Social Media is keeping us well up-to-date with anything sardines, and this recent Facey post from Umkomaas waters is tantalising evidence that the show is about to start.
Stay tuned for more imagery and video from these professional sardine run tour operators.
And don’t forget to pop into Mannie’s in the middle of Umkomaas, where you can get fresh advice, fresh bait, fresh produce and fresh vegetables, all in the same place. Now that’s a convenience store!
Video: Sardine Run 2017 – underwater whales and dolphins by Offshore Africa
Video: Sardine Run 2017 – underwater whales and dolphins by Offshore Africa.
Check this daredevil underwater videography of cetaceans large and small, as they congregate for the annual sardine run.
The 2017 Sardine run has kicked off on schedule, with Offshore Africa bringing back and processing the world class video material shot by David Du Tigre – out at sea with Captain Rob Nettleton, just this week (early June 2017).
Offshore Africa have a few booking slots available for Sardine Run 2017. Going to sea with Rob and Debbie at this time of the year puts you in the game for all sorts of action. In amongst the patient whales and dolphins prowl the impatient sharks and gamefish. The bird flight is gathering force as they have been congregating in huge numbers – patrolling the coastline up and down, looking out for signs of sardines.
Yep, it’s one of those. A NO Sardine Report 11 June 2017!
Whilst everyone was focused on the fires in Knysna and Plett and surrounds, and the plight of the people there, the sardines did not try sneak past with the violent weather.
But this is normal for a sardine season. This is only the first real front. After the storm however, would be a great time to be on the look out. Sometimes the storms disillusion the sardines into shore and within reach.
Another two or three cold fronts could be expected, before any real sardine action up in Natal waters.
You can, however, head on down to Port St. Johns and book a ride with Offshore Africa – they are already having sporadic sardine activity in the clear crisp waters of The Wild Coast. And the predators have arrived in numbers. During the week, large pods of common dolphins were coming together off East London and traveling north with purpose and speed. An amazing spectacle filmed by Ant Kobrowisky down there, where Ant is also on the water searching for sards all day every day.
All this can change in an instant, but for now it’s all sardine eyes on the horizon!
The 2017 Sardine Report 11 June is kindly sponsored by PELAGIC. Check out their sun proof gear at http://fishingsfinest.co.za – or click on the bikini above!
Anthony Kobrowisky way down south on the Wild Coast, has been scoring epic underwater footage of the frontrunners in the great sardine run. all week. His underwater videographer skills are way up there with the best, and as you can see from the previous post, has been garnering Ant some serious attention. MSN here we come! Click here to read all about it!
So the sardines have definitely arrived down south.
Then we had an amazing unverified hearsay type report of somebody at his house, also quite near East London, saying that many shoals were coming past, and some were huge. These must be the same fish that Ant Kobrowisky is filming – he is also in that area (just north of East London).
Then it came in that the navy have been doing their job for a change, and that very few foreign or suspicious vessels have been spotted this year. And then let’s hope more of the sardines have taken the Port Elizabeth fleet by surprise, or dodged them completely this time round.
Further north The Sardine’s Mdumbi sardine spies reported huge gatherings of birds and dolphins earlier in the week – lining the coast in anticipation. But a general lack of fish. Which is normal before the sardines hit. Starving themselves for the up coming feast!
And if they come anywhere near Port St. Johns, their eye in the sky will report in immediately! Offshore Port St Johns are going to be at sea out there every possible launch day, and will keep us informed.
Sardine spotter “Tzulu”Dowsett will be piloting this awesome machine as he searches the seas for sardines and their predators is also what happens before the sardines arrive. The fish seem to be starving themselves for the feast coming up.
So, definitely many sardines to report, as they start hitting the coastline down in the Southern Cape a little early this year, and begin running the long gauntlet up into KZN Natal. The mentionable cold front coming into Cape Town right now is par for the weather this time of year, and these behemoth systems charging up the coast into the current, is what confuses then sardines and sends them into shore. The more of these cold fronts that comes through, the more chances of sardines, it seems.
We have a new advertiser on board The Sardine News – and so we welcome PELAGIC Gear…distributed by Fishing’s Finest in Pretoria.
Transkei Sardine Report 2017: The calm before the storm
Transkei Sardine Report 2017: The calm before the storm – which is what does usually happen, before the sards pitch up.
Transkei Sardine Report 2017
Port Shepstone High School rugby star and pro fishing guide Mannie Gereiro is deep down the Wild Coast and reports good news in that the estuaries are fishing well. He is at Mgazana and will report the first sightings or action in to us.
The humpback whales have also arrived in full force, even up into Mozambique.
But at this point it’s all about the congregating birds and dolphins – and of course the plentiful other predators lying in ambush.
We also have spies at Mdumbi (pictured at left), and Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns are out there almost every day on their boats. If you would like to get really into the midst of the action, check them out at http://offshoreportstjohns.com or http://divingwithsharks.co.za
