SouthCoast Archives - Page 6 of 55

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Sharks in the Shorebreak! Sardine Report July 2018

Sharks in the Shorebreak! Sardine Report July 2018

Sharks in the Shorebreak! Sardine Report July 2018: It’s been an incredible sardine run this 2018 with images of the good old days seen all over. Sharks right in the shorebreak gorging themselves. Nets filled daily. Spin casters everywhere. Kids with packets. Grannies with washing baskets. Traffic jams for miles!

The sards have featured at literally every beach up and down from Port Edward and even past Durban. They were at Ballito recently! However, some beaches are very popular with the sards – The Sandspit, Pumula, Scottburgh and a few others have seen non-stop action.

Enjoy the shark video submitted by Dez way down on the lower south coast somewhere. Thanks Dez!

Fishing

As usual, the fishing has been a tad slower than what would be expected. The fish are actually everywhere. Yellowfin tuna, couta, snoek and all vie with dolphins and all sorts for the bounty. A good bit of advice from the old timers – don’t fish with sardines in the sardine run!

Shark anglers are having the most fun. The guys down at Port Edward have refined their attack to include drones that drop their baits off way out the back. With amazing results. The controversy over drone use has however also been on the rise.

Spearfishing

And from Jason Heyne, underwater correspondent and veteran spearfisherman…with his report from just before the weekend.

The diving conditions have been average this week with 3 or 4 days being diveable. The sardines down south coast are attracting some decent fish inshore with wahoo, sailfish and daga salmon coming out. Saturday a moderate south west blows all day with the swell running at just a tad over 2m. Sunday the south west continues to blow and it starts dropping off around mid day with a 2m swell running all day. So Saturday early and Sunday afternoon might be diveable. Andrew gets his first saily and fish of the week and Dean gets club merit fish of the week with a decent winter garrick.

We are having our 8th annual crayfish comp on the 4th of August which is always a cracker event. Family welcome at the weigh in at The lapa pool area at Wings Virginia airport. Wors rolls and cash bar. Entry forms available at Freedivers and email umhlangaspearos@gmail.com .

As always dive safe and straight spears

And the very interesting and informative gallery that always comes with Jason’s reporting…

This report was sponsored by Splash Saverite in Port Edward. Right close to the infamous Splash Rock fishing spot, pop in for latest catches and good advice on fishing the KZN South Coast and into the nearby Transkei Wild Coast.

The Sardine Report July 2018 was brought to you by Splash Saverite in Port Edward. Full of fishing tackle and advice.

Check Splash Saverite on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/saveriteportedward/

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Stay in touch with what’s going on in our waters all around the Southern African seaboard.

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Sean Lange — 1 Comment

48kg Amberjack by Tyler Botha of Shelley Beach

48kg Amberjack by Tyler Botha of Shelley Beach

The Botha family down the south coast of Natal, led by Dad PJ, have a phenomenal record of catching outsized Amberjack. Sons Tyler and Greg make up the formidable team on the good ship Watt4.

Check this out!

A 48kg Amberjack by Tyler Botha aboard his Dad's boat Watt4. The fish was taken deep off Shelley Beach somewhere. — A 48kg Amberjack by Tyler Botha aboard his Dad’s boat Watt4. The fish was taken deep off Shelley Beach somewhere.

Tyler breaks the magical 100lb mark with this monster Amberjack taken last week.

And the very next day, his Dad PJ and brother Greg back it up with a brace of fish weighing in at 30kgs and 26kgs respectively.

30kgs and 26kgs Amberjack by PJ Botha and youngest son Greg. Aboard Watt4 and somewhere off Shelley Beach, Natal, South Africa

Along with the huge yellowfin tuna taken the week before, way out off Shelley Beach, these fish mark some of the most noteworthy fish ever taken off Shelley Beach. And the fact that these fish mark the advent of two new sport fishing opportunities bodes really well for the fishing off Shelley Beach. Not only do you have the gamey yellowfin and other pelagics on Protea Reef (and sharks), and the super exciting backline fishing for couta and snoek, the vaste variety of bottom feeders…(and many more) but now you can also go super deep and take on these denizens.

To get out there, get in touch at umzimkulu@gmail.com and lets put a package together for you. In a week on the coast we can get you out deep chasing monsters, catching shad for live baiting garrick and kob from the side, and patrolling estuaries for rock salmon and kingfish.

http://umzimkulu.co.za tells more…

For more fishing adventure options, check out our Trips and Travel section.

Catch us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/thesardine.co.za

Posted on April 10, 2018April 11, 2018 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

March/April ‘Cuda report plus spearfishing

March/April ‘Cuda report plus spearfishing

The ‘Cuda have made their annual pilgrimage to down south and some great catches are filtering through.

The first real action was by Happy Hooker who got two proper fish, nice and early on. Way down off Seaprk somewhere. Then the Niteshift got one in the same place the following weekend. Story and video here.

Matt Wainwright then got a live mackerel down the gullet of a nice fish. His fish came in at 15kgs.

But Dave Phillips off Durban has been having the most fun. On his ski. On his first submission he flashed us his first ‘Cuda of the season. A really nice fish seen below. Then a few fays later, Dave banged it out there for another ‘Cuda and three Natal Snoek! The Snoekies couldn’t resist Dave’s little Mydo SS Shad spoon.

Hopefully this weather will improve and we can expect some more ‘cuda action this April.

Dave Phillips in the morning before work!

