The days are becoming quite hot and long, so plan to get out on the water early, have a break in the middle of the day, and then fish until sunset when the fish tend to bite quite well.

All the river systems down my part of the valley will be fishing okay, but they really need some decent rainfall upstream to provide a good flush out.

The bass will take crankbaits and spinnerbaits in bright patterns, along with 50mm lipless cranks. I find the better fishing results come from surface lures in the low light periods of the day, and it also gives the best adrenalin rush. There are heaps of surface lures on the market, but in recent times I have found the Bisen from Smith Lures and the Jackall Frogs are dynamite in around cover. If fishing along the rivers, target the cover adjacent to native trees rather than the willows, as these are better food sources for the bass.

There are plenty of mullet in the river, which are good fun for the kids to target. All you need for bait is fresh bread, or make up some dough and add a little a vanilla essence.

The Williams River has plenty of bass down around Clarencetown this month, but there are always a lot of ski boats to watch out for out on the water.

Up at the Barringtons rain is desperately needed to get the streams up and flowing again, and the fish on the move.

Lake St Clair is just holding its own, as it too needs rain to get the water quality up and the fish on the bite. There is some short weed around the banks, but with the warmer weather it is starting to die off. St Clair now lends itself to all forms of fishing, with surface lures early and late in the day, crankbaits and spinnerbaits later, and good trolling and bait fishing as required.

As the day progresses, the fish will move back from the edges into 4-8m around the old river channels and steep banks, trying to get away from the bright sunlight. This is when deeper lures or heavier spinnerbaits are required, and so Jackall TN60s and 1/2oz spinnerbaits come into their own.

Some good areas to try are up in the bays in the Carrowbrook, and then move out into the deeper river channels that run along Loder, Perkins and Walaroo points.

Up the Fallbrook, the areas near Point Andrews and Richards Point are worth trying, as they are also adjacent to the river channel.

Fishing around trees in 6-8m and off the banks using worms should get you a feed of catties and the odd golden.

Back in 2006, I remember a discussion with Singleton Council about a plan to update the park, and in 2014 here they are talking about it again, so it will be interesting to see if it comes to fruition this time.

In early December, along with the DPI boys from Taylors Beach Hatchery we did a stocking of bass fingerlings into St Clair and Glenbawn, which should bear fruit in years to come.

Lake Glenbawn is usually a bit tough this month and there will be a lot of boats on the water. It is a good idea to get out early before it gets too hot, and it is also quite common for the wind to be up as well.

The dam is slowly dropping, but there are still some banks worth fishing, especially in low light periods as they have a good covering of timber. Again, start out with the surface lures and then move deeper with spinnerbaits and lipless cranks. Two good surface lures are from the Jackall range of SK Pops and Frogs in dark patterns, and Megabass with the Siglett. If using spinnerbaits, I tend to favour the Bassman 1/2oz with willow blades, as it will go quite deep and hold there on the retrieve. I like to pause for a few seconds to let it settle back deeper, even onto the bottom at times.

My favourite lipless are from Jackall, both the TN 50 and 60. They have recently reintroduced some of their early patterns, which were very productive.

The thermocline is down around the 5-8m this month, so if trolling or sounding out areas, concentrate around this depth. If you come across bass holding in the tops of trees, target them with ice-jigs or vertically fished plastics.

Bait fishing is the norm for a lot of people on holidays, with good results coming by way of fishing from the shore around the park using worms and yabbies, and out around the dam amongst the big timber in the 10m areas.

Trollers should try up around Yellow Buoy bay and Boat Harbour with lures that run down around 6-8m. Purple is a good colour.