A casual flick on just about any coastal inlet or river at the moment is likely to produce tailor, trevally, salmon and bream.

The top of the tide has been the stand-out period, regardless of where you fish.

Pambula and Merimbula estuaries, the Moruya River, and some of the smaller systems around Tathra and Bermagui, have been consistent this month.

Try really small metal lures for maximum fun. The smaller profiles imitate almost perfectly the tiny whitebait that most of these fish are feeding on. Larger lures are often ignored.

Unweighted and very lightly-weighted fish-flesh baits are also deadly. Don't fall into the trap of arming yourself with too much lead - your offering will simply sink to the bottom, out of the strike zone.

Snapper fishing offshore has been terrific. Fishers hitting the inshore reefs are finding plenty of plate-sized reds on bait, along with lots of tasty sand flathead.

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Kingfish are still on the chew at Montague Island. They're firing when the current gets up and running, and are taking jigs, plastics, dead baits and live yellowtail and mackerel.

Trout streams are closed until October but the mountain lakes remain very much open for business.

The winter months arguably produce the best fishing for shore-based anglers, with trout revelling in the freezing conditions.

Lake Eucumbene is falling sharply but still well worth a visit, and your approach can be as relaxed or as energetic as you please.

Laid-back anglers can simply soak a worm a few metres from the bank, with some decent fish falling to this method of late.

More active anglers can walk the shoreline with lures or flies and expect to encounter trout cruising the margins.