Matt Wainwright and his 15kg 'couta caught with a live mackeral

Dave Phillips and his first 'Cuda of the 2018 season

And then over to the spearos, who have also been seeing a few.

‘Couta in the news underwater too…report by Jason Heyne

The diving conditions have average this week with one or two day’s being excellent. Wahoo, ‘couta and snoek are the main fish on the menu this week and rumours have it that the garrick are off the kei. Well done Wickus on getting fish of the week a new HUC club record Queen Fish at 10.47kg. As always dive safe and straight spears

Send your catch photos and stories to The Sardine News and contribute to the collection of goings on fishing, surfing and diving wise up and down our coast. Click here to submit online, or email umzimkulu@gmail.com anytime.

More about the Mydo SS Spoon that Dave Phillips has been using at https://thesardine.co.za/mydo/

For your online marketing requirements, we have space for a few more content partners…see our marketing stories at https://thesardine.co.za/the-sardine-news-app-store/

Posted on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Nicky Momberg Yellowfin Tuna 77.7kg makes it two in a row off Shelley Beach

Nicky Momberg Yellowfin Tuna 77.7kg makes it two in a row off Shelley Beach.

Unbelievably another outsized yellowfin tuna by Nicky Momberg on Nitro. And I get the very rare chance of apologising for reporting that it was a charter boat that caught yesterday’s fish of 101kg’s. Nope, it was Nicky Momberg! On the good ship NITRO.

Congratulations again to Nicky and his crew.

Thank you to Craig from The Tackle Box in Shelley Beach for the photos and weight details of today’s remarkable yellowfin. Maybe the lucky boat Nitro will go out tomorrow and make it three in a row. A hat-trick that no-one would believe without photos that’s for sure!

And here is yesterdays groundbreaking fish all over again…crew in full glory…historical moment for all Shelley Beach deep sea anglers…dreams do come true.

Here’s to hoping these fish might have recently made KZN a place to come and show off their size. These are huge fish, double the size of anything anyones come with before.

At this stage, these fish were reportedly caught on lures trolled with 80lb gear.

STOP PRESS!

This in from Nicky Momberg, on the fish he caught the day before – the 101kg yellowfin tuna…

“Thanks a lot. Was on a Pulsator Marlin Magnet Kona and we got it on the 1800 meter mark. Took 1h:45 to land it. Was my dreamfish for the past 10 years I’ve been fishing there and knew the fish would be there one day”

You can get your Pulsator tackle right there at the base. The Tackle Box have the best location ever for a tackle shop. Loads of parking. And just on the hill overlooking the launch, as you turn in from the north entrance. Signs everywhere.

Keep tabs on things at The Sardine News here…https://thesardine.co.za

Or Facebook page here…http://facebook.com/thesardine.co.za/

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Sean Lange — Leave a comment

Video: Croc couta caught off Southport – KZN Lower South Coast

Deep-sea Port Shepstone: Sean Lange 25kg couta on the Niteshift

Video: Croc couta caught off Southport – KZN Lower South Coast

Croc couta caught off Southport – KZN Lower South Coast. See the video after the story below…

It was a lekker early launch with little comparable drama as the Niteshift plowed her way over the sandbar, bashed a few waves, and got us out the back. Captain Brian Lange (my Dad) has done this before!

Soon we found ourselves sounding around for bait – there were very many other boats out there this Sunday 24 March 2018. Louis Posthumous, his son Shawn and Noel Allchin already had bait they were so early. And were slow trolling comfortably in position. Boats were up and down this normally quiet piece of water.

But the bait eluded us and for a while, and we wandered around the usual mackerel hangouts but got only little useless orange fishies and a few cigar shaped maasbankers, or karapauw if you are up north. But then our lady crew on board, Ansie van Biljon (she was meant to bring the luck too), had her rod buckled over as a whole shoal of mackerel jumped onto her hooks. A full and tangled line later the mackerel were swimming lekker in their new home. Our live bait hatch. Ansie went down again and straight away got into it on the way down. She pulled and pulled and next thing three tiny little bonito come flying through the air. Bang! This was our ticket.

We pinned the first one onto a Mydo #1 with two solid 5X trebles and a new trace, and as Dad dropped the anchor to hold us where the baitfish were, I let the bait out the back. The current was winding and I set the Mydo at 10 metres deep, and turned to work on the other two bonnies. But as soon as I started, the TLD 25 screamed blue murder and we sprang into action.

Ansie cleared the lines and tidied the boat. Good crew that she is. And my Dad fired up and jammed the boat into reverse to pop the anchor. It all worked for a change (most times when we try this, the anchor holds stubbornly) and next thing we were loose!

But the fish had taken a steam train run first off and the backing was in sight. And next thing, as we get into the backing – a crossed line! I just backed right off as my Dad got us going, let all the line go, to the spool, and then started again properly. I got all the line back on the first chase, but when the fish saw us, he bolted again. All the line off the reel, even though we were motoring after him. But we got the line back again. We had drifted about 3 kms so far, the current was so strong.

The second run tired the couta out and we closed the deal with little fuss, and the gaff went in!

Ansie caught some nice reds and a few barbel, and then the second bait screamed. Not quite as fast, but fast enough to get all excited again, pull the anchor a second time, and give chase. What a fight! It was too strong to be a couta, we realised after 10 minutes. It might be anything the way it darted around and ran so fast.

Then all of sudden there was a blacktip shark. Or spinner shark, as they spin their way into the sky in amazing leaps. We got away with a clean release,

Then a hammerhead took our third bait…and it was time to get back in the mouth before the tide dropped too low.