Umzimkulu Estuary update April 2021: Come on in, the water is clean!
Umzimkulu Estuary update April 2021: Finally! After a half dozen false alarms (every time the water cleaned up recently, the rain hammered down and brought more mud), we can as of this weekend, declare clean water in the Umzimkulu Estuary!
Tides
In fact, the blue stuff made it all the way up to Spiller’s Wharf yesterday. Another magnificently big tide conforming to the high coefficients typical of this time of the year. The lunchtime low tide revealed many new features about the estuary. Some sandbanks are literally moving around. Yesterday’s low tide in the estuary made any waters up from Spiller’s, unnavigable.
As you can see from this photograph…
Spiller’s Wharf is at the far end of the sandbank. The estuary is only navigable south of this point, at huge spring lows like we are having at the moment.
Fish in the Umzimkulu Estuary
Guests at the Umzimkulu Marina this weekend caught a few river species including perch and grunter (small release candidates). And the rudimentary tales of the ones that got away! And when fishing down at the Block, came back with a few nice legally sized shad, and tales of a barbel. And another one that got away!
Fish out deep-sea
Digby Smith and his mate Smokey Joe shot out on Saturday and before breakfast was over, sent us this pic of Smokey Joe and his really pretty king mackerel, aka couta. Taken right out front of the Umzimkulu Estuary mouth launch.
Digby has had a couple of these nice fish here now, this year already. And so are many others having a good ‘couta season this 2021. Small fish are coming out in reasonable numbers. Something that stopped happening around here 20 years ago.
Rock and Surf fishing
Shad, shad, and more shad. Literally all under-sized however. The odd last years models are swimming amongst the crowds of juveniles. But getting a little shad out live in the late evenings, wherever the shad were biting, will put you in the game for a kob.
Looking forward to our winter gamefish season, which is getting into full swing right now.
Sardines 2021
Yip! Only a month or two away, and already we have received extremely alarming news of huge congregations of sardines and predators out off False Bay, Cape Town, right now.
Book in at the Umzimkulu Marina for a front row seat at the annual sardine run migration. We are a quick boat ride away from the ocean. Where we can take you out on an Ocean Safari style trip right in amongst the sardine shoals. With predators everywhere!
The Sardine Run starts early winter sometimes, and sometimes they are late as hell, late winter. Get in touch if you would like to experience this natural phenomenon.
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