My name is Shane Holland. I live in a small seaside town called Margate in Kwa Zulu, South Africa. This is my blog about Fishing, Cooking and Good Times. Welcome to my Friends both old and new !!
After much talk and lots of encouragement from my friends and family, I have launched www.live-like-me.co.za
Live Like Me is a Tourism Focused, Lifestyle Simulator.
Anybody around the world can list their lifestyles on the site and if anybody else, figures that it would make an interesting holiday to live like that person , then they make contact and do their thing.
It’s a pretty simple concept, but one that has never been done before, so lets all have some fun.
I fished at Orange Rocks at St Michaels on Sea, this morning and caught my bag limit of 4 Shad.
I like to eat Shad as soon as I catch it, cooked with garlic butter, onion and green pepper on the braai in tinfoil – this is how.
Fresh Shad, caught a few hours ago - gutted and descaled.
I like to take the head off and remove the rib cage as it gets rid of many of the small bones.
Cut deep into the fish as to make a pocket for your filling.
Take some Butter, Fresh Garlic, Chopped Green Pepper and whatever other flavourings you like. I used a few curry leaves.
Melt in the Microwave and get ready to pour into the fish.
Place Fish on some TinFoil and fill with chopped onions and pourthe garlic butter into the pocket.
Season with whatever spices you wish and the wrap up into a sealed parcel.
get your Braai ready, I mix my coals with acorns as it gives an interesting flavour.
Start with a bit of parraffin. Clean and easy.
Our Chickens called Steve Irwin and Kentucky.
My Son James-Dylan - named after James Hetfield from Metallica. He loves to help with whatever I am doing.
Back to business. Place foil parcels a few centimetres above the coals, preferably on a double sided grille for easy flipping.
Nothing Fancy - just simple campfire food. Everyday is a holiday !!
Remove when you get the feeling thats its cooked. To be sure, feel it with your finger (dont burn) - when it feels firm, its usually cooked. Prick with a fork and if the fork comes out clean, then it means that its ready.
Hint - When wrapping your fish in the tinfoil, put an extra layer on the outside that you can remove, so that you can serve a clean parcel straight ontp a plate. Its a nice experience for your guests to open it up themselves.
When the skin sticks to the foil and peels off lke this, its a sign that its perfectly cooked.
A closer look, still nice and moist, with all the flavours or garlic, onion, green pepper and butter.
Hows That ? Double click for a closer look !!
Such a nice meal, you can add bacon, thinly sliced butternut, fresh herbs or whatever variation of fillings you wish. Try feta and olives with tomato and top with mozarella (Pizza Fish)
This is a video of the spot where the fish were caught.
Once a year, on the east coast of South Africa, hundreds of millions of sardines migrate from the Cape up to Mozambique, where they dispurse and dissapear like magic. Its called “The Sardine Run” – see wiki
It is commonly known as “The Greatest Shoal on Earth”
To say that the fishing is awesome, is an understatement. The millions of gamefish that follow them on their migratory route are feeding…. and when they are feeding, they are biting without caution – so if you ever wanted to catch fish “shot-for-shot” – now is the time.
Millions of whales, sharks and dolphins work together, herding the sardines into “bait balls” and feed until they are stuffed. You can swim right up to the sharks and they are too full to even bother about you. Ragged tooth sharks even lie on the bottom of the sea, like a fat uncle after christmas lunch.
Have a look at this awesome video and see for yourself how these amazing animals all fit into the great scheme of nature.
This year its been very slow and we have not seen much activity, as its all been too far out to sea. A combination of heavy seas and warmer oceans, have kept the litle silver fish out of our reach. There have been small shoals that have appeared, but the majority have been elusive.
Global warming is a real crisis, which is happening right now.
Humans have to slow down and stop reproducing at the rate that we are or the Earth is not going to be able to sustain us for much longer.
Anyway, on a lighter note.l If you a on around the South Coast, give me a call and I will take you fishing and show you some local secrets.
My number is 087 808 5321 (international +27 87 808 5321)
I went fishing the other day and caught this beautiful YellowTail off Seabrook Rocks, on Margate Main Beach.
I used a steel trace and a big top-bung (float) with a whole sardine.
What a nice catch it was; on that particular day the fishing was very bad so all the locals were cheering when I brought him up.
We cooked him on the fire and had an awesome lunch with my buddy Sandor, who came to visit us for the weekend.
Baby James had a ball playing outside and watching Sandor re-landscape the garden and rip out everything that could cause damage to the house, oh and he insisted on cooking and cleaning as well. Perfect house-guest …. please come again soon.
Recipe.
I gutted and cleaned the fish and then cut it from under its chin all the way back to his tail.
We then stuffed it with Onions, Mushrooms, Green Pepper, lots of Garlic and salt and pepper.
We then wrapped it in Tin-Foil and put it on the braai over hot-coals.
After 30 minutes or so and a few flips we took it off and gave it a prick with a fork. (if the fork comes out clean, then it means that it’s cooked)
We served this gift from the ocean with some home-made, thick cut chips and a fresh salad.
Lips were smacking and a great meal was had by all.
Join me fishing anytime. Just give me a shout and we will work out a date.
