Shad Fishing The Transkei Wild Coast
Shad Fishing The Transkei Wild Coast: Whilst the shad in KZN are either just not biting, or they have yet to arrive, down in the Transkei some places are getting good shad catches throughout the month of June.
Sunrise on Sea
Njela, deep Transkei. This was our final stop on our sardine-chasing mission, over the last 40 days or so. It’s a hell of a climb down from the heights of this really well-appointed backpackers. But every morning, 4 or 5 guys would take their spinning sticks down the path to the rocky bay, and come back up with a decent bag of shad each. Almost all the fish are handsomely sized.
Mdumbi
You got to be early at this place, first light, and you are in the game. The shad have also been coming on the bite at around 2 pm, strangely enough. And then again in the late afternoon into the evening. There is a huge amount of sand at the base of the point at the moment. So most of the action has been happening on the second rock shelf. Where you can get into the deeper water. Most guys here just throw spoon too. Warren at Nolizwe’s Homestay (Cool Bananas) is keeping us in the loop and will let us know when it turns fireworks again.
Coffee Bay
Steve at Wildview reports that their shad have been feeding at nighttime only?! John-Georg at Rock Coffee Cafe got himself a nice kob on bait the other day too. Coffee Bay has no end of fishing spots. Just be careful on those sloped rocks on the sugarloaf!
St. Francis
Although not the Transkei, it is worth mentioning that the lucky anglers down in the St. Francis area are catching big shad now too. It had gone quiet, but now that the water is back to normal temperature, it’s back on.
Pieter from Gam Garrick sent in these lekker pics from recent sessions.
Sardines
I just spoke to Destiny Cottage at Mbotyi; they report it being very quiet this morning down that way. Up here off Hibberdene, a ski-boater out off the shelf, reported seeing huge showings on his echo sounder, way down deep. This could be where the next bunch of sardines are escaping the relentless Agulhas Current, for now. And we hope they gonna break through into the colder inside water, that has developed recently.
STOP PRESS!
Ballito this morning…
Sardines May Have Arrived in Ballito 30 June 2026 #kzn #sardinerun2026 #sardinenews ? Sardine Hotline – June 30th It’s Sardine Riot Day at Ballito! The buzz is real — the sards may have arrived north of Durban already. Ballito is alive with action: Hundreds of birds diving everywhere, not clustered in one spot but spread across the horizon. Dolphins working the shoals, and even a whale popped up to join the party. No fish on the beach, but the signs are unmistakable — those first sardines just might be this far north already. Adding to the excitement, the water has chilled right up and down the KZN coastline. This cold front is exactly the kind of trigger sardines need to get moving north. The conditions are lining up finally. Keep your eyes on the ocean! Thanks to Harry for the report!
Sardines and Sighting Maps
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps. With instructions on how to install The Sardine News right on your phone, tablet, or even desktop.
Channels
Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining surf reporting
Master Watermen – news from way down deep
The Sardine News – neva miss a single sardine
FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus
MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical sport fishing
Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely
Water Woes – complain about your municipality here
