WE are fortunate in Port Stephens to have excellent jetties from Shoal Bay to Karuah, all of which give you a great chance to catch a cracker fish – bream, mulloway, snapper, kingfish, flathead or tuna.

Fishing off a jetty is a little like fishing out of a boat in that you are not land-based and they provide a fantastic fishing platform, ideal for the family to gather and experience the joys of fishing.

Recent reports suggest that big fish have been gathering around the jetties in Shoal Bay and Little Beach.

Earlier in the week 13-year-old champ Darcy Lestone landed a thumping 8.5 kg snapper off the Shoal Bay jetty. Arriving early, Darcy caught a couple of land mullet which he used later in the evening for bait to catch the giant snapper.

Unable to lift the fish up onto the jetty the young fisherman kept his cool and “walked” the fish onto the beach.

Snapper have been caught off Little Beach jetty for as long as records have been kept.

In earlier days the go-to jetty was the old wooden structure in Nelson Bay which was the focus for the commercial fishermen to return with their catches of fish and lobsters. Each season Salamander jetty produces great catches of tuna while Karuah jetty holds a healthy population of bream.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE