Mad Shad Down South Mad Mullet Up North – FULL Report #kzn #conditions #cold #front #low #pressure
Mad Shad Down South Mad Mullet Up North – FULL Report: Contributors up and down have been on high alert, and the reports are filtering in.
Enjoy the video…
Today’s update includes news from St. Lucia and Kei Mouth and a bunch of stops in between. Things are goooood. KZN in Natal is actually Heaven on Earth and it sure makes up for the adverse cyclonic and cut-off low systems that we have to deal with in the wet season.
Shad down south are a great indicator that the sardines are imminent. What we need right now is for the waters inshore to cool. The big south swells to build. And most importantly….the aloes need to be in full bloom.
I have noticed out aloes here at the Umzimkulu Marina are starting to form flowers. Maybe another two to three weeks and those babies will burn orange.
In the meantime, we are all having to contend with what is obviously by now, a late sardine run. Not very late, yet. But check the Sardine Sighting Maps on The Sardine News website and you will get the full picture.
Sardines and Sightings
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine! We first upload to YouTube, and then progressively up to the rest of the social platforms (Facey, X, etc) as the bandwidth allows.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube to always get The Sardine News first – and then receive all these perks too…
Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE Broadcasts from the Beach during the sardine run. And direct contact with the Sardine Spy network team.
You can also get around the season in a real fun way by checking out our annual Sardine Run Maps. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.
You can even download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…
2025 Sardine Run: Late, or On Time? Well, it only takes a quick look at our Sardine Sightings Maps, which go all the way back to 2021. They are a perfect reference to see what is happening and the answer to the big question…
Are the sardines late, or on time this year?
PS this page loads incredibly slow because there are 5 Google Maps embedded into it…please be patient to get the whole experience…
Sardine Sightings Map 2021
Ok, starting way back in 2021…we can see that the first bona fide sardines were sighted on 5 May.
5 May 2021 – Coffee Bay – Scattered shoals of confirmed sardines all over the place. Extremely cold water reported as low as 11 degrees could explain this early sighting.
These are confirmed settings by the Sardine News Network sardine spotters. Bona fide and we check and double-check each and every sighting that is reported. Or in some cases, thrown out there. False News probably originated with the beginning of each sardine run! So many people reporting sardines falsely (for the attention?), or mistakenly (they don’t check the date when an algorithm chucks a video from last year into the feed!).
A week later in May 2021…
11 May – Kei Mouth – Many sardines, some together in a long stripe, passed here. Three separate reports confirmed this early sighting. Birds, gamefish and cetaceans were present.
May is a rather ambitious month to be looking for sardines in KZN and even the Transkei. But it does happen! As you will see in the next few years’ maps below.
Sardine Sightings Map 2022
And in 2022, the first sighting was on the 5 June by Kevin in Qora…
5 June – Qora Mouth – Plenty sardine activity offshore with multiple small shoals moving past. Lots of birds, dolphins and whales. Definitely not the motherload yet….more at https://thesardine.co.za.
The next day they were sighted all the way from East London to Mazeppa. By aerial spotter pilot. And a huge shoal was moving past Port Elizabeth heading north at this same time.
Sardine Sightings Map 2023
In 2023, the 12th of May saw sardines in Port Alfred, with video of the shoals by dive operators. Then over the next 10 days the sards pitched up in many spots between East London and Mazeppa Bay.
Sardine Sightings Map 2024
And in 2024…sardines were at Morgans Bay on the 3 May already! Last year was an early run, as it was spectacular. Over the next ten days, sardines were spotted at Qora and Coffee Bay, and in between.
And now we are in real time. Here is the Sardine Sightings Map for 2025. There is already an entry in which Dean Dickinson and Garry Hook made my jaw drop when they educated me on how much I don’t know about these sardines!
Because these guys were catching sardines in the shorebreak in November and December! BUT, all the way down in Port Elizabeth. Which is where the Natal Sardine Run actually kicks off. From this flurry of sardine activity, the fish move north and ultimately become the sardine run over the next few months into May and beyond.
