THE kingfish bite is hotting up, with a couple of lucky anglers snaring some over the 80cm bite in the Parramatta River on lures and baits intended for flathead and bream.

POCKET ROCKETS: Striped tuna are pretty fish that go hard for their size. Picture:www.almcglashan.com.

Matt T, of Parramatta, was also fortunate enough to land a 75cm jewfish on his lunch break from a wharf he was working on. All right for some.

Dusky flathead are on the chew as the water begins to warm up, and good captures of 70cm-plus frogs have been reported from Middle Harbour, Botany Bay and around Fairlight and Forty Baskets.

As always, soft plastic lures are best.

A couple of yellowfin tuna have made belated and curious appearances last week.

Their absence through winter was noticeable, so it’s good to see a couple coming to the party. But catching one is far from a guarantee.

Gemfish and blue-eye are on the chew out in the same water you’d expect to find these nomadic ‘fin, so you needn’t put all your eggs in one basket.

There have been reports of plenty of striped tuna wide of Sydney, too. Anglers often overlook these little battlers as they don’t taste good and are usually caught on gear intended for the larger, more athletic yellowfin tuna.

Scale down your tackle accordingly though, and you’re in for a treat.

They’re aerodynamic pocket rockets that fight hard all the way to the boat.

They also make a great bait for almost anything that swims.

The charter boats have reported the offshore kingfish action to be pretty slow, with small patches of kings keeping anglers entertained when they can be found, but plenty of water between schools.

Your best bet is to stay close to home for the kings.

‘Mangrove’ Jack Scrine is deputy editor of Modern Fishing magazine. December issue out now.