Tactics to avoiding sea lions stealing your catch?

[crazywakeboarder]

I went out on Friday and my first yellow of the day was stolen by 3 sea lions. I had fought with the yellow in the kelp for a few minutes already when the sea lions showed up. They pretty much circled on top of the water waiting for me to break it free and then grabbed it once I did.

Is there anything that one can do in this type of situation to prevent them from stealing your catch?
Thinking back I'm wondering if I should have just kept some tension on the line but not tried to free it from the kelp and see if the lions would eventually leave and then break the fish free from the kelp?