La Jolla 4-13-14
 

Being Palm Sunday, the family attended service and then we booked it out to La Jolla...as soon as we found parking, we unloaded and headed to the beach with our gear. The wind was starting to blow but wasn't too bad, the water on the otherhand was cold, my FF was reading 58.6. Ran into Matt on the beach and he was telling me about the lack of bait and small rock fish and he was there since 6 am ( it was around noon when we talked), was getting discouraged to say the least. But my son didn't care he was determined to go out and make a good day of it. Couldn't argue with him, so we geared up and started through the waves, not too bad, we have a Hobie Tandem, so he (10yrs) got soaked from the waves crashing the bow, but had a smile on his face and kept peddling...made it out safe. About 15 mins later we went to the Rock Cod grounds and hit instantly...got couple decent size Vermilion, but alot of shorts that we didnt want to take, so they went back to grow bigger. Then we saw a 20' boat poach our spot, so we left to see if we can make bait and hunt for YT or WSB...tied to a kelp and my son was determined to make bait (picture of him intent on making it happen)...perseverance pays off and made about a dozen or so good sized macs (lots of scads, smelt)..but unfortunately the wind started to pick up and started to get big swells, so we looked at each other and decided to head back in. But he wanted to see if we can get more rock fish on the way in...(think I have fishing partner for life :) hoping to get out next week and try it again...

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR FISH IN THE WATER!!!
Great way to get flipped by a Sea Lion. Don't risk getting you or your son hurt.


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I was wondering about that myself when I saw that. I've never left my catch tethered in the water but I was curious if that is something most do? If not the dogs then a GWS looking for an easy meal had always deterred me.

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Gotta love father son fishing. But as MrPatrick said, might be best to take the fish out of the water. Eliminate the potential risk

X 10!!!!!! Bad choice! That is sooooo dangerous!!!!

Never ever leave your fish in the water. Asking for major trouble!

Thanks for the advise! Won't do that again.:confused:

I leave mine in all the time then if I see dogs around ill pull em out

Yep, and you better wear SPF 1000 sunscreen, a chainmail wetsuit, a backup PFD, carry 3 VHFs, 2 extra peddle/paddle drives and 2 backup bilge pumps. :eek::eek::eek::D

I always tether my spare kayak and drag it around with me, never can be too safe!

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:cheers1: I've never had a dog go after rockfish. I leave mine in the water or they turn to jerky

I always leave them in the water except while surf landing. If you don't carry a fish bag to keep them iced or a burlap bag you can keep wet, they will dry all out. Then I also don't hang my feet or legs in the water. Never had a problem, the dogs don't come too close.

I keep mine in a fish basket and pull it in if I am paddling any distance.

Fish not in water = rigamortis



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I was almost flipped when a sea lion grabbed hold of my bait tube and started pulling. Scared the hell out of me. I hit the sob on the head with my paddle and he let go, then he followed me for 30 minutes as I tried to get away

I had a 500lb sea lion grab my fish and flipped me like a ragdoll.
lost a thousand dollars worth fishing stuff.

Again, NEVER. EVER. LEAVE. YOUR. FISH. IN. THE. WATER.

It's just a matter of time before disaster strikes!

The sea lions get a lot more aggressive during the summer.

Keep your fish in your KAYAK Please!!!

I understand the lost gear, but did you lose your catch as well?!

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I have to respectfully disagree. If people are taking the proper precautions, the worst that is likely to happen is that they get wet. If they have all the gear that they want to keep leashed or stowed, they have little financial risk. And if they keep their eyes, and more importantly their ears, focused on their immediate environment they will almost always know when Sealions are nearby. Then just have the gameclip accessible and set up to be easily brought to the deck. Definitely err to the side of caution when ever you see a Sealion swimming in your direction. And, by all means, let others know when you see one going in their direction. But for me, the benefits of keeping my fish in the water outweigh the added risk I might be taking. However, if someone is not familiar with remounting their yak, doesn't like or believe in leashes, doesn't hear very well etc. then it might not be an acceptable risk for them. I have several friends that have lost gameclipped fish to Sealions, about half of which flipped. Most of them still keep their fish in the water, but are much more attentive and quicker to react when they hear or see Dogs in their area.

You're right Greg, i did learn the hard way.

