On the search for sardines…May heralds colder conditions and more westerley winds – exactly what the sardines want. Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns are practically full but have had a few cancellations right in the prime sardine and marine life sighting weeks – head on over to http://www.offshoreportstjohns.com/ to make an enquiry.
It’s gonna be a good one!
Early morning sardine report
Port St. Johns is where you want to be for the 2015 Sardine Run, which at this stage looks promising, as the weather plays along and lays down the conditions required for the shoals to head north.
Check out http://www.offshoreportstjohns.com/ for more information and availability as the available slots get filled.
Check out thesardine.co.za every day for sardine news…
Up close and personal with sardines off Port St. Johns. Sightings have been reported of shoals of baitfish as we move into the prime migratory season.
We just got to hope those commercial netter guys in St. Frances let a few shoals past this year!
Contact Rob or Debbie on http://www.offshoreportstjohns.com/
It was a crisp and clear morning but full of dew and wet. We were both damp and cold but the scene warmed our souls as we got the rods out. Oh ya, we were starving! Having arrived late at night with no plans, the backpackers was full! Having already been lost in the ‘Kei for a week, we had no idea it was Easter weekend?!
So we made our gentle way down the steep road to the beach and just slept. But it guaranteed us the sunrise and we had the hop on the usual early birds that pop up all over Mdumbi Point in the near darkness of dawn. I was stubbornly going to throw more plastics for kob and shad, but Frenzy had her eye on the prize and headed for the rocks to scrounge bait.
She eventually bummed some bait off an earlybird and soon was rock hopping around the further point for a cast into the gulley water, where the smallies live. Bang, it wasn’t a few casts with her carefully prepared drift bait and she and the dogs were in a frenzy. After a fight lasting a few breathtaking seconds, Frenzy flew the fish up the rocks and into Stinker and Steamers’ eager jaws. They subdued it fast and we headed straight back up the hill to the ampi-theatre like braai setup on the hill. What a view!
The fire took a while in the damp conditions but soon we had a flame but had to act fast as it certainly would not last – rain also threatened. I had read an old story about some intrepid angler who tried to live off the sea and it’s wares – all he had was some some butter and salt. He never lasted long. But his cooking method enthralled me, and so here it is…
Gut and scale the fish, head off if it’s too big for your popping hot pan of butter. Cut some incisions across the fish into the fillets to the bone, spice both sides. Chuck in pan. Shallow fry through the skin a while. Hot pan is great as the skin actually kind of crisps out completely, but stops most of the oil getting right all over the meal So when you turn it over, peel the skin and excess oils away, and eat straight off the bone. So fresh like that – the flesh is firm but melts in your mouth like the butter it was cooked in. When you’ve hoovered one side, the other side should be done so flip it again and clean out that side too.
Our blacktail was out-of-this-world and we tried it again with a large stone bream that Frenzy caught another time we were starving – delicious!
It’s not just grunter, kob, shad, garrick and rock salmon to catch in the Umzimvubu down in Port St. Johns – Zambezi Sharks can also lighten up your day. Chuck any sort of live-bait out into that orange water and you don’t have to wait long for a voracious Zambezi pup to come in on the attack. They fight great and are beautiful in their innocent child like form, luckily they head out to sea when they grow up, or do they?
Gavin Naude, fishing on the south bank near the main road bridge, a good few kilometres up the river, threw out a livie a few weeks back – and caught this cute little Zambi before too long. He hollered for a tag and Rob Nettleton did the honours – it weighed in at 65cm fork length, and was released with a nice little yellow tag to remember Gavin by.
But then the next day, nearer the river mouth, someone got a 2m guy! It was a proper mean 2m shark and was also safely returned to the river. Evidently, it’s not just big momma’s coming into the river to give birth, but her teenage kids aswell?!
You can fish for sharks year round in the Port St. Johns river mouth area, specialised trips are offered by Offshore Africa Port St. Johns. Speak to Rob Nettleton, if you feel like hunting down Zambezi’s and sticking tags in them. Rob works closely with ORItag and has tagged many fish for them, over the years. Fishing with live-bait in the Umzimvubu obviously also puts you in line for big fish, like kob. Gavin also recently called Rob over to tag an estimated 60kg kob, photo below…
