ONE word for the weather over the past month – unpredictable. Rain, wind, rolling ocean swell and sporadic sunshine.

Of the few opportunities available for those of us who try to catch a fish, the news is all good.

Inside the harbour, bream have taken up their regular winter residence along the Nelson Bay Breakwall with excellent catches reported recently.

Cooked prawns remain the preferred bait and the trick is to let your bait wash as close to the rocks as possible.

Elsewhere inside the port I have heard that blue swimmer crabs are tap dancing from Soldiers Point west.

A few mud crabs to report in Tilligerry and the Karuah River.

On the beaches at this time of the year we would be expecting huge schools of mullet to be moving north.

Disappointingly, for the local commercial fishers and those who enjoy a feast of fresh sea mullet, the season has been poor to date with catches down on recent years.

The fishermen I have spoken to suggest that is all weather related.

On the brighter side, Corlette champion Andrew Cox returned from Stockton Beach with a thumping 2.75 tailor (pictured).

Tailor around the 3kg mark are few and far between.

Such was not always the case as tailor to 7kg were regularly landed off the rocks on the northern end of Samurai Beach using big sea garfish for bait.

Unfortunately, it seems that those days are gone.

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE