Category: Report

The KingFisher Shad Competition Is On — This Is How To Win

The KingFisher Shad Competition Is On — This Is How To Win: The biggest shad showdown in decades has officially kicked off — The KingFisher Shad Competition is live across KZN, with R75,000 in cash and a mountain of tackle prizes up for grabs. From Durban’s piers to the South Coast’s wild gullies, anglers are locked in, and the bite is heating up.

The shad bite has been slow due to the increased sardine activity, but now that the sards are evidently scattering and dispersing, the shad will move in shallow. Just like they did this week at Coffee Bay and Port St Johns where the shad fishing is back to normal there] now that the sardines have swim right past.

Enjoy the gallery of recent shad catches and what we can all be looking forward to…

Moving Baits: The Secret Sauce for Big Shad

When shad are shy or scattered, you need to troll your bait like it’s alive. This is how you can also cover ground and locate the shoals. And then capitalise on the highly effective moving bait strategy (image at left shows a MYDO Baitswimmer Silver Bullet 2 Ounce being pulled at a natural swimming speed).

Big shad are aggressive and will take a moving bait over anything that just lies in the water. The traditional style of shad fishing is outdated and has not evolved with technology. These days, we have super-light rods and reels, spooled with casting braid that makes shad fishing an absolute delight. For the whole family. And you won’t look like those old guys striking and striking in vain all day long! Using up so much bait!

Here’s how to build and fish a finger bait rig that mimics real baitfish motion and triggers more strikes:

Bait Construction

• Start at the single hook, extend to the back treble.
• Use sardine fillet, flavoured with cracker shrimp, with a squid core for shape and longevity.
• Cotton the sardine fillet with the juice facing outwards — scent trail is everything.
• Mixed bait = mixed signals = more bites.

The double hook rigs are meant for bigger baits (whole sardine). They are, however, adjustable to take a half-sardine bait too.

The most important thing is to have that sharp little treble right in the back of the bait. Hook points slightly proud of the bait too.

Here is the adjustable double-dropper trace meant for a bigger bait…

These rigs are not for targeting shad only. We have caught blacktail and kob fishing like this…

Reading the Water

• On beaches or easy rocks, visualize the scene in front of you in 3D: find the gutter, pop the baited MYDO onto the sand, and work it down into the strike zone.
• Maintain a steady pace, adjusting speed periodically to mimic different prey.
• No need to strike hard — the back treble hooks the fish itself. Switch to a single if the bite gets wild.

Cast, Walk, Cover Ground

On longer beaches like the Sandspit or Ifafa (both hotspots for big shad), you will need to spend some time on your own determining where the fish are feeding.

• Walk with the prevailing current, gather intel, and fish dynamically.
• You’re not just casting — you’re trolling from the shore.

When the Bite Is On — Go Big

If the shad are smashing baitballs and you need to out-throw the crowd:

• Load up the 2-ounce MYDO, add a whole sardine, and cast with 3 ounces of power.
• Use a top bung to keep the bait off the rocks and keep the bait intact.
• This rig flies over the horizon and lands right on the other side of the traffic.

Wind, Distance & Reef Tactics

• Middle-sized MYDOs are perfect for light onshore wind or when you need extra reach.
• Small MYDOs can get blown off course — use them when conditions are calm.
• In gulleys and shallow reefs, rig a top bung at the swivel to troll over the rocks, not into them.

How to WIN the KINGFISHER SHAD Competition featuring MYDO Silver Bullet Baitswimmers #shad #fishing okay welcome back to MYDO Tackle Talk we talking about the SHAD fishing competition put on by KingFisher this year what fun eh biggest competition for decades it turns out and 75,000 bucks is up for grabs for first prize plus a whole mountain of fishing tackle as you would expect from people like Kingfisher right it’s province wide all over the place and we’re gonna talk about catching these big shad my first advice would be to join the SARDINE NEWS HOTLINE it does cost 59 bucks a month but you get to be in the thick of it and that kind of news we don’t dispel out to the public until way after the fact but to the HOTLINE members that’s where the news comes in HOT alright um I’m gonna talk to you about catching Big Shad because Big Shad likes to go mad after a moving bait you can put your big sardine out there and let it sit there on the reef and wait and wait you can it washes around and then something will might bite it but as soon as you move that bait like when you winding in or or like on the camera here look at this see that the shad are just milling about that bait they’re not even looking at it but the minute it moves they just go wild like this it’s crazy and the bigger shad being more aggressive more voracious and and more everything are the most aggressive so they’re all gonna get if you want to catch a big shed use a moving bait it’s quite simple the shad bigger shad take a spoon you know it’s like they’re more aggressive they go faster and they want a moving bait now I’m gonna tell you how to make a finger or pencil bait but I call it a finger bait’cause it’s about the size of your finger that goes on a smaller MYDO Bait Swimmer silver bullets shad trace that is what you cast when it’s really good weather and the offshore’s blowing it was all very nice and the sea’s quite flat but you’re trying to find the shad you start with this little thing and you just have to throw it out and let it go into the water column as you’ve imagined in 3D what the gutter looks like and then get it down the gutter and patrol the whole water column until you find some bites you’re normally just gonna hook up with this lure because that treble at the back and that’s a moving bait you don’t miss you just don’t miss and by the way these things catch all kinds of fish they don’t just catch shad I caught a kob and a blacktail and ugh we’ve been having so much fun with these things anyway so the bait fits on here and off you go put the wrong way around the bait fits on there and off you go with the front hook you just put a nice fillet on here the nicest fillet that you can cut wrap it from the very beginning of the hook all the way over here and uh make sure the back hook is just sticking out a little bit all these things are proud and then off you go um this is how you cover ground you just keep walking and throwing with the current and if you got a nice Long Beach like Mtwalume or Ifafa or Sandspit or whatever and you want to find out where the fish are cause they move up and down I promise that’s how it works but you as you walk you’ll pick up clues and you’ll start seeing they could be here they could be here excuse me alright so if however the sea gets a bit inclement and the onshore comes up you’re going to have to go up and notch to a 1 ounce luckily there is a half ounce a 1 ounce and even a 2 ounce now the 2 ounce is a monster it’s a real cool thing it’s for when the crowd is on your back and there’s a casting and the roads are cracking and all that stuff and you need to get a away from the from the traffic away from the marine traffic put this thing on here tie a big sardine on tie it on nicely and launch it over the horizon at 2 ounces plus a sardine you’re nearly on 3 ounces you gotta give it all the 3 ounces of power that you can and you’re gonna get over the back line and past the past the let’s just say the riff raff um alright I think that’s about it there’s the three different things the three different sizes in the in the shad pack you get two big ones and two small ones ready um don’t forget to subscribe the hotline is open like I told you earlier you can uh sign up but you’re a like and a subscribe is all we really need to keep this show going thank you very much for watching and we’ll catch you in the next segment Ciao Ciao

Sardines and Sighting Maps

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map! It also features good catches, marine sightings and boating incidents.

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 Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

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

Websites

umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za –  will get you right out and onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine
masterwatermen.co.za – news from under water
fishbazaruto.com – dreams
brucifire.co.za – surf retorts

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