Out to sea the mackerel are still hanging around, but the northern bluefin tuna seem to be in the greater numbers. 

Last weekend, quite a few boats went to sea including Col Humphreys, Mark Naidoo and Les Rowe who managed a bag of healthy, big mulloway all around the 15kg mark out of Col’s secret jew hole.

They tell me they caught them on the smaller sized live yakkas (yellow tail) dropped to the bottom. The fellas also caught a couple of spotted mackeral to top of a great morning on the water. 

I fished with my father in law, Rob McLauchlan, and his mate Dave Dean, visiting from the Gold Coast until the wind started to pick up from the south. We took a couple of mackeral and caught and released four big tuna which was great fun. 

Almost all the boats out to sea reported catching tuna, with the odd spotted mackerel thrown in amongst them ... the snapper are starting to appear off the bottom.

With the number of northern bluefin tuna in close, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to head out early to your favourite rocky headland for a bit of land based game action.

Try a few medium to smaller sized poppers or stick baits if you like throwing lures, or float out a few live baits or dead pillies and hang on. 

Dont forget rock fishing can be dangerous so always be vigilent and know your limits.

In the estuary a few juvenile mulloway have been caught leading up to the full moon. The whiting seem to have moved into their winter haunts, and the big bream will soon fill the rivers. Luderick can be seen on almost every rock wall or reefy out crop, so it won’t be long until they’re hungry and looking for a feed of fresh green weed or cabbage. 

I travelled up into the brackish water with my mate, Stuart Calnan, chasing Australian bass and bream earlier in the week. We tempted a number of fish with surface lures early in the morning and as the day moved on we threw larger grub-type soft plastics which tricked a few bigger models. 

It’s great when you don’t know if its a big bass or a bream that has nailed your lure.

n Last week work started in the Bellinger River. A number of sites have been earmarked for river bank protection; the planned works will help stop erosion and create a zone for the mangroves to establish. 

Another project that will be undertaken by the crews is the placement of concrete reef balls. This is the first time an artificial reef has be built in a tidal estuary system. This reef is funded by our recreation fishing license fees, so it is great to see some of the money returning to the area.

I hope every one gets out over the Easter long weekend and enjoys a bit of time off. Good luck and remember to only take what you need.