The slowing currents have enabled crews that are keen enough, to deep drop the depths of 100 fathoms and more for hapuka, blue eyed trevalla and gemfish.

This fishing is not for the faint-hearted with 30 minutes to reach the bottom and up to 2 hours to get the catch back to the top.

Is it worth it? - well ask Cliff Cole who managed a good feed with a couple of nice gemmies around the 5 kilo mark.

With the colder weather upon us, rock hoppers are now turning their attention to bread and butter species like drummer, bream and luderick.

Some good fish have already turned up and John (Pugsley) Phelps, who loves his drummer fishing, has already dined on a few pigs around the 1.5 to 2 kilo mark.

Also as the weather shifts into winter, Lake Illawarra becomes luderick central, with these weed eaters turning up a bit early and some good catches have recently been landed.

Winter bream tend to move into the lake and will hang around any structure or weed clump waiting for an easy feed. The beaches and headlands have been holding good sized tailor with fish in the 50-60cm mark that almost makes them ‘greenbacks’ and these big tailor have been playing havoc with a few of the guys chasing mulloway.

St Georges Basin fired with a late flatty flurry, and a local identify known as ‘Sticks’ caught and released a few thumping flathead between 80 and 90cm.