Let's Fish Lake Mac organisers say they were blown away by the enthusiasm of more than 1000 anglers who braved windy weekend conditions to take part in the annual event.
Despite gusting winds hampering efforts in open water, event director Michael Guest said it had still been a highly successful weekend, with more than 1000 entrants wetting a line.
"We've had a couple of windy days, but the great thing about Lake Macquarie is there are so many places to find a place that's sheltered," he said.
"The western foreshore has been really busy with people fishing from shore and from kayaks, and the Swansea Channel has too."
Now in its second year, Let's Fish challenged participants to target four key species in a catch-and-release contest: tailor, bream, flathead and whiting.
Lake Mac is the biggest coastal saltwater lake not just in Australia but the entire southern hemisphere, so it really is the ideal place to have a weekend like this
Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser
Mr Guest said that while it would take some time to sort through the hundreds of entries, photos sent through from the first day of competition showed there had been some "monster" flathead hooked, as well as some "really big" bream.
Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser attended the Let's Fish Festival at Rathmines.
She said the weekend was already a fixture on the city's annual events calendar.
"It was breezy, but the rain held off to give us another spectacular weekend of fishing for the second year in a row," Cr Fraser said.
"Lake Mac is the biggest coastal saltwater lake not just in Australia but the entire southern hemisphere, so it really is the ideal place to have a weekend like this."
The Berkley Supertank - a 15m trailer fish tank used for fishing lure demonstrations - proved popular at the festival, as were the face-painters and live music performances.
