Plan a first fly-fishing trip to the Hastings River on the NSW coast, with Australian bass in the fresh water above the tide and an estuary below where the state's local fishing guide places bream and flathead.
The Hastings is a coastal New South Wales river you drive to for Australian bass on a fly.
Treat it as two waters that meet at the tide. Above that line the river runs fresh, and the state’s local fishing guide puts bass and freshwater catfish up there. Below it, toward the mouth, the same guide puts bream, flathead and luderick.
Start with the fresh water on a warm evening between December and March. That is when, in our experience, bass come up to take a popper or a cicada fly off the surface beside overhanging trees and snags. No water-specific rule was found for the Hastings, which in practice means you check the current NSW rules guide for bass before you go, rather than assume the river is open or that you can keep what you catch. The one mapped access point is a public boat ramp, so a kayak or small boat is the easiest way in; bank access upstream is yours to plan with a map and a polite knock on a door.
Fish the estuary as a second trip, on a day the fresh water is high and coloured. Going by what the local guide says lives down there, a weighted baitfish fly bumped along sand edges is a good bet for flathead, and a smaller fly around rock and weed for bream. The same rule check applies: read the current NSW guide for estuary bag and size limits before you keep a fish.
In our experience a cold snap is no time to come expecting surface bass; the fish tend to sit deep and the fly fishing gets slow.
Look at the flow chart and the live gauges, then pick your evening.