wind is going to make fishing further offshore hard."
SAFE BET
Again, the best course of attack looks to be fishing in estuaries and protected areas. Nunn said tailor fishing in Lake Macquarie remained Plan A.
"It's a sou-west wind on the weekend, not huge swells and some rain, so all being said, it's quite fishable, particularly in the estuaries, so everyone's just got to stick to the plan," he said.
"The estuary is fishing well because guys were able to get out, particularly over the long weekend. There was a weather window on Friday which guys used. Monday and Tuesday were good days on the water as well.
"We got a lot of good reports and there were a lot of tailor in most of them. I know a couple of guys on Monday, Matt Brogan and his son, they had a tailor fish in the middle of the lake and they got their bag limit of tailor, 10 each.
"Just that nice size, 35 to 45cm, and eight nice flathead as well. And the young bloke got a beautiful squire on lures too, just jigging and trolling on the bait schools.
"Down around Pulbah, towards the power station on Tuesday, there were some nice tailor caught, a couple up to 50cm, and some nice flathead in the deeper water.
"There's still plenty of bream around and also lots of trevally.
"I was talking to Gary Hill on Tuesday and he said he got one at 54cm. In years gone by 54cm trevally were a drop in the ocean, but over the years they have depleted.
"There's lots of nice fish in the estuary and those trevally are a bonus catch."
Nunn and Hancock said luderick were also biting.
"There's beautiful luderick getting caught in all the estuaries. I know there's a lot of good ones getting caught at Port Stephens, but there's plenty on offer all over, if the swell wears off a tad," Nunn said.
Hancock said: "There's been plenty of bream in the bay, so that will start to be the norm now and there's plenty of nice Luderick getting caught along both breakwalls, The Anchorage and Nelson Bay."
GONE TALKIN'
Local anglers have been invited to OzFish's latest fish talk at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club on Wednesday, June 29.
The free event will feature talks from leading NSW government researchers and top local anglers on key recreational species in the area, particularly mulloway and dusky flathead.
The Lake Macquarie Thinking Fish Forum will give anglers an insight into research as well as tips for out on the water.
Speakers at the Lake Macquarie event include:
- Julian Hughes - Senior Fisheries Scientist NSW DPI Fisheries - 'What we know about Mulloway in NSW'.
- Clay Hilbert - NSW DPI Fisheries Management Officer - 'Tagging dusky flathead in Lake Macquarie and why we do it'.
- Dan Guilfoyle - Local gun angler - 'How to catch mulloway and flathead in the Lake'.
- Tim Marsden - Australasian Fish Passage Services - 'What is fish passage and why should we care'.
The event will be held from 6pm, and tickets are limited. Complimentary nibbles will be served after the talk.
The first 50 people to arrive receive a $20 fishing lure courtesy of Berkley.
Register at ozfish.org.au/event/lake-mac-thinking-fish-forum-28th-june-2022/.