Up until now in 2025, we really don’t have any confirmed sightings of sardines, anywhere north of Port Elizabeth. The GoDive guys have been jumping into the action off Cintsa over the last few great weather days, and they reckon there is so much baitfish around, but mainly red-eye sardines.
Kevin in Qora has his eyes on the ocean all the way down there too. And he never lets the sardines pass his place without a stamp.
In 2025, we added extra layers to the map. There are now whales and dolphins and all other megafauna all in their own layer. There are fishing and weather incidents. And even boating and shipwrecks have started featuring. The maps are actually a wonderful interface to get through all The Sardine News.
And if you have any contributions, video, still or a news story, please use the big old WhatsApp button floating around somewhere on this website. Or you can email to Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com anytime!
Gallery
From the archive of years gone by…
Third wave of sardines hit DurbanThird wave of sardines hit DurbanSardines sightings 2021: Greg Hill snapped us this photo of the action at HibberdeneDirty water vs sardines 2022Sards being netted on the KZN South Coast of South AfricaSardines netted in October!Sardines on the backline off the KZN south coast
Sardines and Sightings
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine! We first upload to YouTube, and then progressively up to the rest of the social platforms (Facey, X, etc) as the bandwidth allows.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube to always get The Sardine News first – and then receive all these perks too…
Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE Broadcasts from the Beach during the sardine run. And direct contact with the Sardine Spy network team.
You can also get around the season in a real fun way by checking out our annual Sardine Run Maps. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.
You can even download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…
Night-time is the Right-time for KZN Estuary Fishing
Night-time is the Right-time for KZN Estuary Fishing: especially when the high tide is late in the arvo, or early evening. Regular estuary anglers with me, John and Barry, set up camp here on the edge of the Umzimkulu this week. Launched their little Tug 10, and nabbed 5 species in their first two sessions!
Here is the news from today…
Perch
The KZN Estuary Fishing Season Has Kicked Off Strong
The first fish was on the first evening, just fishing in the moonlight, tied up to the jetty. John had a new cast net and was producing perfect little mullet, and the odd glassy. After some banter, Barry ended up with a glassy out there, instead of a mullet. And true to form, that little glassy (nearly as big as Barry’s circle hook) produced a screaming reel.
Barry enjoyed his argument under the moon, with a proper perch. The only fish, on the trip, that was kept and eaten. All the rest that these guys caught went back…
Kingfish, Tarpon, Rock Salmon, Kob
The next day, they went out on the Tug and upriver to the deep holes. There are a series of these 10m plus holes all along the edge of the cliff, starting from underneath the ghost house. It was in this deep water, which happens also to the narrowest part of the estuary, that the guys had their success.
Note: John and Barry hold the record for the most kob caught over a long weekend, ever. They totalled in the hundreds, and let every single fish go healthy and better off. Using circle hooks for easy release and a 100% hook-up ratio, they also gave the koblets a good lecture with each release. Doing wonders for the future of kob.
The next day…
Was a little slower, mainly kob and things again.
Python!
Then, in idyllic conditions, Emilio joined us on the big boat. We anchored up against the cliff to be able to fish down in the deep. We never got a bite. Until the miggies came. Then all of a sudden, the fish were there. And as it got dark, we got multiple strikes.
But it wasn’t until the next evening, when we swapped Emilio for Alan, that we got another nice kob which Alan took home to share with his wife.
A marked moment on this trip was seeing a huge turtle pop up. And then a huge snake, with a very squared off head – black in the twilight, swimming purposefully across the river. I first paid it no heed, thinking it an otter. Of which there are plenty in this section of the river. Until I saw Alan staring at the thing intently.
It was definitely not an otter as it silently approached the bank, only a tiny ten metres away from us. Now fully at attention, the boat went silent. And the huge snake slipped into the jungle without a sound.
