Old Bar Beach

Old Bar Beach is the long, open surf beach in front of Old Bar village, running north toward Farquhar Inlet — the Manning River's southern mouth — and south toward Wallabi Point. It is a classic NSW gutter beach, with banks and holes that move after every swell, and the ocean beaches here are productive for salmon, tailor, mulloway and dart. The river influence to the north keeps bait moving along the shore, and chopper tailor take lures and bait on the Manning beaches. The beach also erodes badly in big seas.

Walk the beach at low tide first and find the gutters — the darker, deeper water between the sandbank and the shore, and the rips that drain them. Then fish the top half of the tide into them. Tailor and salmon anglers cast ganged pilchards or 30–60 g metals into the gutter mouths at first and last light. Whiting, bream and dart come to beachworms, pipis or yabbies on a light running rig in the shallow gutters close to shore. Mulloway are a night-time bait job — fresh fillet, squid or beachworm in the deepest hole you can find, ideally on a rising tide after dark.

Tailor are a cooler-month mainstay on beaches like this, 30 cm minimum with a bag of 10. Australian salmon join them on the winter southerlies, with no minimum size in NSW and a bag of five. Sand whiting run through the warmer months, 27 cm minimum in a shared whiting bag of 20, and dart fill in on light gear over summer under the general NSW bag of 20. Yellowfin bream work the gutters all year (25 cm, combined bag of 10 with tarwhine), and mulloway are the night prize at 70 cm minimum and a bag of one.

Spend time reading the beach before you bait up — a gutter with a clear rip at each end will out-fish a flat stretch every time. Beachworms are the best bait for whiting and bream, and you can catch your own on the low tide with a stinky bait and a quick hand. Pipis can only be taken for use as bait and must not be carried more than 50 metres from the high-water mark, so use them on the spot. Fish the edges of the day for tailor and salmon; middays are usually slow. Keep well clear of the flagged swimming area in front of the surf club in the patrol season.

The main access is beside the Old Bar Surf Life Saving Club, off Ungala Road beside Old Bar Park, with parking, toilets, cafes and a takeaway a short walk from the sand. Storm erosion has closed accesses here more than once — MidCoast Council shut the main pedestrian access and the surf club vehicle access after the July 2024 storms — so check council notices if the sea has been big. From the surf club you can walk north or south along the beach to find a better gutter.

Old Bar faces east and takes the full force of any east or south-east swell. A small to medium swell of about 1 metre is ideal, because it digs gutters without making them unfishable; anything over 2 metres closes most of it down. Light westerly or offshore winds make casting easy and flatten the surf. North-easters blow onshore.

Old Bar is an exposed surf beach with strong rips, and the rips that make good gutters are the same ones that drag swimmers and waders out — don't wade out to reach a sand bank. Farquhar Inlet, at the north end of the beach, opens and closes with floods and swell; never assume it is open or safe to cross, and stay off its banks when it breaks out. The eroded dune face can be a steep sand cliff after storms. Patrolled swimming areas are for swimmers, so fish well away from the flags.

Yes, it is a typical NSW gutter beach for tailor and salmon in the cooler months and whiting, dart and bream in the warmer months, with mulloway at night. The best fishing is in the deeper gutters near rips, fished on a rising tide at dawn or dusk.

Beachworms and pipis for whiting, bream and dart, and pilchards or fresh fillet for tailor, salmon and mulloway. Metal lures work for tailor and salmon in the gutters at first and last light.

Storm erosion has closed the main pedestrian access and the surf club vehicle access at Old Bar before, including after the July 2024 storms. Check MidCoast Council's news releases for current closures after a big swell.

Farquhar Inlet opens and closes depending on floods and swell, so check before you go and never assume it is open. When it breaks out the flow is strong and dangerous, so keep away from its banks.