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.
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.
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.
KZN Flooding: cancel all beach ideas for now – in video…
The storm came over us really early in the evening. As it got dark kinda thing. Proper lightning and thunder. But it moved north and started it’s relentless march to Durban. It was reported going over Banana Beach. Then Hibberdene.
Durban
Then Durban got hit hard. And all the areas inland of us simultaneously got pelted. So much so, that at 2 am this morning, the waters here in the Umzimkulu River, started to rise. By 3 am it come up an entire metre. By 4 am, even more.
The waters kept rising until about 8 am, at which point the extra-low tide started influencing the river. And by 10 am the river itself slowed down a tad…dropping a total of a metre or so.
The current situation is a fast-flowing river of rapids, carrying enormous amounts of flotsam and jetsam.
Other rivers
After that display from Mother Nature, every single river in KZN must be wide open now. I know that down here where we are that certainly is the case.
And aside from the flotsam and jetsom, this water has a dirty little secret. It carries all kinds of dangers within itself. Waste from hospitals. Raw sewage left untreated by the ANC. Oil and grime from the streets. Faeces from animals.
Sure, it is all going out to sea now…which is how the ANC get away with their abuse of the system. Even Harding just be clean after that deluge.
Catching Kob: Our fish – the kob – could be a more relevant national fish than the galjoen. We get kob right the way from Mozambique to Namibia.
And everybody loves to catch a kob!
Since kob can be found out deeper, where ski-boats have been targeting them in waters between 10 and 40 metres, and in the surf zone, and in our estuaries – we have divided this Catching Kob how-to into three seperate parts.
Deep-sea
Rock and surf.
And Estuary
But first, a quick kob gallery…
Kob Gallery
Sean Calitz 25kg Kob at Port St. Johns with MYDO and BruBaitsJust shoot them if you can!Gerrard-Powell-his-two-daughters-and-a-100lb-KobKoblet by Josh Herrison near Port St JohnsA fun little kobbie about to be released down on the Sandspit in Port ShepstoneThe TWO wise men -according to Bruce! You only need to catch one of these magnificent fish – in your whole life!And it’s Chris Lepan again with another Umzimkulu Estuary kob.Jos Jantjies with a tasty kob caught down at Kabeljauw’s, down the point, in Jeffreys Bay (c) artsurfer.nlSimon fish and his first cast MYDO caught kob in The Transkei
Deep-sea
Kob feed at odd times. And sometimes they don’t feed at all, even when you can see them clearly to be there. I have seen kob underwater – huge kob, lined up in tight formation, wallowing behind the surf zone. Baits all around them. And they won’t touch anything! And then other times, the kob could bite so hard, commercial boats of old would literally sink themselves loading too much fish. Luckily this heinous practise of hauling out fish for profit, is not really practised any more. And the stocks of kob have stabilised, albeit at a fraction of the numbers of before. Hopefully, the more stringent regulations governing the selling of kob might ease the population back to strength. Unfortunately, it’s up to the current political controls in charge of DAFF. Which does not paint a pretty picture at all.
Back to catching kob…launch anywhere up and down the South African coastline, and kob could be on your target list. They really are literally everywhere.
Live Bait
Some spots are blessed with a constant supply of liveys. Mackerel are by far the favourite. Although a little live shad is close behind. Really serious anglers are keeping live bait alive, in cages and tanks in the harbour. So that when they go fishing, no time is spent gambling on catching live bait. Not sure how legal this is, but it’s really effective. Especially for night fishing, since time is always limited.
IGFA allows two single hooks on a trace. Which is a tad risky when fishing with live bait, since a tangle might be in the offing. So, a nice metre length of soft leader, a good 9/0 hook, two swivels and a sinker – is all you need. Drop that rig rigged with a live mackerel onto a showing and hold on tight. Normally at a bit of depth, and the running trace on the sinker snoot, the fish hook themselves when fished with a live bait.
Frozen Bait
Fishing with frozen sardines or mackerel also works. But only when the fish are hungry. This is when advantage can be taken of the IGFA suggestion of two hooks per trace. But. Be aware you may end up with two big kob hanging onto your line!
Lures
Turns out that kob love a plastic bait. A paddletail. Colour not so important. But weight is. You will need a solid 2 or 3 ounces to get down there. Bounce it around on the bottom and hold on tight!
