The Manning is a NSW river stocked with rainbow and brown trout whose upper water is classified trout water, and that small upper water is the reason a fly angler makes the drive.
Two rules cut the river into three parts. At the top, a crossing known as the Gummi Trail crossing marks the downstream edge of the trout water: everything upstream, creeks and tributaries included, is listed. Below that is the freshwater middle river, which runs down to a point near the town of Wingham called Abbotts Falls. Further down still, the river meets the tide.
Start with the trout water. Fish the creeks above the Gummi Trail crossing for rainbows and browns, in our read from late spring into autumn, walking upstream from a way in you have planned on a map. It is a general trout water, which means the closed season, bag and size limits and gear rules for general trout streams in the current NSW guide apply there, so check those dates before you pick your weekend. Carry a short rod and a box of dries.
The middle river is the second trip, and one for exploring rather than planning around. Apart from the trout, the river's recorded fish are mostly small natives such as gudgeons and smelt, so treat it as a scouting walk with a streamer. Nets other than a landing net are prohibited in the non-tidal river from Abbotts Falls upstream, which in practice means your landing net is fine and a bait net stays in the car.
The tidal lower river is the last choice for a fly angler. The access card lists boat ramps if you want a boat or kayak on the water, but the estuary species on the river's list, such as sea mullet, toadfish and glassfish, are not a clear fly target, so do not drive down for it on the strength of the list.
Read the NSW trout rules, check the live card for the main river's level, then head for the headwaters.
Water and habitat
The gradient chart shows how the Manning falls from its headwaters to the tide. In our experience the steeper top end of a river like this breaks into runs, pockets and short pools rather than long glides, and trout sit where the current brings food past while giving them a rest from it: the head of a pool where a run spills in, a seam beside a boulder, the slack under a cut bank.
Lower down, as a river like this gathers its tributaries, expect longer pools and slower water, which in our read suits small native fish better than trout. The flow and temperature charts read gauges on the main river below the trout water, so they describe the lower river rather than the headwater creeks. The flow chart shows that river's usual range, and the temperature and flow chart shows how the two move through the year. In our experience, warm, low water is when a trout river asks you to fish early or late.
The bank cover chart gives a sense of how much of the river runs under vegetation. Where cover crowds the bank, the scrub behind you limits the cast more than the water in front does.
Fish and forage
Rainbow trout and brown trout are the fly targets. Both are recorded as stocked, and the stocking chart shows rainbows released in more seasons than browns. In our experience a stocked fishery means the fish you meet are likely to be young and willing, so plan around the stocking history rather than hoping for a head of old, large fish.
The rest of the recorded list is mostly small fish: Australian smelt, Cox's, striped and empire gudgeons, gobies and longfin eels. The list also includes estuary species, including sea mullet, smooth toadfish, estuary glassfish and diamondfish, and bull shark is also among the fish recorded in the river. The survey chart shows how much sampling sits behind that list.
Those small natives are the reason to carry a streamer. For the fly box, in our experience you want buoyant, visible dries in sizes 12 to 16, such as a Royal Wulff, an Adams or an Elk Hair Caddis; a beadhead Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail in 14 to 16 to hang beneath; and a small dark Woolly Bugger for the deeper pools. In high summer, a hopper is a good bet along grassy banks.
When to fish it
Start with the NSW guide, not the calendar, because the general trout stream rules decide which months the water above the Gummi Trail crossing is open to you.
Within that window, the warmer months are when we would come. In our experience spring brings trout up to feed as the water warms, and from late spring through summer a dry does most of the work. In high summer fish the mornings and evenings, when the light is off the water. Autumn can fish well as flows settle, and a nymph or small streamer comes into its own as the water cools.
Check the live card before you leave. It reads the main river downstream, so take a high reading as a sign of recent rain across the catchment rather than a reading of the creeks. A small stream that is high and coloured after rain is a wasted drive; a steady, clearing level is the window to look for.
How to fish it
Fish upstream. Trout on small water face the current, so coming from below keeps you behind them. Move slowly, stay low, and fish the near water before you step into it.
A three- or four-weight rod with a floating line and a long, fine leader suits the headwater creeks. Most casts will be short. Where scrub closes in behind you, a roll cast saves the fly and your temper.
Drop the dry at the head of each run and let it come back to you without drag. When nothing rises, a dry-dropper lets the dry act as an indicator for a nymph a short way beneath it. In the deeper, slower pools, a small streamer swung past a bank or a log can move a trout that ignores everything on top.
Access and safety
The access card lists the sites where you can reach the water, a mix of boat ramps and angler access sites. Treat each as a way in, not as permission to cross the land beside it; assume the land beside the river is private unless you know otherwise, and where a track runs through farmland, ask first. For the trout water above the Gummi Trail crossing, plan your route on a map before you set out.
As on any hill-country stream, rocks in fast water are slippery and a small river can rise quickly after rain upstream. Wade slowly, test your footing, and check the live card before you go. On the tidal water, wear a lifejacket in a kayak or small boat.
Regulations
The Manning, its creeks and its tributaries upstream from the Gummi Trail crossing are a general trout water in the Peel District. The closed season, bag and size limits and gear rules that the current NSW guide sets for general trout streams apply there, so read them before you fish.
In the non-tidal Manning and its tributaries from Abbotts Falls near Wingham upstream to the source, nets other than a landing net may not be used. That notice restricts nets only, and it says further closures may apply, so check the NSW closed-waters list as well.
Open the current NSW fishing rules and regulations and the general freshwater fishing closures before you leave.
