I ran across this on King5's website.


ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A 19-year-old fisherman is recovering from an encounter with a sea lion that leaped out of the water, grabbed him as he worked on his grandfather's docked boat and pulled him into the harbor at King Cove.

"It happened so fast, I forgot what I was doing," said Ray Dushkin Jr., who was not seriously injured in the abduction Tuesday.

Dushkin spent a few moments beneath the water's surface before the hefty animal let go. Dushkin's left buttock sports an inch-and-a-half scrape, but no bite mark, he said. His coveralls were torn through, as were the pants worn beneath them.

About 4:30 p.m., Ray Dushkin Sr. was standing on the top of the bridge and asked his son to hand him the hatch. Young Dushkin was standing two feet from the edge of the boat. Several sea lions were in the area.

"The sea lion was just swimming around the boat like they do always when the boats are delivering fish," Ray Sr. said. And just like that, the creature - estimated about 12 feet long and between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds - leaped a half dozen or more feet out of the water and grabbed his son.

That's Scarey Sparks!

I've had them follow my bait in and come up hissing righy next to my face before and about fell in from the shock factor.

I wonder how long it will be before a sea lion takes a salmon someone is unhooking beside the boat right out of the guys hand?

Or takes a chunk of the hand with the salmon?

I remember people talking about a sea lion taking an elderly lady's poodle right off of the dock a Neah Bay a couple years back.

Anyone else hear that story?

I have never heard that story but I personally have had a seal steal a pink salmon off of a stringer that I had tied to my waist while standing in the salt fishing. It just about knocked me off balance enough to make me take a swim. After that I began to watch them when they would get close to me and would hoist my fish up to shoulder level and watch the seals cruise by at my feet looking for another free meal. I saw this happen to several other people at the hoodsport hatchery last year. One kid lost two pinks on two seperate occasions to a seal in one day. He had the stringer tied around his neck the second time thinking if he kept the fish up near his chest it would be safe but the seal grabbed it and jerked his head down with such force that it pulled his head down into the water. I have noticed that the seals are getting more brazen toward the fishermen in the last few years down there but last year took the cake. I sure hope the killer whales come back this year to eat those devils' sea spawn.

There was a sea lion that got really mad at me for some reason at Redondo a couple of years back. He almost jumped in to my boat while my boat was tied up at the dock. He came completely out of the water a couple of times and would be hissing and growling at me just a few feet from my stern. This sea lion was probably 800-1000 #'s. He was a big boy.

Don't forget your slingshots

I like the slingshot idea, But the compound bow is more effective at ultimate control over the population.........

I had one trying to jump in my 14 ft aluminum, hitting the bottom of it, jumping down the side, I took off so quick I nailed him with the motor and lost it right there, when I got towed to shore by some fisherman who watched the whole thing in front of the manchester fuel depot he said it was the damdest thing he ever saw, when I was at the dock he popped up like 50 ft from , I've had a couple encounters wade fishing around point southworth and point no point where they have surfaced within 10 ft from me, all big males to, makes me kinda nervous when I see one now and I'm not really a timid person.

I had one trying to jump in my 14 ft aluminum, hitting the bottom of it, jumping down the side, I took off so quick I nailed him with the motor and lost it right there, when I got towed to shore by some fisherman who watched the whole thing in front of the manchester fuel depot he said it was the damdest thing he ever saw, when I was at the dock he popped up like 50 ft from , I've had a couple encounters wade fishing around point southworth and point no point where they have surfaced within 10 ft from me, all big males to, makes me kinda nervous when I see one now and I'm not really a timid person.

Had one get hung up in my gill net back in a previous life as a commercial fisherman. Big ******* and he was not happy. I would get him to the boat, he would start rolling and trashing something terrible. 12 guage to the side of the head settled him right down. After that he sort of rolled out of the net and drifted away.

I saw a seal climb onto my swimstep and up onto my transom one night while anchored at Pt Townsend. Once he saw he wasn't alone, he slid back into the water. I'm not sure what I would have done if he had decided to take a look around the inside of the boat. His teeth were way bigger than mine.

Wow! Woudn't you love to get the green light to cut loose on a sea lion just once. The stuff dreams are made of!
The closest encounter for me, other than having fish stolen of course, is hooking a seal while squid jigging. It was hooked in the mouth by the way... Okay, I was trying to snag it but I missed and it swung over and bit my jig. The fight was a little short. I needed some barbs for any hope at all.

Slingshots and bows are okay but I think I'll stick with seal bombs, typical season I'll go through half a box (12) of seal bombs.

What are seal bombs? Those sound like fun.

Basically a "sealed" M-1000 for water use.

A seal bomb is an M-80 with a waterproof fuse and sand built into it so it will sink.
As far as I know, they are usually only sold to commercial fisherman but sometimes things are overlooked in Ak.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this sea lion try to cull one commercial fisherman out of the population for us...?

Kidding, of course.

You are ever looking for the bright side, Dawg.

That actually could be pretty fun... bowfishing for seals... dang that'd be a rough fight.

So, what would you use for a rod and line for bowfishing for seals?

243 magnum