Pambula River Mouth (Jiguma Beach)

The Pambula River meets the sea at the southern end of Pambula Beach, and the small river beach on its northern bank — reached through the Jiguma Nature Area from the Pambula Beach village — puts you right on the channel where the river runs out past the point. The opposite bank is Beowa National Park, and the river between them is quiet water for bream and flathead. The mouth and Pambula Beach are the local pick for Australian salmon. It is quiet, scenic and a short drive from Merimbula, with no marine park zoning to worry about.

Bream and flathead are fished from the river beach at dawn and dusk, with soft plastics worked along the channel edge for flathead and prawn, nippers or worms on a light running rig for bream and whiting. Salmon and tailor are a beach-and-lure job at the mouth: cast metal slices or ganged pilchards into the gutters where the river meets the surf, at dawn or dusk. The channel moves with the sand, so look at the water before you pick your spot — the darker, deeper water is where the fish sit.

Yellowfin bream are here all year at 25 cm and a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine. Dusky flathead (36–70 cm, bag of 5) work the sandy channel edges in the warmer months. Australian salmon have no minimum size and a bag of 5, and tailor are 30 cm with a bag of 10. Sand whiting come onto the sand in summer, at 27 cm with a bag of 20 shared across the whiting.

Dawn and dusk on the rising tide are the times to fish the river for bream and tailor. The river beach is a popular family swimming spot in summer, so fish early or late in the day and keep casts well away from swimmers. For salmon, watch for birds working over the mouth and be ready to move along the beach. Bring all your bait — there are no shops at the river mouth.

From Pambula Beach village, Coraki Drive runs down to a car park and toilets on the river's northern bank, a few steps from the river beach at the mouth; the road down is steep. The Jiguma Walking Track also links the village and Lions Park to the mouth on foot. The south bank is in Beowa National Park, reached by road to the Barmouth Beach car park.

The river beach is tucked inside the point, so it is protected from the worst of a southerly swell, but a north-easterly blows straight into the mouth. A clean, moderate swell suits salmon on the outer beach; a calm day suits bream and flathead in the channel. After heavy rain, the river runs brown and the fish push down to the mouth. The river mouth is shallow and the bar shifts, so the channel can look very different from one visit to the next.

The river channel at the mouth is deep and fast on a running tide, and sand bars shift without warning — do not wade across the mouth. The beach is busy with swimmers in summer, so cast well away from people. Bluebottles and stingrays are possible. Take water and sun protection.

From the river beach on the northern bank. Coraki Drive in Pambula Beach village runs down to a car park and toilets beside it, and the Jiguma Walking Track links it to Lions Park on foot. The south bank is in Beowa National Park.

Bream and flathead in the river, and Australian salmon and tailor at the mouth and along Pambula Beach. Whiting come onto the sand in summer.

No. The Pambula River mouth is outside any NSW marine park, so standard NSW fishing rules apply. The south bank is Beowa National Park, where national park rules apply on the land.

The river beach is a popular family swimming spot, but the channel is deep and fast on a running tide and sand bars shift. Keep children close and stay out of the channel.