Harrington Breakwall (Manning River)

Harrington's breakwall is the long rock training wall on the northern side of the Manning River's main entrance, running along the river's deep main channel. The Manning is one of the biggest rivers on the NSW coast, and everything it drains — bait, prawns, weed and the fish that follow them — squeezes past this wall on its way to the sea. On one side is the deep main channel, on the other a shallow sandy lagoon, so a single walk covers jewie water and whiting flats. It is the Manning's best-known land-based mulloway spot, and the same water holds bream, flathead and blackfish.

The mulloway crowd fishes the deep channel edge on the run-out tide and the slack either side of it, mostly after dark, with live mullet, squid or fresh fillet baits and big soft plastics hopped along the bottom. Bream fishers drift prawns, yabbies or mullet strip along the rocks with as little lead as the current allows. Flathead come to soft plastics and small vibes cast along the channel edge and worked back down the slope, especially on the last of the run-out. Luderick anglers float green weed along the wall in the cooler months, and whiting fishers turn around and fish yabbies or worms over the lagoon flats on a rising tide.

Mulloway are the fish people come for — 70 cm minimum with a bag of one per person, and a boat limit of two when two or more anglers are aboard. Yellowfin bream are the everyday catch, 25 cm minimum in a combined bag of 10 with tarwhine. Dusky flathead must be between 36 and 70 cm to keep, with a bag of five, and the big breeders over 70 cm go back. Luderick are 27 cm and 10 a day, sand whiting 27 cm in a shared whiting bag of 20, and tailor 30 cm with a bag of 10 when they push in from the beach.

The run-out is the tide most locals plan around, because it drains bait off the flats and pulls it along the wall into the channel. The river mouth is not fixed — the Manning entrance at Harrington shifts with floods and big seas, and a large sand spit now sits against the outer wall, so the deep water is along the inner, river-facing section rather than at the tip. Walk out and look at where the channel is running before you set up. Bring your own bait or catch mullet in the river, and pump yabbies on the lagoon flats at low tide only where you can do it safely. The only DPIRD closure on the Manning is a net ban well upstream at Cedar Party Creek, so line fishing here runs on the standard NSW rules.

Park in the car park beside the Marine Rescue base on Beach Street, below Pilot Hill. From there a paved foreshore path runs about 500 m south-west to a footbridge onto the training wall, and a path carries on along the top of the wall; the deep-channel stretch starts about 100 m past the footbridge, so allow ten minutes' walk. The rock below the path is rough, so wear solid shoes and travel light. Harrington has a hotel, cafes, a caravan park and a boat ramp a few minutes away, and Crowdy Head's harbour is about 10 minutes' drive north-east.

The channel side is sheltered from ocean swell for most of its length, which is why the wall fishes when the beaches are blown out. Tide matters more than wind here — the Manning pushes a lot of water and the current runs hard in the middle of the tide. A westerly makes casting easy; a strong north-easter puts chop across the lagoon side. After heavy rain the river runs brown and fresh for days, and most species go quiet until the water starts to clear.

The wall is uneven rock with gaps, loose stones and weed near the water line, and it is slippery wet or dry. The river runs fast through the entrance and anyone who falls in is carried out toward the bar — keep back from the edge in the dark and don't climb down to land fish. Big seas break across the entrance and the sand spit, so check the swell forecast and stay off the outer end of the wall in any real swell; if you do go out, watch the sets for ten minutes first and never turn your back on the sea. MidCoast is not a declared lifejacket area; a lifejacket is still strongly recommended on the wall, especially at night, with grippy footwear and light clothing you can swim in. Don't fish the wall alone after dark; if you go in, swim clear of the wall, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your way back along the wall.

Walk out from the Beach Street end near Pilot Hill and fish the river-facing side of the wall, where the main Manning River channel runs deep against the rocks. The outer end of the wall has a large sand spit against it, so the inner channel section is where the depth and current are.

Mulloway, yellowfin bream, dusky flathead, luderick, sand whiting and tailor. Mulloway are 70 cm minimum with a bag of one, and dusky flathead must be 36–70 cm with a bag of five.

The run-out tide and the slack either side of it. The falling water drains bait off the lagoon flats and along the wall into the channel, and mulloway and flathead feed on it, especially after dark.

MidCoast is not on the list of declared areas under the Rock Fishing Safety Act, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended — the Manning current runs hard past the wall, and anyone who falls in at night is carried toward the entrance.