Rock n Surf
Circle hooks have really changed things for the better. The trace used is simple. A single 8/0 to 12/0 circle hook on a metre of soft leader. You can throw out a grapnel sinker and slide your bait if the conditions allow. You need a bit of height above the water for that. Or just tie it all up and throw into the channel between the shorebreak and the middle break. Kob hunt in the absolute shallows in the surf zone. You do not have to cast very far at all.
Live Bait
A live mullet or shad puts you square in the game to catch your trophy kob. Although, if you could get any other live baits, like mackerel, pinkies or mozzies, you would be in the same game.
If your live bait is going to be battling a current, you will need to rig him from the nose or top of the head. Two hooks can help but a single – preferably a circle hook, with the bait nicely fastened on, is the outright winner for successful hookups. Keeping a big needle and a roll of wax thread is a very good habit for live bait fishing. The fish last so much longer when carefully tied to the circle hook. About a centimetre away from the bait. Much like marlin fishing. If the water is calm and the sea is flat, with no current, then put the hook in at the tail area, so the bait can swim away from you.
Once again, sewing the hook on with wax thread is so much better all around for everything. And it is a good feeling to let your hard-working live bait go without injury, at the end of a slow session.
Frozen bait
Well you can fish a frozen bait much like a live bait. A whole sardine is the go-to bait and has caught shoals and shoals of kob.
Belly bait
A decent belly, freshly cut from a shad or mackerel, is a deadly kob bait. You might want to master the art of the pencil bait. Highy recommended.
Lures
Kob have been an enigma to many, for a very long time. What would they be thinking, taking a hard plastic clangy lure, in the middle of the night, cast out there from the beach? Sure, I understand the soft and silent paddle tail, relying on its tail vibrations to get the message out there – but those noisy lures – Eish, they work too!
Kob also take a spoon. A very slow spoon. Literally dragged along the bottom. The Sheppy Bomber spoon, an infamous design from down south, has been revered far and wide for catching kob. Similair S-Bend spoons with half bronze and half silver have been reliable over the years.
Estuary
Catching kob in our estuaries here in South Africa is over-the-top fun. Challenging for sure. But catching koblets (kob of up to about 5kgs or so) on light tackle and lures is insanely entertaining.
Check this video of my Dad catching 3 at the same time!
Flicking and trolling lures
Tie up a little tiny paddletail, and off you go. The smaller the better. The lighter the better.
Live bait
These little koblets love a live mullet. Its got to be small though, like 3 or 4 inches maximum. To make them perform properly, I thread my live baits under the skin with a needle. And then tie my circle hook to the thread. And then when the day is over, you can let that little soldier go without having done him harm to his vital bits like his mouth and nostrils.
Fresh bait
You need to master the construction of a pencil bait, to get these fish to take a hook inside. Pencil baits are designed especially for shy feeders. Like these little kob. And the spotted grunter that are found with them.
Use a MYDO Silver Bullet fillet trace made up with nylon to make a really interesting pencil bait. You could use a MYDO Shad Trace made with wire too. Especially if those teethy shad come into the scene. A good compromise would be to use wire between the hooks, adding some rigidity to your pencil bait. And then a nylon leader.
The fish approach the juicy long pencil bait, and start to feed from the sides. They don’t get much and soon enough they get greedy and move down to the end of the bait. Which is easily sucked in giving you chance to set the tiny hook hidden in the end of the bait.
Kob lures by MYDO
These are recommendations from MYDO lures for catching kob off the boat, the beach, or in the estuary…
If you stay with us here at the Umzimkulu Marina in Port Shepstone, you will be right in the middle of all the kob action. We have many secret rock and surf fishing spots in really close proximity. And the estuary right our front for all day fun and fishing. Kids love it here!
Also check out Umzimkulu Adrenalin, for lots of things to do in the Port Sheptone area.
Double-up Garrick for Team Karl and Candace at The Sandspit
Double-up Garrick for Team Karl and Candace at The Sandspit: some trips go better than others.
A LOT better!
Team Karl and Candace
Husband and wife charters are always so much fun. The husband is totally fish-mad. And the wife happily plays along. Gets her all over the globe. Only thing is…she almost always catches the fish!
