Bream – A cautious feeder, bream nudges and sucks the bait before biting. It’s a school fish which waits for high tide to get to mud flats or sand spits where it feeds. The best baits are nippers, green prawns, worms, chicken or mullet gut, and crabs.

Whiting – A bottom dweller, the whiting is found predominantly in sandy or muddy areas. Likely habitats are entrances to channels, creeks and rivers. Whiting bites on cockles, shelled or live prawns, mussels, nippers and beach, squirt, and blood worms. Use very light gear: 2-4 kg line with a long-shanked No. 4 or No. 6 hook, and a whippy 2-3 metre rod. The sinker can run to a trace and swivel or direct to the hook.

Luderick – Luderick can be found in sheltered waters of rivers and bays of the area. Use green weed as bait. Use a long, light rod up to 3.5m long with a 2-5kg line. Use a light float on a No.6 blackfish hook. Wind the weed around the hook and cover the whole shank.

Flathead – The two most common are the dusky flathead and sand flathead. Many flathead are lost as they bite through the line. Use 2/0 to 6/0 long shanked hooks and 6-8 kg line. Best spots are near channel drop offs, sand bars, mud flats or by drifting.

Mulloway (Jew Fish) – The most likely time to catch mulloway, by far, is at night on a full moon. Live or fresh slab baits, such as mullet, squid or yellowtail, in blackwaters, should entice mulloway to bite. Lures are also productive around the mouths of creeks and rivers, especially after a little rain. Lures should be 150-200 mm with at least 4/0 trebles attached.

Courtesy of NSW Dept of Fisheries

3-5 kg (6-10lb) line in all cases, however the hook size varies from 1/0 to 4/0 depending on the size of fish targetted. A wire trace shouldn't be used but you can strengthen the nylon trace by doubling it using a Simple Loop Knot.

Mulloway (Jew Fish)

The first thing you require when fishing for Mulloway is a great deal of patience. The main line should be around 8 - 10kg (16 - 20lb) and the traces a heavier 15kg (30lb) with a 6/0 to 10/0 hook. To rig live bait insert the single hook through flesh behind the head. (Do not pierce the backbone.)

For lure fishing attach the lure to the end of 5-15kg (10-30lb) line without a swivel. For still water fishing use 1/0 to 5/0 hooks.