Spring makes many anglers get the feeling that they’d like to go for a fish again. However, it’s business as usual for those of us who have been fishing right through the year catching drummer and bream off the rocks, trevally and bream in the deep waters of Botany Bay, luderick in the Port Hacking and snapper on the close inshore reefs.

What you will find as the weather warms and the skies start to clear is that there’ll be many more anglers around, both on the water and fishing off the shore. The bait and tackle shops will get busier, your favourite land-based spot like Gunnamatta Bay Baths will have fewer spots to fish, and the boat ramp activity will increase tenfold.

In warmer weather I also see more boat trailers pulled off the side of the road with bearing problems. To prevent this happening to you, it’s a good idea to get your trailer and boat serviced during the colder months. And make sure your tackle is up to scratch too!

With the warmer currents starting to come into the Georges and Port Hacking Rivers the concentration of luderick will start to decrease, but off the rocks the numbers should start to increase. We’ll also see more dusky flathead being caught in the upper parts of the estuaries as they start to move down towards the entrance. Try working the stretch of river from Chipping Norton to Lugarno with strips of mullet, tuna, salted slimy mackerel, soft plastics and blades. You can also try trolling a few hard bodied lures in close to the mangrove lined shore and drop-offs.

The same stretch of water in the Georges River will still produce the odd luderick or two, but I would be working the edges and deeper sections of the river for yellowfin bream. You could also try chucking a few soft plastics around the base of the bridge pylons for mulloway.

The deeper bays like Gymea, Gunnamatta, Burraneer and Southwest arm will see trevally and tailor start to school up, so I recommend that you slowly drive your boat around and look for schools of baitfish with your sounder. Anchor up and start a small but steady stream of berley going out the back, and fish as light as possible. The best baits will be pink nipper, blood worms, strips of fresh squid and peeled prawns.

If you prefer to try Botany Bay you could anchor up on the western side of the oil wharf and fish the run-out tide for bream, trevally, dusky flathead, the odd pan-sized snapper and kingfish. Remember to stay at least 100m away from the wharf. You could also try the drums in the middle of the bay, Mono Point, the end of the third runway and the channel drop-off just out from Dolls Point.

For those of you fishing from the shore you could try the entrance to the Cooks River, Dolls Point, the Captain Cook and Tom Uglys Bridge and Silver Beach at Kurnell. The ocean rocks from Kurnell and down through to Stanwell Park Beach will be worth a shot for bream, silver trevally, salmon, tailor and the odd snapper of two. My preferred rig is a sliding ball sinker down onto the bait, and I always berley the washes with smashed up old pilchards and bread.

Another species that’s worth a shot during spring is whiting; as the water temperature increase so do the numbers of whiting. Tube, blood and beach worms are my preferred baits, but don’t forget that a strip of fresh squid and pink nippers will also catch whiting. Places that are worth a shot are the beach that stretches from Brighton the Dolls Point, Silver Beach, La Perouse, Maroubra, Bondi, Coogee, Wanda, Cronulla, Jibbon, Wattamolla and Stanwell Park beaches. They’re all worth a try.

While it’s true that September brings an increase in boat traffic, and more anglers at your favourite land-based spot, the compensation will be (hopefully) an increase in number of whiting, dusky flathead, bream, trevally, tailor and mulloway.