Sardines are HERE!

[HolyGT]

As I am typing this the first Sardines of the season are being netted of Southbroom.

Apparently there are pockets of Sards all the way from Ramgate to Port Edward. Seems to be lots of sharks around, one net got split as sharks went crazy to get to the Sards. No word on gamefish following the shoals, just lots of Gannets, Dolphin & Shark.

You can't help but feel a bit sorry for those little buggers, never mind all the natural predators, every cousin and his dog is waiting at the Transkei border to hammer them as the cross into KZN.

[deewy]

Now you are a lucky bugger. Dont worry the gamefish are not far behind, all the Garrick that we have been targeting her are there now, so you must go have some serious fun. If you cant find them, target the sharks, they are good saltwater fly rod targets.

Wish I had a scanner to scan in the pics I took when I was last in Port Shepstone, that was 1999 and we took pics of the pods off sards, truely a wonder of the world. If only I flyfished then...

[Umhlangarox]

Its times like these that i wish i still lived in KZN

[Chris Shelton]

Isn't fishing for predatory fish during a sardine run a bit like fishing for trout during a caenis hatch?

[HolyGT]

Some latest is that they have netted fish all over from Ramsgate, St. Michael, Southbroom to Margate Main Beach.

So I am off to see a customer on the South Coast tmor. Will be taking my long rod with some plugs/spoons and a 15wt in case Mr. Shark is close enough to eat my mielie fly. Will also take some dynamite if all else fails . And maybe even my ski. Should get some pics that I'll post.

[Jono Shales]

Has anyone every fly fished the sardine run?
Or does anyone reading this know of someone who knows someone who has ?(if you know what I mean)

[chris williams]

Hi Jono, I VERY nearly did a few days back - I was down on the South Coast till Monday night! I've flyfished several runs from both the shore and from boats - the secret is to try on the shore at least to get sufficient casting room in!! It's also very sad as the human netters turn this event into wholesale slaughter with most fish being left to rot on the sand and car parks.

[damage]

Hi
I have been lucky enough to Fish while the sards are around

The shore Fly fishing was dismal as there is so much natural bait around and as the shoal gets pushed against the beach its so large that the "outside edge" (where the gamefish are feeding ) is out of fly casting distance

Most of my success was with a "live" or newly dead sard or shad in the deeper channels
Had a couta,garrick and kingys from lee rock in this way

The only artifical action we managed to get was on a large tin spoon that was thrown over the shoal and let to sink and retrived near the bottom (Kob and kings )
while large surface chisel plugs are rumored to work I have had little success with only one smallish Garrick

The offshore fishing on Protea also hots up but unless you enjoy boating half yellowfin tuna it gets frustrating as the shark population is also wild

one thing to remember is that when the sards get to natal they are LARGE 15-20 cms so you have to throw BIG flies to have any chance of success

That been said if you ever get a chance to got on a boat in sardine season its one of the most fantastic scenes you will ever see

10 000 000's lil fish 1 000 000's birds going crazy 1000's dolphins , sharks and game fish breaching

its truly spectacular

/d

[chris williams]

Yes DXamage, I also had more success offshore, also when flycastin form shore if you catch anythiong within a minute a hundred sparkpluggers are casting within elbow's range..
Offshore I generally use one of Popovic's Fleye adaptations for our sardines which suits big flies yet casts relatively easily. Imitating injured sardines on the edge of the pod often works well but as you say, the Johnnies often take half of whatever you hook! Still an incredible experience!

[Fisher]

I wish I can be there now, I wonder if launching at Sonny Evans is possable, I guess there are lots of boats now.