Evans Head Breakwall (Evans River western wall)

The Evans River reaches the sea at Evans Head between two rock breakwalls, the eastern and western breakwaters. The western wall, on the main-beach side of town, is the one with a path along it from the holiday park and foreshore, and it is the one to fish. It puts the river channel on one side and the surf of Main Beach on the other, so tailor, mulloway and luderick come off the rock while bream, flathead and whiting work the river behind you. It is a small, busy fishing town's front door, and it fishes like one.

Tailor are spun with metals or fished on ganged pilchards into the mouth and the beach wash at dawn and dusk. Jew are a night and low-light job from the outer half, with a live mullet or fresh fillet around the tide changes, or a big soft plastic worked along the channel edge. Luderick anglers float weed or cabbage along the river-side stones on the run-in. Inside the walls, bream take lightly weighted prawn and strip baits down the rock face, flathead take soft plastics on the sandy edges, and whiting come to worms and yabbies on the flats.

Tailor run the cooler months (30 cm, bag 10), with luderick on the wall weed from autumn into spring (27 cm, bag 10). Mulloway are caught year-round from the mouth (70 cm, bag 1). Bream are in the river every month (25 cm, bag of 10 shared with tarwhine), dusky flathead from spring to autumn (36–70 cm slot, bag 5), and sand whiting on the flats through the warm months (27 cm, bag 20 shared across whiting).

The Evans River entrance is closed to traps from a line between the tips of the two walls upstream to the Elm Street bridge, so pots stay at home; line fishing is unaffected. The wall is also a surf break when the swell and wind line up — fish the low-light hours and keep casts clear of surfers on the beach side. The Bream Hole, further up the river, is a calm family option when the mouth is rough. Clean your catch at home rather than on the rocks.

Walk out from the foreshore at the end of the Breakwall Access Path, which starts near the holiday park and riverside parks on the town side of the river. The path makes the approach easy and the inner end of the wall suits kids in calm weather; the wall itself is uneven rock armour and not suitable for wheelchairs or prams. Parking, the fishing co-op and the town's shops are within a short walk. The eastern wall, across the river, is reached from the Razorback side of town.

The mouth opens to the north-east, so north-east swell pushes straight into the entrance, while the Razorback headland to the south-east gives the walls some shelter from southerly weather. An onshore sea against the run-out makes the bar rough and the tip dangerous. The run-in suits the bream, whiting and luderick; a dirty run-out after rain suits the jew. Swell under about 1.5 m is the sensible limit on the outer half.

This is an ocean entrance wall: swell can wash the outer rocks without warning, the stones are slippery, and the bar runs hard on the ebb. Check the swell forecast and watch the water for ten minutes before you walk out, stay off the outer end in big swell, and never turn your back on the sea. Richmond Valley is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016: on the natural ocean rock its high-risk map marks at Evans Head — Razorback and Goanna Headland — a lifejacket is compulsory, with a $100 on-the-spot fine. Wear one on the wall too — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — with 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, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your retreat. Keep lines clear of boats crossing the bar and of surfers off the beach side.

Yes. Both Evans River breakwalls are open to line fishing, and the western wall on the town side has an access path from the foreshore. Tailor, mulloway and luderick come off the walls, and bream, flathead and whiting work the river inside them.

Richmond Valley is a declared area under the NSW rock-fishing lifejacket law. Its high-risk map marks the natural headlands — Razorback and Goanna Headland — so a lifejacket is compulsory when rock fishing there. Wear one on the breakwalls too: adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100.

Autumn and winter for tailor, luderick and the bigger mulloway off the walls; spring to autumn for flathead and whiting in the river. Fish dawn and dusk, the run-in for bream and luderick, and a dirty run-out after rain 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.