Marlin fishing was the order of the day with some boats tagging as many as 15 marlin on Sunday alone.

The number of fish tagged over the weekend between the Nelson Bay and the Lake Macquarie game fishing clubs' Big Fish Bonanza event has been estimated at more than 160.

Marlin have been caught in as close as the 80-metre line.

The key is to find the schools of bait fish.

Other sport fish being caught in the area have been Cobia, dolphin fish and Yellowtail Kingfish, just to name a few.

Reports of Bigeye Tuna and Yellowfin Tuna from beyond the shelf have sparked the interest of some.

Tailor have been caught in good numbers in Lake Macquarie.

Belmont Bay is full of chopper tailor, which have been keen to eat small metal lures.

The key to finding these little scrapers is to locate the bait fish.

Whiting have been caught throughout the sand islands and also Salts Bay is a good spot to try.

Live worms and berley make for a better day's fishing if you are after some whiting.

Simon Rowe