Masses to offer the angler by Dave Seaman

The twin towns of Forster and Tuncurry are connected by a kilometre-long bridge and surrounded by some of the best fishing the NSW Mid North Coast has to offer.

The diverse nature of the estuary, ocean and shoreline provides year-round options for anglers.

The centrepiece of the Great Lakes region is Wallis Lake, along with Smiths Lake some 40 minutes' drive south.

With an area of around 74 square kilometres and with four rivers feeding the lake from the mountains, the estuary habitat changes throughout the expanses of the lake. From shallow sand bars bathed in crystal-clear water to the snag-filled and mangrove-lined tributaries, the estuary fishing is extremely diverse.

Wallis Lake is famous for the plump oysters that are grown in its clean waters and the structure of the leases also provide ample cover, food and protection for many fish species.

BREAM HAVEN

Forster is a favourite tournament venue for ABT and similar events, with the area attracting many of the country's top anglers and large fields of boats. The diversity of the lake caters for every style of bream luring, from surface and weed flats to structure and deep water wall jigging.

The many leases in the lake direct the tidal flow to channels and around islands, creating eddies, backwaters and pockets to throw a bait or lure.

Perhaps the most popular fishing area in the lake is The Paddock, a blend of leases and flats just up from the bridge. The Paddock is a popular bait and lure fishing venue with many big flathead, bream and whiting falling to eager anglers.

Early mornings there also are schools of tailor that invade the deeper channels.

LAKE SPOTS

Other significant and popular fishing spots around the lake include Breckenridge Channel, which runs along Little Street close to the Forster CBD, and the area opposite Red Spot Boatshed and the Boardwalk, which is a great flathead area especially on a falling tide when the prolific lake prawns run in the warmer months.

The Boardwalk is a very popular holiday fishing platform and the weed and sand channel holds all manner of fish, from big blackfish, mullet, gar, bream, whiting and flathead to some curiosities like the elongated flutemouth and an aquarium of stripies and more exotic smaller fish under the pontoon.

The Cut is divided by the Wallamba River and a Broadwater of the lake. Shell grit and oyster shells line the banks where the Wallamba Channel allows boat access to the upper stretches. The area is scattered with oyster leases and fishes well at the change of tide.

The Step is a shallow bar of sand that leads into the lake proper and deeper water on the eastern side of Wallis Island.