Nearly lost an end to a finger yesterday. Fishing alone, went to release a wild fish. Took a leader wrap around my fingers, hoisted the fish out of the water a bit to access the hook, reached for the pliers and had a seal come full head out of the water along side, took the fish, leader and spoon in an instant. Fortunately I was running 20# and only took a slit on my baby finger, which ended up wrapped in the leader. 40# leader would have been a worse result!!

I've had a close call or two myself, particularly the last few years. We do need to keep an eye out. I pack a sling shot, and I use it. It is legal to use one on seals or sea lions.

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/...nce_methods.pdf

Thanks Barchaser, I was under the impression no harassment was allowed. Getting a paint ball gun....a 10 oz ball thrown on a spinning rod is losing its effectiveness, and they are hard to hit!

If you can keep the paint balls frozen they will be much more effective. WDFW tells us that's the deal for pesky deer in the garden. Bob R

You need to backhand wrap your whole hand - not just a single finger. Fish size doesn't matter - from perch to Marlin...use your WHOLE hand and keep it straight and flat (NEVER EVER close your hand and palm). On a run, point your hand directly at the fish (or seal in this case) and it will smoothly fly off your hand like a spinning reel.

Or even better use a net!

Defended our coho from a harbor seal this past fall with an oar. Like full on clubbed it twice to get it let go of our fish from our boat while underway at troll speed. They get brave. Jaydee 1, seal 0.



Only damage to the head.

Walking the docks in Westport, I always felt a little uneasy with them around my kids. Seems it may not be that unreasonable.


SAN FRANCISCO — A sea lion bit a woman swimming in the San Francisco Bay in the fourth such attack since December.
The woman's friend says the two members of the South End Rowing Club were swimming around 7 a.m. Thursday when the sea lion latched onto her and tried to drag her underwater.
The friend, Alice Ma, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the sea lion "chomped down on" the swimmer's knee and pulled.
Fire Department Lt. John Baxter said a retired San Francisco firefighter who also was swimming helped the badly bleeding woman as she came out of the water. She was taken to a hospital.
Baxter says officials are encouraging people who visit the popular swimming area to stay in pairs and keep a close eye out.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

We had gone fishing on a late spring afternoon at the Narrows. The plan was to catch a fish for dinner. One of the fishermen with us was also a diver. Our Plan B was to send him down under the bridge to spear a ling, if we couldn't catch a salmon. Late in the day we determined plan A was failure, so our diver suited up, and we dropped him off between the eastern bridge supports and the shore. We motored out into the Narrows to wait for the wave that signaled he had been successful and was ready to be picked up. It was dusk when he reappeared in waist deep water. It was difficult to see his waving hand in the approaching dark, but we assumed he had a fish, and that we would be having fish and chips in a couple of hours. When we reached our diver, he seemed really anxious to get out of the water and into the boat. He did not have a ling. In near darkness, he had been waiting in the water, waving with one hand and holding our dinner in the other, when a seal came out of the depths, body slammed him, and ripped the ling from his grasp. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that our stop on the way home was at a fast food restaurant...and not the ER. Always wondered how that adventure would have ended if a massive sea lion had been the predator, instead of a seal.