Yamba Breakwall (Clarence River South Wall)

Yamba's breakwall is the southern training wall of the Clarence River, running out from below Pilot Hill to the river mouth opposite the Iluka wall. It's the most accessible serious wall on the Clarence: you can park near the root, walk a sealed path along the first half, and be fishing deep, moving river water within minutes. Everything that comes in or out of the Clarence passes it — jewies, tailor, bream, luderick and trevally — and in summer the river's mangrove jack are never far away. It is also the wall the whole town walks along, so the fish are used to an audience.

The river face is the main game. Luderick anglers trot weed under a float along the rocks on the run-out, bream anglers drift lightly weighted baits into the gaps, and lure fishers work soft plastics and small hardbodies down the rock line. Tailor are taken spinning metals off the outer section at first light. Mulloway anglers fish the tide changes at night with live bait, squid or fresh strip, usually on the river side towards the tip. Turners Beach sits beside the root and Main Beach is just over Pilot Hill, so a dart or bream session in a beach corner is a short walk away.

Luderick and bream are the most reliable catches, both best from autumn into spring. Tailor push through the mouth in the cooler months. Silver trevally are common, flathead sit on the sand inside the wall in the warmer months (36–70 cm slot, bag 5), and mulloway are the night prize at 70 cm minimum with a bag of one. The Clarence has mangrove jack — a summer chance around the rocks, bag 5 with no size limit. Dart patrol the beach corners from late spring.

The run-out on the Clarence is strong — fish the slack either side of the change, or step up your sinker and expect to lose rigs. The sealed path makes this the wall for an evening session with the family, but the outer gravel section is where the better water is. After big rain the river runs dirty for days; luderick go quiet and the jewie anglers get busy. Watch for boats crossing the Clarence bar off the tip and keep casts out of the channel when they're working through.

Park at the car park off Harbour Street below Pilot Hill, where there are wheelchair-accessible public toilets. A sealed path runs along the first half of the wall and a gravel track continues towards the tip, so the near section suits prams and less mobile anglers, though the fishing positions themselves are on uneven rock. Yamba's main street, the lighthouse lookout and Main Beach are all within a few minutes' walk. It's one of the easier walls on the coast to take kids — keep them on the path side.

The wall shelters the river side from most southerly and easterly swell, and the river face fishes in conditions that shut down open rock. A big easterly or north-easterly sea breaks over the outer end and surges into the mouth. Light winds and a run-out tide into dawn or dusk are the pick. Floodwater from the Clarence colours the whole entrance after heavy rain upstream.

The outer section takes waves in a big sea, and the rock is slippery wet or dry — check the swell forecast, watch the sets for ten minutes before walking out, never turn your back on the sea, wear grippy footwear and light clothing you can swim in, and keep off the tip when the swell is breaking over it. The river current is strong on the run-out; anyone who falls in is carried towards the Clarence bar. Clarence Valley is not one of the ten council areas declared under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, but a lifejacket is strongly recommended on the outer wall. Don't fish the tip alone; if you go in, swim clear of the wall, float, signal and have your mate call 000, and know your retreat. Boats cross the bar right off the tip — keep lines clear of the channel. Bluebottles wash into the beach corners after north-easterlies.

Most anglers fish the river side of the south wall at the Clarence River mouth, reached from the car park off Harbour Street below Pilot Hill. A sealed path runs along the first half of the wall, with a gravel track beyond. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required unless you're exempt.

Luderick (blackfish), bream, tailor, silver trevally and mulloway, with flathead and dart in summer and the odd mangrove jack in the warmer months. Mulloway are 70 cm minimum with a bag of one, luderick 27 cm with a bag of 10, and yellowfin bream 25 cm within a combined bream-and-tarwhine bag of 10.

Fish the slack water either side of the tide change, especially into dawn or dusk; the Clarence run-out is strong in the middle of the tide. Autumn through spring is best for luderick, bream and tailor, and summer for flathead and jacks.

Yes. There are public toilets at the car park off Harbour Street at the root of the wall, below Pilot Hill, and Yamba's shops are a few minutes' walk away.