However, that's not such a bad thing this time of year, with plenty of great fishing on offer.

Drummer and groper have been sought after by anglers fishing the rocks from Nelson Bay to Wybung Head.

Luderick are a little quiet in the Hunter system at the moment.

Making the drive to Nelson Bay or Swansea Channel will produce better results.

Salmon have been a fixture of Swansea Channel and Moon Island for a while now.

Small soft plastics are the go if you want to have some fun with the salmon.

Whiting are rarely spoken about at this time of year, but there have been some cracking fish taken on the sand flats of the Swansea Channel.

Live bloodworms for bait and light tackle is the best approach.

There's just one catch: the fish have only been feeding at night.

Patches of flathead have been found in the Hunter River.

Drifting with baits has worked better to find where the fish are holding.

Offshore reef fishing is safe only when the wind allows you to travel that wide.

The inshore reefs have been hot, with plenty of nice snapper and blue morwong weighing up to six kilograms.

Winter is the time of year to chase lobsters in close to the rocks.

A trap dropped on the way out to the fishing grounds in the morning and picked up on the way back can result in a tasty bonus.

For the more adventurous, catching crayfish by hand in the clear winter water is great fun and very tasty at the end of the day.