Fishing Myall River, Tea Gardens & Hawks Nest
Tidal flows are extremely strong through the lower reaches, pushing clean oceanic water past the river mouth and flooding the expansive upstream sand flats and mangrove channels. Seasonal shifts bring a diverse range of target species, with winter welcoming outstanding yellowfin bream, tailor, and schooling flathead, while summer triggers explosive mangrove jack, giant trevally, and sand whiting action. Flathead remain highly consistent year-round residents, shifting their feeding positions along the shallow drop-offs in response to the changing lunar cycles.
Land-based anglers are incredibly well catered for with extensive parklands, boardwalks, and public fishing platforms along the Urunga foreshore. Wading the shallow flats surrounding Atherton Drive on a falling tide is a highly productive way to target trophy whiting and flathead on light gear. Anglers must exercise extreme caution when wading near the river mouth, as the soft substrate can be unstable and fast-flowing currents develop quickly.
For boat and kayak anglers, the deep current lanes, river bends, and mangrove-lined banks provide endless tactical options. Navigating the quiet gutters and current seams requires a high-quality fishfinder to locate the baitfish schools pushed up against the shoreline. The deep-water pockets hold schooling flathead and trevally that feed aggressively during the brief early morning hours.
Top 10 Species
Landbased
- Tea Gardens Riverwalk: Cast lightly weighted fresh prawns tightly against the concrete bridge pylons on a rising tide. Target quality yellowfin bream feeding in the eddies created by the fast-flowing current. Use a small split shot to keep the bait sinking slowly alongside the vertical structures.
- Hawks Nest Beach Ledges: Cast sixty-gram chrome metal spoons directly into the main current wash on a rising tide. Retrieve with an aggressive high-speed burn to trigger active tailor and giant trevally strikes in the deep pressure waves. Let the lure sink for three seconds before cranking to target fish holding below the foam.
- Winda Woppa Flats: Present live nippers on light running sinker rigs along the shallow sandy ripple zones on a rising tide. Retrieve with a slow, continuous twitch to target sand whiting feeding along the sandy drop-offs. Focus your casts during the first two hours of the run-in tide when clean water enters.
- Bulahdelah River Shore: Lob unweighted baits of local prawns tightly against the mangrove roots during high water. Allow the current to sweep the bait naturally into the deeper undercut mud banks. This is a highly effective shore-based method for targeting yellowfin bream.
- Myall River mouth: Wading the sandy drop-offs near the river mouth is a prime tactic for flathead during the last of the run-out tide. Slow-roll three-inch soft plastic paddle tails parallel to the drop-off, letting the lure bump bottom. Watch for localized depressions or drop-offs where flathead aggregate tightly.
Offshore
- Myall River mouth gutter: Position your boat up-current of the deep muddy channels and use a GPS-lock motor to hover. Deploy live poddy mullet on heavy running sinker rigs using a size four-zero circle hook. Target the brief thirty-minute window of slack water high tide for Mulloway.
- Tea Gardens Gutter: Drift this deep channel using live herring close to the bottom sandy transition on a rising tide. Target active dusky flathead feeding along the edge of the shallow channels. Keep your boat positioned carefully to avoid grounding on the shifting sandbanks.
- Hawks Nest Groyne: Anchor your vessel just outside the main current run and cast weighted squid baits down-current on running sinker rigs. Use a heavy pyramid sinker to keep the bait pinned securely in the fast-flowing river channel. Target the brief thirty-minute window of slack water high tide.
- Bundabah Channel Ledges: Troll deep-diving hardbody minnow lures parallel to the mangrove-lined channel edges at three knots. Select lures that dive to three meters to bounce along the muddy bottom transition. Watch your sounder for large arches holding near the clay ledges.
- Bulahdelah Deep Gutter: Position your boat up-current of the deep muddy channels and use a GPS-lock motor to hover. Deploy live poddy mullet on heavy running sinker rigs using a size four-zero circle hook. Target the twilight periods of dawn and dusk when schooling Mulloway feed.
Hot Spots
- Tea Gardens Riverwalk: Walkway structure offering outstanding land-based casting access for bream and flathead.
- Hawks Nest Beach Ledges: High surf beach gutters holding active tailor and giant trevally.
- Winda Woppa Flats: Expansive sand flats offering outstanding wading access for sand whiting.
- Bulahdelah River Shore: Mangrove shoreline holding quality bream and flathead.
- Myall River mouth: Active sandy channel holding quality flathead and bream on the run-out tide.
Local Bait Tips
- Nippers: Pumped using a stainless steel nipper pump on the intertidal sand flats near the Myall River mouth or Winda Woppa at low tide. Hook them through the tail and up the body for sand whiting.
- Poddy Mullet: Cast-netting is strictly illegal in New South Wales waters so you must catch baitfish using line-fishing methods. Lob a tiny hook baited with bread dough under a pencil float in the shallow mangrove channels to target bait-sized mullet.
- Live Herring: Since cast nets are prohibited in New South Wales you must catch live herring using a multi-hook sabiki bait jig. Jig the rig slowly around the vertical concrete structures near the bridge pylons on high tide.
Boat Ramps
- Apex Park Boat Ramp (Tea Gardens), Tea Gardens:
Tucked right by the Myall River in Apex Park at the base of the Singing Bridge at 46 Marine Drive, Tea Gardens, this dual-lane concrete ramp is designed for small to mid-sized boats. The facility recently received a solid upgrade, adding a floating centre pontoon, two widened launching lanes, a new ramp section, a turning bay, and increased parking space. It is also equipped with an adjacent wooden boarding jetty. Because the Myall River in this zone is located within the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Reserve, any construction or dredging is highly regulated to prevent ecological damage. Vessel operators must navigate strong tidal currents and expect severe holiday bottlenecks and congestion. Nearby conveniences include toilets, a fish cleaning table, picnic spots, and local shops.
- Winda Woppa Boat Ramp (Hawkes Nest):
Located in Hawks Nest, Tea Gardens, this concrete launching ramp is managed by the MidCoast Council and provides access to the lower Myall River [90]. This estuarine area is highly tidal and contains numerous oyster leases; boaters must navigate strictly within marked channels to avoid running aground on shifting sandbanks or shoals [90, 91].
- Lions Park Bulahdelah Boat Ramp (Myall River):
Located in Bulahdelah on the shores of the Myall River, this concrete ramp is managed by the MidCoast Council [8]. The facility was renovated under the state government’s Better Boating Program in the 2001/02 period to improve access [88]. It provides safe, protected launching for recreational vessels and non-motorised craft exploring the Myall River and Myall Lakes systems [8, 89].
- Steve Rich Reserve Boat Ramp (Bundabah):
Situated within the Steve Rich Reserve in Bundabah, in the Tea Gardens district, this concrete boat launch ramp is a public asset managed and maintained by the MidCoast Council [8].
- Cedar Reserve Boat Ramp (Bundabah):
Localised in Bundabah, Tea Gardens, this public launching ramp is managed by the MidCoast Council and provides basic launching facilities for local boaters [8].
- Little Beach Boat Ramp (Nelson Bay):
Located within the Little Beach Reserve at 2 Lighthouse Road, Nelson Bay, along the southern shore of Port Stephens, this heavily utilised facility is configured as a dual-lane concrete boat ramp [4, 14, 27, 28]. It is supported by an adjacent fixed timber wharf; however, because this structure is fixed rather than floating, it is completely unusable at low tide due to severe low-water shoaling that leaves the pier stranded in shallow water, forcing boaters to plan operations around strict tidal limits [4, 19, 28]. The site also experiences heavy recreational vessel congestion and personal watercraft (PWC) traffic during the peak summer holiday season [4, 19, 28].
- Curlew Ave Reserve Boat Ramp (Pindimar):
Situated within the Curlew Avenue Reserve in Pindimar, in the Tea Gardens district, this concrete boat ramp is maintained by the MidCoast Council [8]. It provides launching access into the northern arm of Port Stephens [8].
- Shoal Bay Boat Ramp (Port Stephens):
Situated within the Shoal Bay Foreshore Reserve at 1C Shoal Bay Road, Shoal Bay, close to the southern entrance of the Port Stephens estuary, this facility consists of a single-lane concrete ramp designed for light-to-medium recreational craft [4, 14, 16, 29]. It contains no staging pontoons, floating walkways, or boarding jetties, requiring boaters to secure and board vessels directly from the concrete-sand interface [4, 19, 29]. Due to its proximity to the open ocean, the ramp is highly exposed to incoming ocean swells, significant tidal surges, and heavy wind-driven chop, making launching and retrieval challenging and potentially dangerous during moderate-to-high sea states [4, 19, 22, 29].
Bait and Tackle
- THE BOAT SHOP TEA GARDENS: 152 Myall St, Tea Gardens NSW 2324 | Phone: (02) 4997 0241
Basecamp & Accom
- Reflections Holiday Parks Jimmys Beach: Coorilla St, Hawks Nest NSW 2324 | Phone: (02) 4997 0466
Emergency & Safety
- Emergency: 000 | Marine Rescue Port Stephens: Inner Lighthouse Complex, 5A Lighthouse Road, Nelson Head, Nelson Bay NSW 2315 | Radio: VHF 16, 71 | Phone: (02) 4981 3585