The problem is, you're not always aware of your surroundings due to distractions.

There are times when food is scares for the seal lions and they can become very sneaky. Sea lions are very smart....

It would be a mistake to think "that will never happen to me". Why even take a risk? Everyone has a choice I understand that. As for me, not worth the risk. too many bad things happen real fast out there.

Try telling these guys they should of been prepared....too many distraction out there.


<IFRAME height=315 src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sGz-NIBZwEw" frameBorder=0 width=560 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>the guy is very lucky he still has a hand.

Since I never catch anything. I dont have to worry about where I carry my fish :D

So the moral of the story is some like to be very safe and not keep fish in the water and risk a flip. Others take the bit of extra risk and as a reward have fresher fish. To each their own. I know a flip is inevitably in my future and I'm prepared. I made the mistake of throwing a stringer of Reds in my tank well and not in the water. At the end of the day I had a bunch of cardboard boomarangs. I've also observed dogs swim up and inspect rockfish and not touch them, where with a yt , mac or other fish the will pounce on it. I really don't think they like to mess with those spines unless they are really desperate.

Will fish basket hanging in water be okay?

it would be the same as having the fish hang over on game clip. So sure it fine.

Downey is were I grew up at.

Well it will attract unwanted guests, but will they be able to take them?

Haha cool, I've only been living here for 3 years now.

The concern some have is having the seal grab the fish and flip their kayak while they are sitting on it. Weather they can actually get the fish or not.

I keep an insulated fish bag below deck with a couple of frozen water bottles. If I don't catch fish, then I have cold water. I'd rather go thirsty.

I definitely understand the risk of soaking fish, I personally don't, but do the seals really go after Rockfish? I would like to believe that they are to smart or might try it only once. I've tried to find some info on if they will eat them but can't.
To the guys who have had the seals grab their fish... We're they Rockfish?

Mine was a Yellow tail.

But, I had seals try to steal my rock fish as I was reeling them in.

I have seen seals eating floating dead rock fish that people throw back.

Yes, seals eat rock fish. http://www.ask.com/question/what-do-sea-lions-eat

Thank you! :cheers1:

Yeah, I was going to add that I would not recommend fishing around bait barges and docks with your fish in the water, cause they sure have good cover to sneak up on you. Another consideration might be noisy days (maybe from wind or surf) that may mask the approach of Sealions. I also agree that there are a lot of distractions out there these days, especially with all the bikini clad paddle boarders. And it seems that we have a bumper crop of new pups this year, so those that do keep their fish in the water will need to be pretty vigilant.

Even when you are paying close attention, you should still be prepared to be flipped. Cause even a Whale can surface right underneath you with no advance warning. I did understate the risk, cause you will probably lose the fish in addition to getting wet.

As far as the fish baskets are concerned, just look what they do to crab traps. They don't know that they can't get the fish out until they have stolen the basket from you. The only assumption you can make about Sealions is that if they see food, they probably want it.

Interesting comment about the bumper crop of pups this year. I was thinking it was a DP thing. Not good news for anyone. The other bad news is that there has not been reports of dead/starving ones washing ashore like last year. Nor has the Laguna Beach Pacific Marine Mammal center been whining to the media about lack of funds. Mako's, Great Whites and Orcas are our friends.

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Yea I saw a bunch of them pups on the jetty rocks last weekend. Weird how all of a sudden there's lots of them little buggers.

I was running along Imperial Beach the other day and there were two pups hanging out in the surf and on shore

yet

Those dogs a pros, they're out there ever day working and learning. I know one guy who got dumped from a dog grabbing his tethered fish and another that bounced a small bass in to his yak and had a dog follow it right in to his lap. Why even take the risk. I don't even like to bleed fishing in to water. I put their heads in the scupper or mirage drive hole to do it. I don't expect to get in to an auto crash ever time I turn the key but I still wear my seat belt. Mike

It is not the Great Whites you have to worry about. They will not really bother much with small rockfish. The smaller sharks if they were hungry might go for them but if a Great White takes interest in you it would likely target the yak thinking it is a large bleeding mammal. It would take a large seabass both white or black to get a great white to really turn it's head. As has been constantly said it is the sea lions that have no issue going after your catch. But that is what the billie club is for:the_finger:
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