Water temperatures are well down in most estuaries, with the best fishing for about one hour when the warmer ocean water moves in on the incoming tide. Anglers aware of this have caught a few nice bream and flathead but mostly only just enough for a family feed.

One angler fishing near Ulladulla landed five bream in the warm water window and another got 15 takeable fish in Wagonga Inlet. There were small flathead in Tuross and Sussex Inlet and a few good sized whiting at the breakwater at Batemans Bay.

Beaches were more productive, although some have been flattened by persistent westerly winds. Jason Reilly was one of several who found salmon and yellow-eye mullet, using pilchard and worms, at Blackies Beach."God's own country" was his description.

Offshore there were enough legal-sized snapper and morwong on the reefs and flathead on the sand and gravel to make a trip worthwhile.

The dream of catching a big bluefin tuna this season is fading rapidly as the word from the pro fishers is that the fish are now up to 130km offshore and moving north rapidly. There was a brief burst of activity when a school of large fish surfaced just 65km offshore from Moruya a week ago but the fun was shortlived when the fish went down after just two days.

Fish have been hard to find in the local lakes because of low water temperatures but persistent anglers have found a few golden perch in Lake Burley Griffin. Yabbies have been the best bait and the soft plastic Jackpot the best lure.

Mick Maher and family had a surprisingly good session in Yerrabi, landing five golden perch to 4.1kg on lure and bait. Four-year old son Dylan was the star performer, grabbing a rod as soon as it went off and winding in his own fish.

Forde Pondage also continued to puzzle anglers, yielding another outsized redfin. The fish was caught on a scrub worm and was 49cm in length and weighed nearly 2kg.

Burrinjuck is still yielding some big cod, despite the low water temperature. Fish of 91cm, 116cm and some smaller specimens have been caught on big deep divers and spinnerbaits recently. Golden perch have been quiet but some have been taken on yabbies and scrub worms fished from the bank where anglers can shelter with a warm fire.

Eucumbene and Jindabyne have been battered by high winds and heavy snowfalls recently and this has made fishing difficult. Despite this some nice fish have been taken by bait anglers, particularly at Hatchery Bay at Jindabyne and Providence at Eucumbene. One fly angler also did well, fishing some water sheltered by large rocks at Middlingbank. Using a midge pupa under an indicator he landed six rainbows in two and half hours. The fish were all large, around 50cm and interestingly, all were males. He kept two for the table and released the others.

In an attempt to increase awareness of the risks involved in rock fishing, Sydney's Randwick City Council proposes to erect death scoreboards at popular rock fishing locations. In the area between Clovelly and La Perouse seven anglers have died in the past five years, making it one of the most dangerous sections of coast along the eastern seaboard. The signs will be bright red, featuring a skull and crossbones and will encourage people to wear life jackets and be aware of sea conditions before fishing in the area. This is a wise move which could well be repeated on the south coast where many Canberra anglers risk their lives rock fishing each year.