However a few hopeful crews and boats ventured out as late last week there was a good afternoon bite on snapper for those that could get out.

At 50m depth and beyond was the range and there were some solid fish over the 4kg mark that came on just on dusk. 

Geoff Carney got amongst them, snaring a very nice reddie that went 71cm on the brag mat. Jason Klower nailed his personal best snapper for the year with a fish to 4.5kg using soft plastics. 

The excellent run of flathead continue when the weather permitted with the wider sand drifts producing some excellent sized fish with the average going close to 50cm.

Spots at Bulli and Wollongong sands have especially been on fire of recent.

All in all the water temp is starting to push up again and there is some lovely blue water starting to move in which should make for some great fishing over the coming weeks.

Rocks and beaches continued to fish well for all species and flathead have been increasing on most beaches as are the whiting.

Thirroul, Towradgi and Fairy Meadow beaches have been stand outs over the last week and schools of salmon and tailor are getting thicker and the size keeps going up. 

Dawn and Dusk are prime time but a tide change works just as well for either throwing lures and or pillies. 

Monster kingfish have been responsible for some big bust ups over the last week with a lot of rock anglers turning their attention to bonito and kingfish.

Lachlan Campbell tried his hand at a few kings from the back of Windang Island but could not get a bait past the hordes of big salmon.

Kings have been spotted up and down the coast over the last couple of weeks and constant reports from the divers are still suggesting that we up size our gear as there are some brutes out there at present. Keep up to date with all the latest Illawarra and South Coast fishing information at Gary Wade’s website reeldealfishing.com.au.