Sardine Report 7 June 2021: Weekend Roundup
Welcome to the Sardine Report 7 June 2021. It’s been chaos! With certain carparks and beaches getting gridlocked. As more and more people respond to questionable mainstream media live updates.
Sardine Fever is far more contagious with cellphones and the internet to help spread the word!
The best approach to sardines really is to spot shoals further offshore. And then try to predict where they will hit the beach as they move north. And set up your ambush in advance. And tell no one when you get it right!
Following the crowd will just get you into a traffic jam.
Pumula yesterday
Pumula sticks right out off the coastline and the bay between the launch site, and Sharks Bay to the north, is always a hotspot during the sardine run. Yesterday was no different with sharks in the shorebreak and all.
Quite a few nets went in throughout the day and many crates hit the beach.
This gallery was shot yesterday morning (Sunday) at Stebel Rocks, across the bay looking south to the Pumula chaos. Before the crowds were called in.
Access at Pumula is extremely limited but please don’t park like a paluka! Non-sardine cars don’t give a hell and come flying around that corner at the speed limit which is 100kmh?!
Please be careful and considerate out there!
Record of Sightings for Sardine Run 2021
These are the confirmed sightings we have logged so far. The steady migration northwards can clearly be seen in this data. The shoals hitting the northern section of the KZN south coast today could be from the same bunch we have been following through the Transkei recently.
The big shoals recorded swimming by off Oslo Beach and Port Shepstone this morning, are the ones to be watching.
| 11 May 2021 | Many sardines, some together in a long stripe, passed here. Three separate reports confirmed this early sighting. Birds, gamefish and cetaceans were present. |
| 5 May 2021 | Scattered shoals of confirmed sardines all over the place. Extremely cold water reported as low as 11 degrees could explain this early sighting. |
| 19 May 2021 | This sighting at Brazen Head could be of the same shoal that came through Morgans Bay near East London, a week or so ago. |
| April Sighting | Riaan Smith dived with a fairly large shoal of sardines, in 11 degrees water, off Coffee Bay. This was at the end of April already. |
| 22 May 2021 | [08:04, 22/05/2021] Jason Heyne: Saw a what I suspect is a big shoal off Sinangwana (Mpande – close to brazen head and PSJ) this morning. Dolphins and birds were smashing it hard! Large area… Probably around 500-1000m area… Wish I had a boat and crew to go jump in! From Nils Von Delft down there right now! |
| 28 May 2021 | Sporadic but continuous sardine action out deeper as reported by Quentin in Mdumbi. Cold water is coming finally. 21 degrees at Port Edward today bodes well. |
| 31 May 2021 – 8:00am | Mr. Ant Nel has just called me from the beach at Port Edward. Sardine boats are on the beach! Mark Snyman got a small net in and as of today, the first three crates of sardines are official. Thank you Ant! Lance Dunn. Master Watermen, for the images. |
| 31 May 2021 – 10:00am | Deep off Ramsgate there were plenty boats out enjoying the action as the first shoals to hit KZN swim right into the waiting ambush. Dolphins, sharks and sardines! |
| 31 May 2021 – 2:00pm | Margate Pier is the epi-centre of the action right now as the early shoals of sardines (pilot shoals) move north at high speed. Being chased by so many predators like gamefish, dolphins and sharks. Garrick are playing the game nicely and now we just hope anglers also do by observing bag limits and size restrictions. Please. The water temperature has dropped below 20 degrees courtesy these beasterly easterly cyclonic conditions. |
| 1 June 2021 – 2:00pm | The ASFN team have found sardines off the back of Stebel Rocks, in Umzumbe. How these little guys survived last nights storm we’ll just have to guess. More at https://thesardine.co.za |
| 3 June 2021 | We got a video in of a wild ocean with plenty activity on the backline to slightly deeper. The waves and wind were too wild for anyone to go near the buzz. But it certainly was sardines. And a lot of them! |
| 4 June 2021 – 10:30am | Margate Beach scores again! Action spilling out onto neighbouring Manaba Beach. Sardines confirmed on the beach! |
| 6 June 2021 – 11:00am | Two nets taken at Pumula. Sardines are spread out so don’t follow the crowd. They could pop up anywhere at the moment so keep your eyes on the water! |
| 7 June 2021 – 9:00am | Shoal spotted 300m off Umkomaas travelling north at high speed. Being chased by all kinds of marine wildlife. These guys could well be in Durban by nightfall today! Unless they all get eaten before then. |
| 7 June 2021 – 9:00am | A HUGE shoal of sardines, about a kilometre long, is easily seen off Oslo Beach. And from way inland even. It is a really dense and long shoal that is surrounded by many medium to small pockets. |
You can access our Sardine Map 2021 by clicking right HERE!
The week ahead
The weather seems to be backing off. But only after today’s backup big wind, to yesterday’s sand blast. That east yesterday was so blowing right through us as we persevered for a few scratches. And it’s gonna blow the same again today.
The water was still terribly warm as of yesterday. This also needs to change. The optimum water temperature for sardines is about 19 degrees. And below.
The water is also still really discoloured and we are counting on the usually strong north south current to take the brown water away.
This could take quite a few days so we just gonna have to be patient and wait it out. Today’s big east will help move that water along, and reduce the overall water temperature.
The next spring tides are upon us and hopefully this will clear the estuaries too. There is a lot of hoping going on but it’s all we can do for now.
Shad are literally everywhere. Everywhere where the sardines were before, the shad will be. But it’s not been easy. They are around for a short while and then disappear off again.
Blacktail and karanteen anglers are the only ones enjoying these crazy weather conditions. They can get down amongst the rocks and gulleys and escape the relentless winds.
We did see one guys yesterday, at Anerley, hook into what could only be a big rockcod or something. It gave this giuy hell as it swam all ober the reef, eventually cutting the line on the sharp rocks.
Sharks n things
Sharks of all kinds are plentiful right now. The usual zambezi and bronze whaler contingent can be seen all over the place. At Pumula yesterday they put on an excellent show for the massive crowd. And even a 4m great while was caught by the KZNSB.
The humpback whales made their first appearances last week already. And yesterday a huge pod of high-speed common dolphins came crashing past the backline. Soon all kinds of cetaceans will be here.
Gannets and terns make up the forward ranks of the airborne attack. That lovely sound of a few terns working a shoal of baitfish is mesmerising.
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