The Shoalhaven is a south coast river you drive to for Australian bass, the native fish that comes up to a surface fly in the half-light.
Think of it as two rivers. The lower river is tidal, reached from public boat ramps, and fishes as an estuary. Above the tide the water runs fresh, and in our experience that is where the bass live for most of the year. The gradient chart shows how the river falls along its length, and it is worth a look before you pick a stretch.
The easiest trip is the lower river from one of the boat ramps on the access card. Black bream are in the fish records, and in the warmer months a small weighted fly worked slowly near structure is the way we would start. The rules for this water sit in the current NSW guide and its closed-waters list, so read both before you launch.
The better trip is the fresh water in summer, for bass on the surface. Be on the water before dawn, fish a popper or a big foam fly tight to the shaded bank until the sun is on it, then switch to a small streamer in the deeper pools. The angler access sites on the card are the places to start looking. If you only have one day on the Shoalhaven, this is the one to spend it on, from late spring into March.
Trout are stocked in the river as well, and the stocking chart shows when fish went in. Treat them as a bonus rather than a reason to drive; we would not plan a trip around trout here without local word on where they are going in.
Read the current NSW fishing guide and its closed-waters list, then pick a ramp or access site off the card and plan to arrive before first light.
Water and habitat
The Shoalhaven splits at the tide, and that split decides what you fish for. The tidal lower river is estuary water: bream and mullet, and edges that the tide fills and drains. The fresh water above holds the bass, in pools and runs along the banks.
In our experience coastal bass hold tight to cover. Look for fallen timber, undercut banks, overhanging trees and the slower, deeper water at the tail of a run. Through the middle of the day they sit back in shade and depth; at first and last light they move up onto the edges to feed.
The flow chart comes from a gauge well up the river, a long way above the tide, so read it for the upper river rather than the water you launch on from the ramps. The conditions section carries whatever the gauges report. A steady, clear flow usually fishes best for bass on a coastal river, so check both before you commit.
Fish and forage
Australian bass are the main fly target in the fresh water, and black bream in the salt. The fish records also include sea mullet and pinkeye mullet, longfin and shortfin eels, freshwater catfish and bullrout, and carp. Brown and rainbow trout are stocked.
Macquarie perch and Australian grayling are recorded here too. If you hook one, get it back in the water quickly, and check the current NSW guide on what you may keep.
For a fly box, the small fish matter most. The records carry Australian smelt, freshwater herring, several galaxias and a long list of gudgeons (Cox's, empire, striped and flathead among them). That is a river full of slim baitfish, and a bass here is used to eating them.
So carry two kinds of fly. For the surface at dawn and dusk, a popper, a gurgler-style foam fly and a hopper. For the rest of the day, a sparse baitfish pattern of about 4 to 6 centimetres in olive, grey or tan, and a small dark Woolly Bugger for the deeper pools. In the estuary, the same small baitfish fly in a weighted version, plus a shrimp pattern, covers most of what a bream will eat.
When to fish it
As a guide's read, the fresh water is a warm-month bass river. From late spring through summer bass feed hardest on the surface, and the edges of the day carry most of the fishing. Through midsummer, beetles and hoppers dropping off the banks can bring fish up under the trees in daylight.
As the water cools into autumn, bass slow down and sit deeper, and a streamer fished slowly through the pools is the better bet. In winter we would leave the fresh water alone and come back in spring.
The tidal lower river keeps fishing for bream through more of the year, though in our experience it is best from spring into autumn. The last of the run-in tide over the edges is a good time to be there.
How to fish it
For bass, arrive in the dark and be rigged before you can see the water. A 6 or 7 weight rod with a floating line handles a popper and a small streamer, and a tippet of around 10 to 12 pound gives you a chance of turning a fish away from the timber.
Cast tight to the bank, under the branches if you can reach, let the fly sit, then give it a short pop and a pause. Most takes come on the pause. Work along the edge rather than out into the middle, and move on if a stretch gives you nothing after a few casts. When a bass takes near a snag, keep the rod low and pull it sideways, away from cover, straight away.
For bream in the estuary, go lighter and slower. A 5 or 6 weight with a floating or intermediate line, a long fluorocarbon leader, and a weighted fly let sink near snags, rock or a drop-off, then crept back in short draws. Bream often mouth a fly gently, so watch the line and lift on anything that tightens.
Access and safety
The access card lists the public boat ramps and the angler access sites. They are places to get on the water, not permission to cross land beside the river, so treat any other bank as private until you know otherwise.
A kayak or small boat is often the easiest way to reach bass water on a coastal river, and fishing at dawn means launching and paddling in poor light. Carry a light and a lifejacket, and tell someone where you are going.
As on any coastal river, heavy rain upstream can lift and colour the water quickly. If it is rising, stay off it. If a bullrout comes up on the fly, unhook it with pliers in the water rather than handling it.
Regulations
Read the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development fishing guide before you fish the Shoalhaven, and check its list of closed waters for this river. Read the part that covers the water you are on, fresh or salt.
Before you go, read the current NSW fishing rules and regulations, the freshwater bag and size limits and the general freshwater closures, and confirm the fishing fee.
