THE most common fish in our waterways -inside and outside the harbour, around all the islands and on all the beaches – is the bream.

They are relatively easy to catch and they can be targeted all year round.

The best spots to catch a bream would be the Grit Hole on Fingal Island, the breakwall in Nelson Bay and Tomaree Headland.

It would be difficult for me to tell you where you can’t catch a bream.

Targeting bream around the old oyster racks behind Soldiers Point takes a skill that not all of us possess.

Casting and retrieving with specialist gear requires that talent and there is no better than Lemon Tree champion Wayne ‘Colesy’ Coles.

Colesy takes bream fishing to a higher level as he calculates where the biggest bream will gather at a certain time of day and tidal cycle.

Karuah and Tilligerry Creek hold cracker bream at this time of year as does North Arm Cove and Jimmys Beach.

On a recent outing off Bull Island Colesy tossed a soft prawn lure which attracted a 42cm bream.

The best beaches are Stockton and Fingal.

Find a deep hole, toss out a worm, pipi or fresh mullet cubed bait and hang on!

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE