Tag: KZN south coast

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The two most effective estuary baits by far

Best two estuary baits for the Umzimkulu River

The two most effective estuary baits by far

The two most effective estuary baits by far: live baits are sure to be the most fun on any estuary excursion. BUT. You got to catch ’em first! This article focuses on the two most effective ways of fishing in an estuary, with dead bait.

Recently I was teaching a guide some tricks in the Umzimkulu. The dude had caught himself a live mullet. And a live prawn. So he had one on each side of the fallen tree we were fishing against the steep bank. After a few minutes, something felt off. We needed that sardine head out there. Took me less than a few seconds, and the sard head was in position.

It wasn’t enough time for that sardine to defrost – and the rod went in the way that only a rock salmon knows how!

Bulelani’s first rock salmon release

The Sardine Head

Break a sardine in the middle. So that it’s guts hang out a bit. You are gonna use the tail section to make pencil baits in the next paragraph. But that sardine head – well, that’s the way to catch rock salmon. Just insert a 3/0 hook through the lips, bottom through to top. The sardine head needs to swing freely on the hook.

How it works is – that almost immediately, the smallies start. They chip away at the oftentimes frozen bait, creating a could of commotion and odour down there. This then attracts more smallies and before too long it’s a veritable bait ball down there.

Then out of the gloom come these big guys. To see what this commotion is all about. And it doesn’t take long for one of the gang to see your sardine head lying there and break the party up for good.

When you fish a sardine head, put your drag right up. Rock salmon don’t bite first. They are snappers and simply inhale and swallow anything that moves close to them. They lie perfectly still in ambush waiting for some hapless prawn to walk past. Bang! These are the explosions we hear at night time.

The Pencil Bait

This is something you learn the hard way. But when you get it right, can increase your hookup and catch ratio in estuaries, remarkably. Aside from the rock salmon, perch, shad and malabar, most other estuary fish, are highly timid eaters.

And the most difficult fish to hook by far, are grunter. Tiny mouths. Fussy nibblers. The best way to target grunter anywhere is with cracker shrimp. BUT. And it’s a big BUT, they are just so hard to find and catch.

So the pencil bait then…is your next best option. For the shy guys like – Koblets. Blacktail. Zebras. Grunter.

How? Fillet your sardine tail into 4 loins. Grab hold of a prawn tail. And some squid. Anything you got really. Take a thin stick (or a pencil), and start to arrange all this lekka bait you got, along its length. Small sharp hook on one end. A slightly heavier leader is totally advisable for pencil baits. Start to cotton as you go. Just keep adding strips of bait and cotton, making the bait as long as possible. When you have a juicy-looking pencil bait – remove the stick (or pencil) by sliding it out. Tension up with a little more cotton and off you go.

When a grunter comes along, and he is hungry, he will peck at your pencil bait. You will feel these baits and you cannot strike. Let ’em eat. Soon enough he will work out that if he grabs the one end, he can get that bait down. You might feel this happening. And then when it’s all right down, he will swim off to look for more food.

This is when you strike!

You gonna need to have long-nosed pliers with you when fishing with pencil baits. Or use a circle hook.

Summary

All you need to be dangerous in a KZN or Eastern Cape estuary, are two rods, and a few sardines. If you had a cast net you would be even more lethal. But that’s the point of this story. You don’t need live bait if you fish with these two estuary baits as presented here today for you.

Affiliated YouTube Channels

https://youtube.com/@thesardinenews
https://youtube.com/@mydotackletalk
https://youtube.com/@waterwoes
https://youtube.com/@Brucifire

Websites

https://brucifire.co.za
https://thesardine.co.za
https://masterwatermen.co.za
https://umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za
https://divingdivassa.co.za

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NO FLOOD Warning: things are looking up!

NO Flood Warning 28-01-24

NO FLOOD Warning: things are looking up!

NO FLOOD Warning: things are looking up! -Yes ok the water is still mostly brown…but the tides are fighting back! And the east wind is drying everything out with gusto.

Yesterday’s delightfully cute little cold front painted the ocean into a perfect picture on the surface. Deep-sea fishing and possibly even surfing (check Umzumbe and Southbroom) will be on the cards today and this week coming up.

Secret spot near Banana Beach looking absolutely beautiful for bronzies and things
Secret spot near Banana Beach looking absolutely beautiful for bronzies and things

Tides and Time

Wait for nobody. And they are both hard at work flushing the pollution from out of the rivers. The sewage and sediment get washed away out to sea in the rainy season. And then in the dry season, the municipalities start the pollution cycle all over again.

This happens in every town and in every river in the country. And is how they get away with it. The cyclical nature of nature is what ALL our municipalities hide behind.

It is possible to run a town without a sewage system in place – by allowing the sewage to rather run in the street. Across the town. Into the stormwater drains. And into the Mzimkulwana RIver, in the case of Harding in UGU’s part of KZN.

Watch that movie right here…

Cleaning Up

The water in some bigger estuaries has started to clean up. With the slowing of the flood pulse from last week’s rain (and the rain before that). This weekend features a lovely high tide. And so loads of saltwater will make its way into the estuaries where it can perform its host of biological functions.

Free-flowing

Now that the rains have backed off, the predominant fresh water has done many of its duties. One of which is the balancing of the acidity of the ocean.

The other has been the conditioning of the rivers – to be able to handle the next rains (which are coming have no doubt). The strong waters clear out obstacles and scour out the channels. These defined edges and channels can handle a deluge of water far better as the wet season progresses. When it all dries out, the rivers clog up again. Sewage and sediment. Rinse. Repeat.

The week coming up

Tuesday sees some cold front action in KZN again…once again it does not look too bad but we might get some lightning and thunder. Inland up towards the Drakensberg is gonna get pelted. More brown coming down!

But mostly… it’s day after day of the prevailing Beasterly Easterly. And the sunshine that comes with it. Bathing is still dodgy at most places but you can definitely find some clean water if you try.

There are a few flashes on the cyclone radar way up north, but as of today, we are seemingly in the clear. But as you all know, this is a volatile time of the year…and yes…anything can happen. And fast. We will endeavour to let you all know again, but in the meantime enjoy the sunshine.

Affiliated YouTube Channels

https://youtube.com/@thesardinenews
https://youtube.com/@waterwoes
https://youtube.com/@Brucifire

Websites

https://brucifire.co.za
https://thesardine.co.za
https://masterwatermen.co.za
https://umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za

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Sharks on my Sonar!

SHARKS on my SONAR

Sharks on my Sonar!

Sharks on my Sonar!: we head out to the Noosa River in Australia for this story…where we get to see how Humminbird have perfected their sonar picture underwater.

It is true genius. The machine doesn’t lie. The sharks on the screen are no doubt sharks! As a bunch of Zambezis aka Bull Sharks, are attracted by splashing in the water of this wild river.

And this is all recorded for us ALL to see…that sonar can undoubtedly detect a shark. Especially in calm waters like the Noosa River.

Enjoy the display…

Sharks on my Sonar!

Sharks on my Sonar!

Here is another great article referencing the same fact.

https://recfishwest.org.au/news/spotting-sharks-on-your-sounder-to-help-reduce-bite-offs/

Sharks Board

I first approached the sharks board, back in the ‘2000s’, about replacing their defunct killing methods, with sonar detection. It’s the most straightforward solution under the sun. Sheldon Dudley of the sharks board vehemently opposed my suggestion back in the 2000’s. With him was Graham Charter. The other guys just did nothing. Said nothing. Many meetings went nowhere. It was not their idea, and so was not going to be deployed.

The main excuse offered by the team back then, was that sharks have no swim bladders, and so could not be detected with sonar?!

I never wanted anything except some involvement. However, as it turned out – it was not the right channel to go down, to try to effect change.

My Motivation

I had back then recently come across an entire pod of dead dolphins. On the back of a shark’s board bakkie. I was furious. And I still am. Those dolphins died (suffocated to death), in the shark nets of Umtentweni. Whilst there were zero beach users at Umtentweni. It was a Monday morning. None of us were even surfing. Nobody was using the ocean at Umtentweni that fateful day.

During the week there might be a few surfers. And on weekends the weekend warriors. Some families come down on weekends to enjoy the granny pool or the shore break.

Are these enough people, this risk so big, that a whole family of dolphins…must die a horrid death in gill nets?

Sonar alternatives

The Australians also kill bull sharks and the like, willy nilly, with shark nets. Archaic gill nets. That kill everything. They kill whales over there in the nets as successfully as our guys. They also use drum lines to actually catch the sharks, and then drag them away from their homes. Forced relocation. This does not work since bull sharks always hang around their own river mouths.

But the Ozzies have developed something clever called Clever Buoy. I am not sure why they don’t use off-the-shelf available sonar equipment. To mitigate development and deployment expenses. But they are definitely on the right track.

Municipalities and you pay for the shark nets

Yip, you are the ultimate payer of the death nets strewn along the coastline of Kwazulu Natal in South Africa. Along with your municipality.

The shark’s board costs hundreds of millions per year. With this money, they kill (annual average):

Sharks Board kill rate average per annum
Sharks Board kill rate average per annum. That is 320 odd sharks per year. Almost one per day.

Harmless Catches

And these they call…”HARMLESS CATCHES”?!?!

Note the lack of whales in this chart. I have interviews, photographs and video to prove otherwise…

Please see the following irrefutable proof that the shark nets have been killing baby whales…here in South Africa. And in Australia.

shark nets Archives – The Sardine News

So all these animals must die…and nobody is swimming anywhere. The water is chock full of ecoli and other nasties right now too. Nobody should be near the ocean. And nobody should be killing sharks in these wayward flood conditions. Brown water to the horizon.

These conditions prevail for months at a time. The nets should be OUT!

More alternatives

Yes, there are more ways to stay safe…

  1. Exclusion nets: deployed perfectly at Fish Hoek (Cape Town) recently, these are proven winners. And these were deployed successfully long before there was even a sharks board. At Umtentweni Beach, and most other popular tourist spots along KZN, still have remnants of the infrastructure used. Concrete pillars with poles set into them. And tennis court netting stretched across them. Stopping any access for sharks. All the while allowing nature to continue along around them unimpeded
  2. Shark shields: for a tiny fraction of the cost of running the entire sharks board, they could equip all ocean users with shark shield devices. They are proven to work and are really cheap nowadays. Get it from the lifeguards and return it after swimming. They could even be rented out.
  3. Tracking devices: many great whites have already been tagged with devices that track their activity in real-time. Right now you can go to the Ocearch Project, and see where the whites are congregating. Let’s just tag the tigers and Zambezis too? I notice some Tiger Sharks, and even whale sharks have been tagged and can now be tracked too on that website. Go check it out, incredible technology applied so well. Some data is old. But new pings are popping all the time.

I have given up on trying to convince the sharks board to stop their heinous acts. We need to get rid of them ourselves somehow. Working with municipalities directly or something.

Please get in touch with Sean on +27793269671 or umzimkulu@gmail.com to discuss any of this further. Especially if you work at a municipality and want to save the people’s money from being used to kill marine life. The backbone of our tourism industry here in KZN.

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FLOODS update for 18 January 2024

FLOODS Update

FLOODS update for 18 January 2024

FLOODS update for 18 January 2024: Reports have been landing in from all over. Big thanks to this video’s contributors – Alan, Gareth and Eckhardt.

Port Shepstone

Starting in Port Shepstone with an early look at what the Umzimkulu Mouth area looks like today. After Underberg and Harding both reported huge storm activity last night. Well, it looks like a chocolate milkshake. Full of twigs and things. The odd donkey.

During flood times, you must be careful what you find washing up on the beaches.

Underberg

Gareth Powell is farming up at the upper reaches of the mighty Umzimkulu River. He works surrounded by the river each day. And is permanently dialled in and on hand. To warn us of impending flood waters coming from there. And from further up the Drakensberg.

Gareth reported a 60cm rise in the water level in Underberg, overnight.

We felt that flood pulse here in Port Shepstone, where we went up a full metre this morning at daybreak.

Banana Beach

Eckhardt says chocolate mousse. And laments that it will be like this for another two to three weeks. Right into February, there will be no fishing. This ain’t the best news for a pro fishing guide as Eckhardt is. But when it clears, he will be stoked to get you out on the rocks. Or onto the ocean. Arranged on The Sardine News website at https://thesardine.co.za. Use the WhatsApp button for a hotline direct to us.

Port St Johns

Taxi violence has led to murderous times in Port St Johns and Lusikisiki. Avoid the areas. Even the Port St Johns Municipality has asked people to stay away for now.

We will be the first to let you all know when things are safe down there in our favourite little town.

More on the Port St Johns story at https://brucifire.co.za.

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If you go down to the beach today…

If you go down to the beach today...your in for a big surprise 2

If you go down to the beach today…

If you go down to the beach today: you might be in for a big surprise. The floodwaters bring a helluva LOT of stuff from inland to the sea.

Islands of trees. All kinds of infrastructure. So much flotsam and jetsom. And…

Snakes, spiders, sewage and pathogens!

Snakes

Yip! They get washed down with the floodwaters. They can actually swim quite well. But they get tired and going with the flow sometimes is the only way for them. Or they get into a tree or an island. We get these weird thickets of floating vegetation that look like islands going by. All the time in the floods. Out to sea, and washed up on the beach.

So, you could easily walk into a snake on the beach, after ANY flood. This has happened very many times!

Spiders

Got nowhere to go in a flood. Except down the valley. So the minute they see a floating object, or something fixed…like a log, boat or a kayak, they assemble en masse.

Actually…these insects, walk on water when they see a platform. We watched today as the spiders and ilk made for the swing bench here at the Umzimkulu Marina all morning. Skipping across the surface in sheer desperation to get out of the raging waters. And away from the many, many fish that just suddenly appear when it floods here. The fish were swimming all over the garden. Wish I knew what they were but they were big.

Then, in clear sight, a kingfisher appeared. And joyously picked off the buffet of delicious-for-birds treats on the bench. And the kayaks.

Sewage

The Harding Farmers Dam has burst it’s banks (read more about that here) and all that terrifying water is on its merry way here. To Port Shepstone, and the rest of the tourist-dependant Hibiscus Coast.

You can smell it everywhere.

Pathogens

All this sewage, which is meant to go to a plant and be treated, is now, under direct ANC guidance, discharged directly into the rivers and the environment (Harding). This means that if you get a cut or a scratch, and you go in this water, you could get REALLY sick.

Do not go into any brown water. Ever!

Read about that all right HERE.

The ONLY good news is that the Agulhas Current is screaming mad at the moment. She has come right in close and literally is sandwiching the brown water against the coast. She will eventually prevail against the constant onslaught and the counter-currents and will whip the evidence away.

Avoid the beach today!

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