HUGE GT at Tongaat PLUS KZN Sea Conditions: WOW what a fish! And the fishing is getting hotter and hotter all over the place. This time of the year, gamefish and others make the pilgrimage to KZN and the Eastern Cape from all over the place. In anticipation of the coming sardine run.
Thank you Adam Kamdar for the Durban timelapse…and congratulations to the stoked angler on his trophy GT…
Good morning & thank you Adam in Durban for doing another time lapse showing us clearly that the southwest is pomping pomping through it’s gonna blow it’s been blowing already it’s even rained last night here a little bit in the south coast today we’ve got a 1 0 1 6 and rising barometer so we have got a east coming later sometime anyway it’s quite cold 16 to 19 and the swell is reasonable at the moment check Durban’s cooking actually and then um later on the swell goes to south south west off the south east angle that Durban likes and check at those clouds moving thanks Adam alright we’re in Tongaat this is a funny funny clip you’re gonna enjoy this guy I’m gonna tell you as I take you through the tides quickly as high tide in the morning and low tide at lunchtime and and high tide in the evening again okay don’t forget to like and subscribe and possibly join if you wanna catch the sardines OUT! Kiki grab it grab it wait wait wait wait yeah put it put it out of the rock here pull pull pull pull you’re a big fatt boy hey yes yes yes yes yes hey oh oh oh oh oh boss boy what boss boy yes yes oh oh oh hey hey hey hey hey yes hahaha
GT Gallery
Sardines and Sightings
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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…
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!
Umzimkulu GT in the evening: Estuary fishing is a technical art. You can’t decide to just go fishing. You got to research beforehand and time it right. So when Yousef Jadwat emailed me a while back to go fish the Umzimkulu, we had a good look, and chose 6pm high tide, with absolutely no moon – which happened upon the 27 June 2017.
Last night!
There are very many other technical variables to catching good fish in the Umzimkulu River, down here in Port Shepstone. In our lockup in Mozambique, I had been hoarding a lure. Brand new, but 20 years old. Three trebles. About 20cm. Black on top, silver below. Rapala don’t make anything hand-made anymore, but this one was. Balsa with wire through. Skill all the way. It was like a stretched out version of the infamous CD13, also defunct now. But it’s long narrow profile, and it’s gentle side to side action was exactly what we were going to need. And those colours!
So I had a Luck Shot #1 with my favourite orca 5 inch jerk tail. And my other favourite – Luck Shot #1 with a huge 7 inch split tail out too. It wasn’t a hundred metres, as we set out for the mouth, when I instinctively turned back and WHALLOP! A grey shoulder and huge fins were all I could see for the strike through the spray. It was merciless. An explosion, and the 8ft boat rod bent double, and the 50SH screamed. It was on my 20 year old lure! I was just thinking about those skinny little hooks. The drag was a bit heavy and Yousef could not get the rod out of the holder as the fish smoked line off the spool. And when I went to assist – the rod holder broke clean off the back of the boat! Where it’s been faithfully serving for 20 years too!
Well now Yousef had the rod and I had the lines cleared. I got to the drag and backed it right off – all the time worried about those skinny but sharp trebles. But Yousef did his job well and after some time we got a glimpse way down in the clear water. I had thought garrick right from the start. Those long fins haunting me. It was doing all the head shakes, short high speed runs, rapid turnarounds and staying deep. Then it popped up where we could see it proper in the afternoon light.
Kingfish!
The Umzimkulu is renowned for it’s little kingfish on lures. Usually Big-Eye Kingfish. But we have had plenty yellow ones, and the ultra-beautiful blue-fin versions. We never take any out, they release so easy if you are careful. Just don’t touch eyes or gills, lift carefully by the body, not the hook – and use a long-nose pliers to get the hook out fast. Tag. Very quick photo and release! Too easy.
But this one was huge in comparison. If it was a big-eye, it quite well have been record sized. They only get to 7 or 8kg’s max. Most records stand at about 4 or 5kg’s. But those big fins? I was wondering still.
Yousef started winning with the heavy tackle and next thing the fish was right there. Still fiesty, the fish started to get angry as it got closer. Then GASP! I saw the hook pull and the lure turned upwards! But bang the line went tight again – the tail treble, the third and last one, was stuck in the kingfish’s head. All the others were straight. And now he was mad! Tight little corkscrews at super high speeds. Just flashes really.
I had to do something so I grabbed the tiny emergency gaff and hung out off the back. I was getting dizzy with all the swerving going on but then he did the same circle twice and I poked him right in the tail – where those heavy scales and armour protect him from attack all his life. The gaff hook held as I pulled the little guy through the air backwards and on to the deck. Where the gaff fell apart!
And when I saw that it was actually a GT!
The hook that held, funnily enough, was real tough to remove. That skin up top there is soooo strong. We got some really good shots and a sequence of the release into the serene but colourful sunset on the river. Whooohooo! 1 for 1 on GT as Duarte would say!
In great spirits we patrolled with the same spread down past rock salmon alley one, around the submerged rail and road bridge of old, across perch channel, down the middle along the long wall of features, and into the wide open basin – that presents the foaming mouth of the river, to the warm clear Indian Ocean in winter time. Water was rushing in so we anchored about a hundred metres inside. Just in front of a prefect sandbank slowing the waters for us, and making it very pleasant to fish with some ultralight tackle.
The first grunter, the only fish that came home with us, made a great show of his first run, as he set off with the tide for the sun. It was always gonna be the kids turn, and the 5 year old Hamza accepted the rod from his Dad with enthusiasm and confidence. The drag was lekker. The rod and reel working so well. Circle hook. Not much current. And soon after some puffing and panting and pulling, there it was. A sterling example of a table-sized spotted grunter. Well pot sized! This one was going to be curry for sure.
A lekker Umzimkulu GT by Yousef Jadwat
One more time!
And back in the water for the lucky little GT
Hamza Jadwat and his take-home spotted grunter caught in the Umzimkulu Estuary 27 June 2017
And grunter #2, that along with his other two buddies, were released safely back into their home
The next rod went while we were still taking photographs, and the kid got another one! This kid has a bright future – especially with his already practising catch and release. Between the two of them, they released that lovely GT, and three grunter (plus about 5 strepies?!).
I am going to be working the Umzimkulu Estuary for the next two weeks. There are still some great slots available – get in touch on umzimkulu@gmail.com to get in on this type of fishing. Ot WhatsApp +27 79 326 9671
Click here for more estuary fishing options, along the eastern seaboard of Southern Africa
Light tackle fishing Bazaruto: news in from Captain Duarte Rato
After more than 2 weeks of calm weather it had to go sterile and pea soup water moved into the grounds really bad and the water line was out between 140 and 300 meters for a few days. We still had a few Blacks on the inside and went out wide and had a number of Blues but it was slow and consequently we fished light tackle plugging and spinning on the reefs. For that period, down south the big eyes and green spot GT´s were feeding on top every afternoon, fasting on tiny spraties. It was hard to get them to bite but we always released a few and there was some small GT´s mixed in the mayhem. Up north, we got reefed by a couple of big GT´s but mostly it was the small kingies that kept us really busy.
We don’t do it that often but light tackle fishing is absolutely awesome @ Baz…
