![Ollie and Brendon Roods, father and son duo with some huge mud crabs caught in the Hastings River over the long weekend. Picture, supplied Ollie and Brendon Roods, father and son duo with some huge mud crabs caught in the Hastings River over the long weekend. Picture, supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ruby.pascoe/60914773-82a5-4637-bb37-e800f566ca83.jpg/r0_186_1748_1169_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
What a wonderful long weekend that just passed.
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There were so many anglers out on the water, and it sounded like some great fish were caught.
Many locals have taken advantage of the fantastic warmer weather for freshwater fishing.
Bass season is now in full force with a lot of fish on offer.
When it comes to catching Australian Bass, they aren't a picky fish, you can use a wide range of surface lures such as poppers, divers, frogs, cicadas and many more.
Australian Bass feed best around dawn and dusk, they hang around structures and will hunt bugs, frogs and anything they may fly onto the surface of the water.
Casting a lure towards shaded areas, under overhanging branches, near submerged logs or near rocks will be your best chance at a fish. Also keep an eye on the barometer as they say '1020 fish a plenty'.
In the Macleay River region, there has been huge numbers of visitor anglers with many having a successful long weekend fishing trip. Some great snapper, kingfish and pearl perch were caught offshore.
Down south in the Camden Haven region, there are still a few bream and the odd school mulloway caught off the beaches. Whiting numbers are improving with in front of Lake Cathie your best bet, while North Haven has held the odd tailor, there has also been a few solid salmon about, which is indicative of cool water along our coastline.
In the Hastings River area, the local anglers that have thrown in an early season crab trap have scored some great mud crabs, let's hope this season produces better crabs this year.
For the offshore anglers the past couple of weeks have seen a few boats head wide, with a terrific season so far for targeting striped marlin.
Closer in, snapper numbers have seemed to slow with the odd fish active, but you have really had to chase them. Anchoring and burling at present seems to be doing the trick.
For fishing off the rocks, very little to report as is often the case at this time of year. Best bet is to rise early and score a few tailor from around the Lighthouse Beach, alternately a few drummer remain in the areas not sanded up. Point Plomer will also be worth a look for school mulloway.
The game fishing anglers that headed wide for a striped marlin, Saturday was the pick of the weather, and many boats were hooked up by lunchtime. In the river some of the local anglers have reported a few nice mud crabs are now getting around, let's hope for a good crabbing season.
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