Yes, it’s official, with featured photos by Jay Steenkamp, of the Natal Sharks Board.
The sards were caught this very morning – and although not massive amounts, is a great sign of things hopefully coming our way!
Sardines at Scottburgh
Thanks to Jay Steenkamp who keeps us right in the loop each and every year. Our other sardine spies are also reporting action, but these are the first solid photographs.
Jay Steenkamp in his office keeping a sharp lookout for sardines for us
The sardine report 2017 is sponsored by…
PelagicSpecial offer from Pelagic and Fishing’s Finest…click the image to go visit the online store and get your discount!
Offshore Africa, The Sardine specialists down in The Transkei, have already started taking bookings, for their Sardine Run experience.
Which is…jump right in with them, sharks and all!
Make no mistake, it’s a military type operation, and Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith, partners in the show, take it very seriously. Their combined experience adds up to decades on, and under the ocean. Heaps of this time surrounded by dangerous marine animals. It is this experience that allows the totally mind-blowing trips out to sea off Port St. Johns to happen. Coupled with reliable, fast boats, and well-trained skippers…the exhilarating ride out through the surf and up and down the awe inspiring Wild Coast, will never be forgotten.
Right from the word go, the adrenalin starts pumping. Loading up, and prepping the powerful RIBs growl into life, as the winter induced offshore wind pumps down the stupendously beautiful Umzimvubu Valley. The next thing your heart is in your mouth, as you face the most hardcore ride of your life – through the surf at the Port St. Johns river mouth! And out to sea!
Flying with Offshore – Rob Nettleton at the helm
The sardines are easily spotted by the birds they attract. Seagulls, Gannets, Albatross, Skuas, Terns…they are all highly aware of the bounty at large. And where the sardines are, that’s where the dolphins, whales, sharks, fish…are.
Jump right in!
Yip! The next thing you are surrounded my marine wildlife. The clear blue waters reveal all. The entire food chain! Staying out of the food chain is not that difficult really, sticking together provides the single biggest advantage – confidence. Just float there calmly and observe the carefully controlled mayhem, as predators who normally are averse to each other, start to work as a Springbok team. Those poor sardines!
Enjoy this gallery from the 2015 Sardine Run…
There is more amazing imagery and video at this link…
Take a look at Offshore Africa’s new sardine spotter plane!
Yep, introducing “Tzulu” Dowsett as the pilot of the cool gyrocopter that he will be flying to locate shoals of sardines this year. Starting in about two months time, pilot shoals of sardines will have started making their way north, as the exodus starts. It’s estimated that almost 10% of the entire sardine population breaks from the main pack down in the southern oceans to form the greatest shoal on earth.
Having this facility will help put clients of Offshore Africa down in Port St. Johns, right on the button. Port St. Johns is the epi-centre of the sardine run each year – Offshore have been taking punters out and into the middle of the action for many seasons now – the longest operating dive facility there.
Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith, the operators of Offshore Africa and Diving with Sharks, have been hard at work underwater for decades. Their local experience combined with excellent service reputation and happy customers, have made them first choice for anything sardine and radical!
Situated in the Transkei, on The Wild Coast – Offshore have many other things to do in Port St Johns, when you make it down there. The team there have a huge cruiser on the Umzimvubu River, aswell as an air boat – unbelievably one of only two in the country. Fun, fun, fun!
Enjoy this gallery from 2015 sardine run…it gives a great idea of what goes on down there!
When Captain Duarte Rato gets excited, so do I! He has been frothing over these amazing pics he lucked into whilst on a charter off Bazaruto two days ago. This one is a shark based bait ball, but many others were instituted by sailfish the same day. The bait balls are everywhere, even down here in Barra and Tofo.
And they are having the desired effect on the fishing.
The fishing off Bazaruto has been epic this last couple of weeks. Huge yellowfin, by inshore standards are being encountered. The ones that are coming out have been 40kg’s! The ones that have been getting away and there have been plenty, have been estimated at over 50!
Wahoo and couta have also been going mad, as they do, this time of the year, every year.
Sailfish are a bycatch of fishing for tuna, couta and wahoo really, and are almost as plentiful. There have been plenty sailfish all over lately. Targeting just sailies yields big numbers. Sometimes 5 or 10 a day. All released of course.
It’s just the big mommas, that are taking their time to appear. A few encounters with 800s, and a bunch of smaller fish, “rats”, as Duarte calls them, but a little quiter than last year.
Duarte is at sea right now…so stay tuned for more Bazaruto torture!
