Shoalhaven Heads Entrance

The Shoalhaven is one of the biggest rivers on the NSW coast, and at Shoalhaven Heads it spreads into a wide, shallow basin of sand flats and weed before meeting the end of Seven Mile Beach. Most of the river's daily tide runs out through Crookhaven Heads, and the Shoalhaven Heads mouth is left to open and close with floods and sand. That makes this a different spot from one season to the next: a quiet lagoon edge for flathead and whiting when the mouth is shut, and a fast, fishy river mouth when a flood has punched it open. The spot is the sand edge at the end of the wooded spit south of the village, where the deepest water in the basin runs past the bank.

Most of the fishing here is light-line work from the sand. Walk the bank with soft plastics or a lightly weighted whole prawn for flathead along the drop-off where the flats fall into the channel, and slow down wherever bait is flicking on the surface. Whiting fishers pump nippers or dig worms and fish them on a long-shank hook over the sand on a rising tide. When the mouth is open, the first of the run-out after a high carries bait off the flats and is the time for flathead, bream and the odd mulloway on fresh bait after dark. Salmon and tailor are a beach job — cross to the surf side of the dunes and spin metals into the gutters at first light.

Dusky flathead are the main event, kept inside a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of 5. Yellowfin bream are 25 cm minimum on a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, sand whiting 27 cm on a 20-fish bag shared across all whiting, and luderick 27 cm with a bag of 10. Off the beach, Australian salmon have no minimum size and a bag of 5, and tailor are 30 cm with a bag of 10. Mulloway turn up after floods and on night sessions — 70 cm minimum and a bag of one per person.

Check whether the mouth is open before you plan the session — the whole character of the spot depends on it, and a closed lagoon fishes best on calm, warm days rather than on tide changes. Pumping nippers on the flats at low tide gives you the best whiting bait in the system; saltwater nippers are limited to a bag of 100. After a big rain the river runs brown for days — flathead will feed in the dirty edge, but bream and whiting go quiet. In summer the basin fills with paddlers and swimmers, so dawn and evening are the windows. Carry everything in one bag; the walk out along the sand is longer than it looks from the car park.

Park at the reserve car parks off River Road near the surf club, then walk south along the river foreshore and the sand behind the dunes to the end of the spit — allow 10 minutes. The walk is flat but entirely on soft sand, so it is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs. The village has toilets, shops and a large caravan park within a few minutes of the river. There is no formed fishing platform; you fish from the sand edge.

The basin is sheltered from swell, so it fishes in most weather, though a strong north-easter or southerly makes the open flats hard work with light line. Whether the mouth is open is the biggest variable — when it is shut, Comerong Island can be reached on foot across the sand, which tells you how often the sand wins. When it is open, the run-out after a high tide is the trigger; when it is closed, water temperature and wind matter more than the tide. Heavy rain in the Shoalhaven catchment browns the water quickly and can break the mouth open within days.

The danger here is the mouth itself. When a flood or a big sea breaks it open, the river can drain through the gap with a current strong enough to knock an adult off their feet, and the sand edges collapse without warning — never wade the channel or let children play in it while it is running. The banks shift after every big flow, so a sand bar that was firm last month can be a drop-off today. Seven Mile Beach on the ocean side is a surf beach with rips and shorebreak — swim only between the flags when it is patrolled. Bluebottles wash into the shallows on north-easterly days.

It opens and closes. Most of the Shoalhaven's tide leaves through Crookhaven Heads, so the Shoalhaven Heads mouth is often closed by sand and is usually broken open by floods. Check local reports or look from the beach before you plan a session — a closed lagoon fishes for flathead and whiting, an open mouth adds bream and mulloway on the run-out.

Dusky flathead, yellowfin bream, sand whiting and luderick in the river basin, with Australian salmon and tailor off Seven Mile Beach and the odd mulloway after floods. Dusky flathead must be 36–70 cm with a bag of 5, and mulloway 70 cm with a bag of 1. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee receipt is needed unless you are exempt.

From the sand edge at the end of the wooded spit south of the village, where the deepest channel runs past the bank. Park near the surf club off River Road and walk about 10 minutes along the foreshore and sand. The surf side of the dunes is the place for salmon and tailor.

Not when it is open and running. After a breakout the current through the gap is fast and the sand banks collapse, so stay out of the channel and keep children well back. When the mouth is closed the lagoon is calm, but the drop-offs at the old channel edges are still deep.