Tweed River Breakwall (Duranbah)

The Tweed River north wall runs east from the bottom of Duranbah Beach to the river mouth, the last few hundred metres of New South Wales before Point Danger hands you over to Queensland. Everything the Tweed pushes out on the run-out has to pass the end of it, which is why jew, tailor and bream stack along the stones in the cooler months and why mangrove jack poke around the rock in summer. The ocean side faces the surf at Duranbah, one of the better-known surf breaks on the coast; the river side is deep, moving channel water. It is the obvious land-based wall at the top of the state and it fishes like it.

Most anglers set up on the river side, where the channel runs close to the rock and baits can be fished straight down the face of the wall. Jew are a night and low-light job — a live mullet or a fresh strip of mullet or tailor on a running sinker, fished around the top and bottom of the tide when the current eases. Tailor are spun with metals or fished on ganged pilchards into the mouth at dawn and dusk, and bream take lightly weighted prawn, mullet strip or pilchard pieces drifted down the rocks. Luderick anglers float green weed or cabbage along the wall on the run-in. Through the warm months a soft plastic or small hard-body worked tight to the stones can turn up a jack.

Mulloway are caught year-round but the cooler months, from autumn through winter, are when the wall is best known for them, and a fresh in the river helps — 70 cm minimum and a bag of one. Tailor run from about April into August (30 cm, bag 10), with bream and luderick at their thickest through the same cold-water stretch. Dusky flathead and trevally take over the sandier channel edges from spring, and mangrove jack hunt the rock and structure of the lower Tweed over summer and early autumn. Bream are 25 cm with a bag of 10 shared with tarwhine, luderick are 27 cm and 10, and dusky flathead sit in a 36–70 cm slot with a bag of five.

The wall is in New South Wales — the border runs over Point Danger behind you — so the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies even though Queensland is a short walk away. Surfers own the Duranbah side of the wall when there is a swell running; keep your casts on the river side or well clear of the line-up. The Tweed entrance is closed to traps (other than bait traps) from the mouth up to Ukerebagh Island, so the crab pots stay at home and the line fishing is untouched. Fish the run-out for jew and tailor, and the first of the run-in for luderick and bream. Bag your fish and take it home rather than cleaning it on the rocks.

Park in the small car parks beside the Marine Rescue Point Danger tower, just above the southern end of Duranbah Beach, or up at Point Danger, then walk down to the wall's root at the bottom of the beach. The wall itself is rock armour with an uneven path along its crest, so it is walk-in only and not suitable for wheelchairs or prams. Point Danger's lookout and parks are at the top of the headland; there is nothing in the way of shelter on the wall. The beach end is fine for kids in calm weather; the outer half and the tip are not.

A north-easterly sea pushes swell onto the Duranbah side, and a big south-east groundswell wraps around Point Danger and washes the outer end of the wall. The river side stays fishable in more weather than the ocean side, but the mouth is a working bar and the run-out against an onshore swell makes rough, confused water at the tip. Low light over the tide change is the prime window, and dirty water after rain sets up the jew bite. Above about 1.5 m of swell, stay off the outer half.

This is an ocean entrance wall: swell can sweep the lower rocks without warning, and the stones are slippery and uneven. Check the swell forecast, then watch the water for ten minutes before stepping onto low rock, never turn your back on the sea, and stay off the outer half and the tip when the swell is up or the run-out is fighting an onshore sea. Tweed Shire is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on this wall — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — with cleated boots and light clothing you can swim in. Don't fish the outer end alone. Keep casts and lines clear of surfers on the Duranbah side and of boats crossing the bar. If you are washed in, don't try to climb the rock in the surge: swim clear, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your retreat along the wall.

Yes. The north wall runs from the southern end of Duranbah Beach out to the river mouth and is open to walk out and fish. The river side is where most people fish, for jew, tailor, bream and luderick in the cooler months and mangrove jack in summer. The ocean side is shared with surfers at Duranbah, so keep casts clear of them.

The wall and Duranbah Beach are in New South Wales, so you need to have paid the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and carry the receipt. The tidal Tweed and the rocks and beach from the breakwaters north to the Queensland border are in DPIRD's Tweed fee-concession area, where the fee is discounted by 50%; the full rates are $7 for three days, $14 for a month, $35 for a year or $85 for three years. Anglers under 18 and some concession holders are exempt. The Queensland border runs over Point Danger, just behind the beach.

Mulloway are caught year-round, but autumn and winter are the wall's best-known months, especially after rain when the river pushes bait out the mouth. Fish the river side at night or in low light around the top and bottom of the tide with a live mullet or a fresh fillet. The NSW limit is 70 cm minimum and a bag of one.

It's an exposed ocean entrance, so treat it seriously. Swell can wash the lower rocks, the stones are slippery and uneven, and the outer end gets rough when the run-out meets an onshore sea. Fish it in swell under about 1.5 m, wear cleated boots and a lifejacket — adults AS 4758 level 50S or greater, under-12s level 100 — and stay off the tip in rough weather.