After a month of waiting on Mid North Coast's beaches, the conditions were finally right for the first big catch of mullet season.
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Groups of local fishermen from South West Rocks, Hat Head, Crescent Head and Port Macquarie have been scouting the coastline and waiting with boats and nets at the ready for the schools of fish to come close to shore in their thousands.
One fisherman has travelled from Queensland for the annual event.
"We've been on the beach for about three to four weeks now," said Port Macquarie fisherman Ron Gilson.
"We've got to be on the beach just in case something swims."
Plomer and north of Crescent Head have been lined with car loads of fishermen waiting for the rough seas to calm and for the wind to change direction.
On the morning of Tuesday, May 9 the conditions were finally right at South West Rocks where the ocean was calm, water temperature cold, and the wind blew south-west.
A crew of eight professional fisherman from Port Macquarie's Settler's Seafood were first on the scene at Main Beach from Wednesday, May 8.
"You [have to] wait your turn, whoever is on the beach first...you've got to stay here seven days a week from six in the morning onwards," said fisherman Jeremy Hooper.
The Port Macquarie crew were joined by "the Crescent Head fellas" who took a section of Main Beach closer to Trial Bay.
"Once you've had your turn then they can have their turn," Mr Hooper said.
They wasted no time getting in the water at 2am, with their second haul completed before 9am.
"You have to find a nice flat bottom with no gutters or holes so they can't get away," said Aaron 'Shakey' Shakespeare of the Port Macquarie group.
"Once you see them close to the shore like this you only have a short window to get your nets around them."
The long wait was worthwhile with a successful haul for all involved.
"This is our first big catch for the season...we're really happy with it," said Mr Gilson.
The fishermen say they usually try to get to the fish before South West Rocks, starting further north.
"We usually start down at the breakwall at Port Macquarie and then we just follow the fish up as they come out of the rivers," said Mr Gilson.
Next stops on the map are Stuarts Point and Scotts Head however, with the current gale and surf warning, the fishermen will remain in South West Rocks for now.
"We'll be stuck here for a few more days with the weather. The sea is pretty big until the weekend so we'll have to stay here," said Mr Hooper.
"Once the sea backs off, and the fish have kind of stopped, we'll go back and start at the bottom of the line at Plomer or North Shore and start all over again."
The annual event is a five to six week season. This year's season began at the end of April and will be expected to finish by the end of May.
"We're all fisherman all year round, so this is just another season to add to the list amongst other things," Mr Hooper said.
The mullet caught by the Port Macquarie- based fishermen will be sent to Queensland for processing where nothing is wasted.
"The heads go for bait and they take the onion out of the gut," said Mr Shakespeare.
"They export the roe, they sell the scales for fertiliser, some of the males get sold back to the fishermen for crab pot bait and lobster bait....everything gets used," added Mr Hooper.
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