The snapper were again on fire and with local boat ramps at capacity, there were plenty of superb sized fish that came in off Port Kembla and Bellambi.

These reds again came from the deeper reefs of 50 plus metres depth with some solid reds pushing close to the six kilogram range and in big numbers.

Many boats reached their bag limits in quick succession with fish ranging from 2 to 6 kilos amongst the bags.

Included with the snapper were some very solid and hard fighting sampson fish that had anglers thinking they had hooked and were fighting monster reds.

There were a few kingies over the same reef patterns and all three species took a strong liking to micro jigs that made it worthwhile for the long and slow drop to the bottom.

Quite a few black spot pigfish and the odd trevally were also sighted in various eskies at the cleaning tables.

There again were some nice yellow-tailed kingfish taken from around the island group off Port Kembla and also off a few well-known kingie haunts off Shellharbour.

Reports say that 90 per cent of these fish were taken by using downriggers baited with live squid and slimy mackerel that were slow trolled around no particular pattern, as the kings found them rather than you finding the kings.

The spin brigade tangled with a few kingies of legal size from the rocks and breakwall at Port Kembla Harbour entrance.

Flathead drifts continued to turn on the good fishing with again some great catches off the sand drifts up north around Stanwell Park and further north off the National Park.

Throw in some good gummy sharks and more than a swag of big flounder, and the boxes of fish coming back to the ramp were nothing short of sensational.

Guys were a little coy but the general consensus was the deeper drifts seemed to hold the bigger flatties and the gummies.

gazwade@bigpond.com