Tag: charters

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The Sardine News on TV – Inhaca GT and other stories

Julio Rito with a fiesty green jobfish caught on the jig somewhere between Inhaca and Macanete about exactly.

The Sardine News on TV – Inhaca GT and other stories

Getting a trip together with Bino Nordine, out off Inhaca and Macanete, made my entire last month in Mozambique! Fetching me from Fatima’s nice ‘n early, although almost not early enough, as we took a while to get ship shape and beyond the threatening low tide. But soon we were passing Xevina Island and it’s crazy archaic looking prison ruins.

There used to be so many sharks here, that it was the ultimate prison. Free enforcers! From a reliable source, I heard that Samora himself hid out on this forsaken little island – here was the safest he could be – in full view of Maputo!

A quick stop at the “turning buoy”, a few casts and a few chases, but off we had to go, in lieu of a beasterly easterly that was forecast And never came!). It’s a good 20 miles to the reefs. But eish, what reef. Scattered over a large area, kind of joined though, and dropping from 20 metres to 40 and more, in no time. Reef and pinnacles, all full of showings, all over the place. It was a question of finding the fish that were feeding, rather than finding the fish. There were fish everywhere! We caught a bunch, letting most go. A couta and a kakaap for the pan came home!

When we got a live bait out finally then, a stupid hammerhead came knocking, biting the tail right off our hard earned hapless bonnie. Getting the bonnie away from the shark, we teased him for some fun. Aggro little hammerhead!

Tottering around, from showing to showing, reef to reef, eventually, we were finding more and more promise on the  underwater TV Channel (by Garmin). Bino, from years and years out here, knows exactly how to position for a drift accounting for all the many variables that this takes. Then it happened, Bino went away solid. In fact, the fish was so aggro, it hit and missed twice before Bino found jaw and hooked up. It was a long hard fight which turned out to be Binos biggest GT, by estimate. Enjoy the video…! Like and subscribe and whatever tx!

Fish Inhaca with us

Check out our many fishing experiences available all over, including Inhaca, at…

https://thesardine.co.za/product-category/fishing-experiences/

Let us know what you kind of fishing you would like to experience in the Inhaca area. Amberjack. Marlin. Wahoo. Sailfish. Snapper. Tuna. Dorado. Kingfish. The list is pretty impressive and it’s all tucked in nicely around the Inhaca s Island System.

With the new bridge about a year away from completion, get your fishing slots booked now already. It’s gonna be a short hop from Durban up to Maputo. Where we take over! We arrange the whole lot. You avoid the tangles and hang-ups that can be experienced trying on your own.

Our boats are top notch and versatile. Options from The Joker, a lovely YeldCat at 19ft, to Sholay, the huge marlin purposed rig that at 28ft can go anywhere, very fast!

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FishBazaruto.com is taking Bazaruto 2018 bookings now!

Chaaaaaarge! (c) Duarte Rato

FishBazaruto.com is taking Bazaruto 2018 bookings now!

FishBazaruto.com is taking Bazaruto 2018 bookings now! After another incredible year fishing the waters around the Bazaruto Archipilego, Captain Duarte Rato has opened his booking calendar up for 2018.

Bazaruto 2018 bookings are now open at FishBazaruto. Click to go to the PDF download http://fishbazaruto.com/rates-contact/
Bazaruto 2018 bookings are now open at FishBazaruto. Click to go to the PDF download http://fishbazaruto.com/rates-contact/

Duarte has also opened up the spread with many more options for you to choose from. From the really big and comfort laden Supercat 38’s, to this year Duarte has worked hard on getting smaller boat packages together, that are real affordable. He has broadened his accommodation offerings too.

Vilankulos, where FishBazaruto operates from, is really quite a drive for anybody convinced on taking their own boat all that way up north. And fishing with Duarte and his decades of experience really puts you in right on the action.

Sunrise overlooking the Bazaruto Archipelego
Sunrise overlooking the Bazaruto Archipelego

You get to enjoy the Archipilego thoroughly, with Duarte and crew relating historical, geographical and all things fishing regards this most interesting area, and country. All of Duarte’s team really know the place super well, and are first class pros, in big game fishing – and making sure you have a great day out.

 

Now here’s the thing. 1000 Pounds. The grander. The big momma. She is there. And up for a fight. Black and blue marlin. You can actually choose which to hunt. The bad tempered stripeys also make their rodeo appearances, as do shoals and shoals of willing sailfish. Some big ones, even going over 50!

A few pics from the old days…where release wasn’t as compulsory, as it is nowadays…

Monty Smith and his 1000 pounder caught off Bazaruto in the 70's. These waters are really hardly fished much, compared to anywhere else in the world. It is still wild out there! (c) Bazaruto 2018

The increasing mean size of yellowfin tuna being encountered inshore has rapidly increased lately in KZN waters. They even got a 48 off Durban?! But last season, Duarte shocked everyone with a 72 off the island! Luckily it grabbed ahold of a kona rigged on an 80, and it came home before those dumb sharks got it!

The 72kg yellowfin tuna that has gotten everyone very excited. There were a whole shoal of these things when luckily they hooked up on just this one, and got it out!
The 72kg yellowfin tuna that has gotten everyone very excited. There were a whole shoal of these things when luckily they hooked up on just this one, and got it out!

And that’s another thing about fishing Baz. It’s wild. Really wild. You might even encounter a dugong. Or a whale shark. A friendly school of dolphins. All sorts of whales. Even orcas.

Fishing out the back of Bazaruto Island gets you in the hot seat for a marlin on plastic, or a 10kg yellowfin to rig and try keep out of trouble until a marley comes along. Wahoo are real mean as they knock the sense out of any live bait rigged that weighs less than 10. The wahoo are huge. And if it ain’t the wahoo, you also have to watch for goliath GT’s that also love to swallow a bonito whole. And then there are the sharks. Nuff said. So back to plastics and hope for that huge big and loud strike.

