Brunswick Heads North Breakwall

The Brunswick River reaches the sea between two rock walls, and the north wall — on the New Brighton side, across the river from the village — is the one to fish. It runs out from Christmas Beach with the river channel on one side and open surf beach on the other, so a single walk covers estuary bream and flathead and the ocean-side tailor and jew. It is also the northern doorstep of Cape Byron Marine Park, which is the reason to read the rules before you read the tide. Fish the river side and the beach side of this wall and you are on solid legal ground; cast east or south off the tip and you may not be.

The river side fishes best on the run-in, when clean water pushes up the channel; bream take lightly weighted prawn, mullet strip or pilchard pieces drifted down the rock face, and flathead come to soft plastics hopped along the sand at the base of the wall. Whiting work the sandy edges of the channel on worms or yabbies. Tailor are spun with metals into the mouth and along the beach side at dawn, and jew are a night job on a fresh fillet or live mullet around the tide changes. Luderick anglers float weed along the river-side stones through winter.

Bream are here all year (25 cm, bag of 10 shared with tarwhine), with dusky flathead best from September to April (36–70 cm slot, bag 5) and sand whiting through the warm months (27 cm, bag 20 shared across whiting). Tailor run the cooler months (30 cm, bag 10), with luderick on the wall weed at the same time (27 cm, bag 10). Mulloway are caught year-round and best in the cooler half (70 cm, bag 1). Sharks and rays must go back: the river is a Cape Byron Marine Park habitat protection zone, where all sharks and rays are protected.

The river channel beside the wall is the Brunswick River habitat protection zone, where line fishing is allowed but sharks and rays are protected and crab traps and spearfishing are banned. The beach and sea north of the wall are outside the marine park. The water south of the river mouth is the Byron Bay Sanctuary Zone — no fishing of any kind — and its edge starts about 100 m east of the tip of this wall, on a line running due east from it, and covers everything south of that line. From the tip, cast north-east or back into the river mouth only — a long cast due east, or anything south of east, can land in the sanctuary zone — and don't fish from the south wall's ocean side. Marshalls Creek and all but the lowest reach of Simpsons Creek, the two arms of the estuary either side of the town, are also sanctuary zones. Stick to the river side and the north beach side and you are in legal water.

The north wall is on the New Brighton side of the river, and there is no crossing at the mouth, so you can't walk to it from the village. Drive round to New Brighton and follow the unsealed North Head Road to its end, where there are public toilets, then take the sand tracks about 400 m south to the root of the wall at Christmas Beach. Walk out along the wall's crest; the inner end is easy going, the outer half is rock armour. The beach beside the root is flat sand and suits kids and anyone who would rather not stand on rock. The wall itself is not suitable for wheelchairs or prams.

The mouth faces east, so north-east and south-east swell both reach it, and an onshore sea against the run-out makes the tip rough and confused. The river side stays fishable in more weather than the beach side. A clean run-in tide suits the bream, whiting and luderick; dirty water after rain suits the jew. Light westerlies and swell under about 1.5 m are the comfortable working limits on the outer half.

The wall is an ocean entrance: swell can wash the outer rocks, the stones are slippery and uneven, and the bar runs hard on the ebb. Check the swell forecast and watch the water for ten minutes before walking out, stay off the outer half in big swell, and never turn your back on the sea. A lifejacket is strongly recommended on the outer end — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100; Byron Shire is not a declared lifejacket area. Wear cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in, and don't fish the outer end alone. If you go in, swim clear of the wall rather than climbing the stones in the surge, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your retreat along the wall. Keep lines clear of boats crossing the bar and of swimmers on the river beaches. Never cross to the south wall through the mouth.

Yes. The north wall is open to line fishing on its river side and its beach side. The river is a Cape Byron Marine Park habitat protection zone, where line fishing is allowed but sharks and rays are protected. The water south of the river mouth is the Byron Bay Sanctuary Zone, so from the tip cast north-east or into the river only — never east or south.

The Byron Bay Sanctuary Zone starts just south of the river mouth and runs south along the coast; its edge is only about 100 m off the end of the walls. Marshalls Creek and all but the lowest reach of Simpsons Creek, the estuary arms either side of the town, are sanctuary zones too. No fishing of any kind is allowed in a sanctuary zone.

Bream all year, dusky flathead and sand whiting through the warmer months, and tailor, mulloway and luderick through the cooler months. Fish the river side of the north wall on the run-in for bream, whiting and luderick, and the mouth at night for jew.

There's no licence as such, but you must pay the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry the receipt to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh. It's $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years. Some people are exempt, including anglers under 18 and certain concession holders.