This time was slightly different…they BOTH got the fish!
After a long morning of catching nothing on over-sized live mullet, we drifted back to the Umzimkulu Marina for coffee and things. And entered phase 2 of the trip. Which on this day was to be the favoured incoming high tide down at the mouth. This is our tactic generally, at the end of a low tide, we head up to the bridges, about 2kms, and set up a drift back downriver. This takes us down through Kingfish Corner, and over the big holes. There are three deep spots, sometimes down to 12m. At the bottom are huge boulders and rocks. And…clean water!
The halocline (fresh vs salt water line), even when the top water is brown, sits like a big wedge under the water. The point of the wedge being right up the river at high tide. When the tide recedes, this dense and beautifully clean and aerated water gets trapped in these deep spots. The tide and the river flow move happily overhead on the surface. But down here in the depths, there be monsters lurking and hunting.
Anyway, none this particular drift.
We gonna have to count on Phase 2. Which today included a braai on the beach at The SandSpit. Karl had a decent 30lb spinning outfit and so I easily convinced him to walk over the spit and throw a few luck shots into the channel behind the shorebreak.
The beach was lined with live baiters. But the Garrick had been chowing sprats in the river earlier during the week. I gave Carel the exact right lure to use. Evidently…because on his fourth cast…
BANG!
“Sean! Sean!”, I hear that distinctly urgent but cheerful call. Without believing me and Chelsea hop off the boat and run up the dune. What a scene that unfolded before us. Karl was VAS! His little fishing rod bending in a circle from the strain as he followed instructions. From BigZ, local garrick legend, who happily came to Karl’s assistance. Freeing me up to do the filming.
Pulling a big garrick out of a big shorebreak on a big day is immensely difficult and dangerous. BigZ lost his hat as waves knocked him right over a few times. But eventually, after 45 minutes of truly heart-stopping moments, BigZ grabbed the monster by the tail.
The tagging kit was all the way up the beach and the fish had put on quite a show. So we decided to hurry it back into the water. Karl’s very first garrick (he had asked me earlier to get him one), and he releases it healthily into the very same wild shorebreak. Garrick are very strong and this guys was in perfect shape as he swam away.
Mombakkies Af
So now I have one helluva happy charter. He is beaming. Levitating. And so am I at this stage…the pressure for me get the “mombakkies af” is completely gone. I can really now enjoy this lovely arvo down on the spit.
And so Chelsea and I meander down the dune back to the boat. To start the braai! Next thing…
“Sean! Sean!”. Again!?
So we turn around and gallop back up the dune. This time it’s Candace! She is VAS!
In a disbelieving daze, the whole process gets repeated. BigZ comes to the fore and gets the fish by the tail. But only after another gruelling 45 minutes. He is exhausted by now – after risking the huge Sandspit shorebreak for two in a row! Luckily BigZ also releases every fish he catches and this time the tagging kit was brought to hand. Tag in…Candace into the shorebreak with her first Garrick. Also released!
Enjoy the picture show…
Every anglers dream – releasing a healthy Garrick at The Sandspit in Port Shepstone with Umzimkulu AdrenalinCandace Engelbrecht repeats the stunt immediately after with her very own tagged and released Garrick with Umzimkulu Adrenalin.Karl, Sean , Candace and Wouter – Under the BridgeKarl Engelbrecht about to let his very first Garrick go free.Double-header garrick on The Sandspit in Port Shepstone…every fishing guides dream!
I am not sure that it can get better than that! Enjoy the saga in video…
Today
As of today, the recent rains have certainly muddied the waters. If that halocline is still around I’d be somewhat surprised. But at those 10 metre depths at Royston Bend area, there just may be clear water still. Someone will have to swim down there and check for us!
If it stays dry for a little while longer, the brown water will eventually run off and the tides will come back in the river. Hopefully one more time before it really starts to rain.
To get in on the upcoming summer gamefish action, get in touch and lets put together a cool weekend of fishing and relaxing for you. You can stay at the Umzimkulu Marina. Umzimkulu Adrenalin can take you fishing, surfing, or diving. You can learn all about fishing at the official MYDO web page.
Shad season opening on 1 December! Check out some of our Shad fishing kit right here (perfect gift for fish hungry girls).