Seeing these huge fish come charging into the wake at blurry speeds, smashing into a kona, pulling line and then leaping and greyhounding away is what every angler should experience. It’s diabolical. It’s insane. It’s something you need to see and absorb. The power. The grace. The magnificense of it all.

Big black performing off Sailfish Bay, Bazaruto (c) Duarte RatoDave Charley hauls while Muki looks on...(c) Duarte Rato58kg Sailfish (c) Duarte RatoChaaaaaarge! (c) Duarte Rato(c) Duarte RatoDuarte's Weapons of choice for Bazaruto 2018 season

In bad weather, Bazaruto waters hold another ace. The channels between the islands are clear and deep, and in the completely flat water. Wave action out to sea, and island either side of you, and you can catch king mackerel, sailfish, Natal Snoek – until you are blue. On spinning tackle! Too much fun. And we do end up fishing in these highly technical fishing areas quite a lot. Knowing where and when to find the hot spots and times, is all the fun! There are very many places where, if you pay your 500 Met park fees, you can walk and spin fish for all sorts from kingfish to rock salmon.

Right, there you have it. I could add the islands themselves, the unreal snorkeling in the lukewarm crystal palace water, the palm trees and coconuts, the delightful and unspoilt wetlands and river, the quaint little party town of Vilankulos that recently welcomed Sylvester Stallone, Jeremy Clarkson and his little mate…and back in the days…The Kennedys, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and host of other stars. The Donna Anna, the hotel in which they partied, which has been restored to a level of glory, and yes you’ll go there too!

You can get the ball rolling and get in touch with the team at FishBazaruto at his website link below:

http://fishbazaruto.com

You can go directly to the Rate Card PDF download page here:

Rates & Contact Fishbazaruto

Bazaruto 2018 Rates and Contact

 

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Maputo to Pomene by sea…there and back

Captain Sean A. Lange at the helm in Maputo to Pomene mission

Maputo to Pomene by sea…there and back

Yeboooo, we managed to get in a cool job from a secret organisation, late last year, to take a huge landing craft Maputo to Pomene…there and back.

The secrecy of the mission still is of international importance, so all we can do is show and narrate the trip to you, with this short movie.

The Sardine Charters and Chandling have been pulling off clandestine missions like this aplenty over the last few decades, in Mozambique and around Southern Africa. We put together highly trained and disciplined crews to take all sorts of crazy missions, involving long duration at sea, and being flung into hard-core survival threatening conditions, as we were on our return trip.

Click here to read all about that tragic evening…40 lives lost in Maputo, many of them drowned at sea. We did what we could to help, but with an exhausted crew and pitch darkness to work in, it wasn’t much.

But as you can see from the video, most of it is just plain sailing at full speed alongside huge 4 to 5 metre swells, often times breaking on our outside, we had to weave our way through sandbanks and huge waves. The twin turbo, duo prop Volvo Pentas gave us 660 hp to throw the 16.5m semi-displacement aluminium hull around. It’s as maneuvrable as a ski-boat and the acceleration is immense, to the point of being dangerous. The landing craft can take 90 people with their equipment.

For more information on The Sardine Charters and Chandling operations and availability, pls contact Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com or call +27 79 326 9671, or click here.

 

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Skippers needed by The Sardine Team

We were contracted to sea and surf trial this boat from Maputo to Pomene and back. 14 Hours each way by The Sardine crew.

Skippers needed by The Sardine Team

The Sardine Chandling and Charter operation has been experiencing a busy run which looks to continue, and so we would like to build our database of skippers and guides, in time for next year.

We are only looking for highly experienced and capable operators, completely competent and confident in the surf zone. Safety and thoroughness are our strong points as a company, we need people to fly these flags, high!

The jobs are varied and challenging:

  • Boats, people, equipment, materials, fuel transfers. Sometimes hundreds of miles. Sometimes around the corner.
  • Fishing and cruising charters. All over the place.
  • Safety and security projects
  • Events and exhibitions

Boats run from tenders to tugs. Most of the work is done on boats less than 10 metres, so your Category C and better will work in most instances.

If you are freelance or contractor, please click on over to here, to fill out the preliminary form, and we will be in touch.

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Catch n Release in Mozambique

Catch n Release in Mozambique

I was early up each morning, Guinjata a few years back, about 5, meeting up with a little kid from the Free State. We had baitcasters for saltwater, and could pump a dropshot for miles, especially in the prevailing offshores.
What we did was stick a little fly at the leader knot about a metre up from of the dropshot.
The baby Kingies were wild for the combo!
After a few days, a little local kid came down and sat watching us. But not with any enthusiasm.
So after about 20 released baby GT’s, so cute and lively as they swam away each time…the little local boy came up to me with a very serious face on.
“If you let go one more fish…I call police!”.
In dismay, I kind of obliged, and the free stater kid and I walked slowly away.

And then another time…

At Pomene again, but a long, long time ago…you could, at spring low, make the few kilometres by running over the soft sandbanks at dead low tide, to where the estuary mouth narrowed with a strong and deep flow of water. The kingfish love this place, and as we got there…they were smashing the hapless baitfish right into the shallows, and all around our feet!
It was a few casts with a nice big dropshot and bang!
A solid hour later, I was reviving the yellowfin of about 12kg’s, in the current, and across the water, a gathering of locals were admiring my feat- or so I thought.
After a few minutes, the most beautiful kingfish swam away – I was ecstatic.
Only then did my senses come to me, and I looked up to the most irate crowd of locals. They were appalled with me, and amid threats and threatening gestures, I appreciated the small expanse of high running water between us, and turned tail and ran for the tide and safety.