On both of these evening sessions, the kingfish were mercilessly hammering the little mullet and things on the surface. All around us – at least 20 bust-ups. We had a few goes at them and I had a good chase down, but they were too engrossed in their abundance to pay us any attention. Suspected Greenspots, although some could have been GTs the attacks were so big and mean.
Next timey!
Contact me to setup your own estuary dream trip, use the big old WhatsApp Button floating around somewhere on this website or on https://umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za.
Sardines and Sightings
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine! We first upload to YouTube, and then progressively up to the rest of the social platforms (Facey, X, etc) as the bandwidth allows.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube to always get The Sardine News first – and then receive all these perks too…
Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE Broadcasts from the Beach during the sardine run. And direct contact with the Sardine Spy network team.
You can also get around the season in a real fun way by checking out our annual Sardine Run Maps. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.
You can even download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…
Kevin in Qora Checks in: with not much going on close in, Kevin is going to venture out to the horizon tomorrow and see what’s going on in the deep blue.
There has been a full moon through the last few days, and this, coupled with the big south south west swells running, are sure motivators for the wayward sardines to get a move on and head this way. Where we are far too to eager and early to be expecting too much sardine action.
But sardine fever has already firmly set in here at The Sardine News!
Sardines and Sightings
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine! We first upload to YouTube, and then progressively up to the rest of the social platforms (Facey, X, etc) as the bandwidth allows.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube, and receive all these perks too…
Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE Broadcasts from the Beach during the sardine run. And direct contact with the Sardine Spy network team.
You can also get around the season in a real fun way by checking out our annual Sardine Run Maps. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.
You can even download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…
North Coast From The Air by Rogan Brent: I was at school with a particularly mischievous chap going by the name of Rogan Brent. And he recently contacted me about contributing some aerial video footage of his beat – the north coast of KZN. We are so stoked that he did!
Enjoy the north coast in all her beauty…and thank you Rogan!
“I can’t believe you pulled a stunt like this I was so shocked and amazed unbelievable yes I never yes very well thank you Rogan wow so so we’re live from the air that’s the first for me we’re live from the air man that’s the first for me heading for Tugela ha ha ha ha as how’s the traffic hey $%(&^ all now it’s quiet OK now we talk to each other we are in controlled airspace here OK great Rogan unbelievable unbelievable lekka thank you lekka to be in touch with you buddy you too Rogan and thank you very much for making the effort this morning I’m using that now lekka dude okay take it easy bro Ciao Rogan ha ha ha ha ciao buddy thank you Rogan OK here we got Adam in the morning with a radical time lapse very cool stuff then we going down to Roosta on the south coast couple of waves there then we gonna go and check out the Block see what’s going on looks quite lekker and then he has the Umzimkulu in the afternoon looking quite cool we caught a nice perch last night I must get the photo for you still okay the fishing’s not too bad here’s a whole bunch of fish ous been catching the conditions are good especially on the north coast yowzer but it is cleaning up here on the south coast and ous are catching the odd shad the shad have not gone mad there are some kob around as you can see ah we got a stop press situation Rogan has just sent some more footage in for us right from the air he’s flying there right now this is incredible stuff Rogan and Noel thank you guys both for taking us for taking this seriously and sending us this aerial footage thank you Rogan we’re gonna play out with your stuff too thank you and all in all the next few days are gonna be real good so it matters just enjoy if you can if you can get out there you can best get out there but it even looks good through to the weekend and beyond there’s no more there’s the next cold front miles away okay don’t forget to like and subscribe join the channel if you want to catch those sardines out this year you might see there’s no sardine news here I’m just waiting for the GoDive Okes to report in Kevin in Qora I got his eyes peeled on the horizon too okay check back soon Ciao Ciao”
Sardines and Sightings
Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine! We first upload to YouTube, and then progressively up to the rest of the social platforms (Facey, X, etc) as the bandwidth allows.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube, and receive all these perks too…
Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE Broadcasts from the Beach during the sardine run. And direct contact with the Sardine Spy network team.
You can also get around the season in a real fun way by checking out our annual Sardine Run Maps. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.
You can even download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps…
