Tackle World Port Stephens' weekly fishing report for 8 May 2026 ran the full gamut of an autumn weekend in the bay — cooling water, schooling bream, mulloway still on tides, and a single weather window on Sunday morning that could open the islands and the shelf for offshore-minded crews.
"Good morning fishos. Welcome back to Port Stephens fish report. The winter woolies are on," the host opened. "We've had a good run with weather, especially with autumn. It's been sensational. Yep, we were due for a cold snap and we've got it." The forecast he read off the chart called the wind backing into the south-west on Friday afternoon and south-south-west on Saturday, before easing out on Sunday morning. "Sunday looking the better of the day. It's light in the morning. When I mean light, sort of 10 knots in the southwest and then picks up and turns more to the southerly," he said. "So, I think you'll be able to fish the bay on Saturday. Sunday, just look at the swell. You might be able to sneak you out around the islands on Sunday for an early morning offshore fish."
The story inside the bay is the early bream spawn run. "With these big westerlies, we're going to start to see that migration of the spawn run bream and also obviously the ludrick and things like that at the moment," the host said. "Bream is starting to school now in that spawn run. So, that westerly will certainly push them into that mode where they start to school up around those natural rock walls at back half of the bay, North Arm Cove, Fame Cove, Soldiers Point, around those little rocky islands and all around the oyster racks." The shortcut training wall and "what I call the car park wall at Windy Woppa" were name-checked as easy lure targets on soft plastics and hard bodies.
Mulloway, the report's other headline, is still firing inside the bay. "Michelle sent me some pictures and absolute stonker mulloway and a couple of snappers she actually caught inside the bay this week. So, you never know what's going to turn up in the bay," the host said. "We've had cobia this year and now we've got some nice snapper turning up and there's been some good mulloway caught all last week. I think I said last weekend there should be some good mulloway in the bay and there was and there is."
The pelagic story has not closed for the year. Longtails have been thin, but the westerly is the trigger to watch. "Longtails have been pretty thin, but with this westerly pushing in the bay, it sort of pushes into the bay, believe it or not. And those tuna are hunting to the wind," the host said. Bonito are still in numbers, with the breakwaters worth a session. "Watsons leading bonito caught off the breakwater this week by young Mike. So, he caught a Watsons leading bonito and a good one as well. So, they're in the mix at the moment."
For surf and rock anglers, the swell holds the cards. "Heard good reports of mulloway on the beaches, but the swells picked up again," the host said. "Maybe those southern corners might fish well. The southern corner of Box Head, southern corner of One Mile might fish pretty good this weekend." The rocks should hold a mixed bag of snapper, drummer, bream and tailor as the water cools, with a spinning rod kept rigged for a longtail or bonito off the stones.
Offshore, the shelf produced for those who got out mid-week. "During the week a few lads got out to the shelf there, no current — fishing for bar cod. So the good thing was there is bar cod out on the edge of the shelf, with no current," he said, before adding that the forecast was unlikely to allow another shelf run this weekend. "That wind's going to get you. So, suggestion is maybe Sunday morning have a look at it around the islands." Big Island's south-western corner, Little Island's eastern side, the 21, the V and the big Gibber were called out as the picks for snapper in the washes and trag on the closer reefs.
The report closed with the line every weekend fisho needs to hear when the winter woolies arrive: "My suggestion is go and give it a crack, even though it's cold."
