Categories: Report

8am 3 July 2024 Sardines and Conditions Report for KZN

8am 3 July 2024 Sardines and Conditions Report for KZN: thank you for tuning in and here be your early Wednesday morning Sardines and Conditions Report for KZN.

The stable weather and sea conditions continue through the neap tide cycle as reported today. Right from the ocean. Adam and Nigel are out there catching delicious Natal Snoek right now!

Nigel with his first fish from this idyllic KZN Winter morning off the Blue Lagoon.

Sardines’

Are very hard to find right now. We scoured out every beach and vay from Mzamba in the Transkei all the way to Port Shepstone. We saw many sardines. But way out to sea. Where the dolphins and other predators were simply gorging themselves on the confused and exhausted sardines.

These sardines still don’t know where they went wrong and are just forging ahead in the hopes of breaking through into the sardine Eden. Like the rest of the population who went the right way. Up the West Coast. To spawn and breed and repopulate.

Shad

The shad are distracted by these wayward sardines that refuse to come close. And they are also out there chasing the shoals. Making for some very frustrated mombakkies looking fisherfolk up and down the coast.

At least the beaches stay clean when the shad fishermen aren’t trashing the places.

Garrick

The Master Watermen website has shown some outsized garrick falling to the spear. On average, they certainly seem to be bigger this year so far. However, some real small ones are also being caught and kept. Which is not going to work for next year’s garrick visit. And another reminder that the bag limit is 2 per person.

Kob

There are kob of all sizes lurking everywhere, mainly in the shallows. Wherever shad were biting in the daytime, you will find kob there in the night time.

We also caught this lovely pan-sized koblet in the Umzimkulu Estuary this week. By Wouter and caught on a lure.

Conditions

Are going to continue to ve excellent. And this cold front that has been promised to us will hopefully be on time tomorrow. And will airbrush the ocean into perfection all over again. And the cycle continues.

All we really need, is some cold water!