After a dry winter the whole east coast of NSW received some considerable rain falls in late August and early September. This rainfall as well as some large southerly swells seems to have given everything the shake up it needed.

Upstream, around the Kempsey area, bass are out in force. The top end of the tidal zone is holding the biggest congregations of fish. Deep diving lures and smaller spinnerbaits are still producing the best catches. It will remain this way for a month or so until the summer bugs arrive and the bass feed more actively on the surface. If the deeper holes are a bit slow it is worth while running a spinnerbait over the shallower weedy sides of the river as at times these spots will hold some quality fish, especially if there are any sharks lurking around in the holes.

Moving above the tidal zones, the river has risen a little with good flow and the fish are definitely making their way through the system. Access to most areas is good, and a lot of snags that were high and dry are now back in the water, providing habitat for the bass to reside in. It is nice to see a bass season start with a good amount of water in the river as over the last few seasons we have experienced everything from drought to flood.

Big mulloway have consistently been caught throughout winter in the lower Macleay and this pattern is continuing well into spring. They have been located in all their usual haunts, and some very big fish have been caught from random areas by unsuspecting bream fishermen leading to some very long fights on very light line.

Bream and tailor numbers are very good in the first kilometre or two of the river as well as up around the oyster racks of Clybucca Creek. Bait is in abundance in these areas, and school mulloway and flathead are present there too. The Stuarts Point arm has had a baby seal residing up there of late; he’s been having a field day on the baitfish while he recuperates from a large cut on his side!

Luderick finally made an appearance in the river but how long they will be around is anyone’s guess. The smaller creeks in the area still seem to be holding fair schools, with Crescent Head being the pick.

Consistent offshore fishing in October can be a challenging experience to say the least. You can have a blinder of a session one day only to do the same thing a couple of days later for no result! The transition into summer is starting to take place and this is the key factor in these results, as the summer fish have not really started and the winter species have not fully shut down.

Kingfish are the most reliable species at present and after a few quiet seasons Fish Rock has been producing the goods. Black Rock has also been worth a look and leaves the options open for anglers who want to fish using baits and live bait. Anchoring is also permitted in this area and setting a berley trail can provide some awesome fishing, especially during low light periods of the day. Kingfish and snapper are the main species being encountered here, with mulloesy, bream, tailor and general reef fish always on the cards.

The deeper wrecks and reefs are still holding bigger kingfish as well as bar cod, with the odd report of blue-eye and bass groper.

The 30-60m reefs have been home to plenty of venus tuskfish and a lot of small to medium-sized snapper.

The several headlands in the area are still holding good amounts of tailor, most of which are not too far over legal length. School mulloway are accompanying these schools with best results on this species coming about half an hour either side of dark in the evenings.

Bream numbers are still building along the beaches and around the rocks, although a bit of travelling can be required to find the quality fish. Blue spot flathead have been keeping the soft plastic enthusiasts entertained in the low tide gutters along most of the beaches.