HERE they come! Big schools of luderick are being reported gathering throughout the port and moving right along the coast.

With the mullet season over, it is the turn for bream and luderick to move north.

Known as “ground fish” by the commercial fishermen the bream and luderick follow the same pathway travelled by the mullet and swim north after leaving the estuary systems along our coastline.

Questions have been asked recently as to the whereabouts of bream, which seem to have dropped off in numbers.

My advice is to wait another couple of weeks and I think they will arrive. I do know that the beaches are fishing well for cracker bream.

Port Stephens provides ideal fishing conditions for luderick, either off the rocks outside the heads or off the breakwalls and jetties inside.

Best spots outside include Birubi in the northern corner of Stockton Beach, Boat Harbour headland, One Mile headland, Rocky Point, Boulder Bay and Fingal Point.

Inside the port hotspots are Tomaree Torpedo Tube, Little Beach Jetty, Nelson Bay breakwall, the Anchorage breakwall and Salamander jetty. On the north side of the port Winda Woppa is a focus.

Catching luderick is a challenge that does require time and effort, as does the gathering of suitable bait.

Green weed and sea cabbage are the preferred baits that can be collected locally.

Ask your Bait and Tackle outlet for the “secret spots”.

Give it a try this season. Good luck.