Sea Lion strike
 

Decided to do some recon the other night and stay out late. Started getting harassed by a sea lion. as it got closer and closer I grabbed my paddle knowing he was getting way too aggressive. Scared the crap out of me.

https://youtu.be/fXPlL8pmlCI

On a lighter note, it's almost summer. Not sure how this happened or if he just pulled up to watch the sunset. Someone tried to pull him out but snapped the Line. :doh:

Damn.. Never had them harass me at night, not even when hooping.

Yeah normally they steal my bait and move on. Not this dude.

They can be scary man, big strong animals with very powerful jaws.

I had a weird experience in DP last summer. No sign of sea lions around and then all of a sudden one surfaced right under me and bumped the side of my kayak. It was not an aggressive move, almost like it didn't know I was there and then it got spooked and took off. Scared the s##t outta me.

Scary dude! I've had some get aggressive with me while surfing down in Baja. For some reason on a kayak that seems extra sketchy. Especially at night man. Glad you're all good!

That's no fun! I hate when something pops up unexpectedly. No seals in Florida, but have been startled a couple of times by big tarpons, manatees, and turtles at night, and rammed twice by hammerheads during the day. Thankfully never any physical damages just shocked nerves.

I love the red glowing eyes when you shine a light on them!

I think our fishery would be better with fewer sea dogs.

At what point can we stop saving them from themselves?

Had one pestering me one night on my boat out at MDR. I hit it so hard with my 6' Aftco gaff that it bent. That sea Lion didn't bother me anymore.

Had one grab my Carolina rig yesterday
 

I saw him dive about 20' from me and didn't feel like bothering to wind up. The bait was hooked through his mouth and out his upper lip. It actually managed to stay in tack after the first two plucks. I picked up the rod out of holder, and on the 3rd strike managed to hook him. Over all, I am pretty satisfied with my knot testing. I buttoned down drag at full strike and thumbed it repeatedly while being towed sideways before it finally broke. He broke surface and went airborne repeatedly in the process. He won't bother a kayaker for a few days, I guarantee it.
:D

Paintball guns are a legal deterrent, just sayin


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If one were expecting to encounter them, that's not a bad idea. During my SoCal years, some of the skippers carried low-caliber rifles to shoot near the seals to ward them off. Others used seal bombs (basically a waterproof fuse cherry bomb) to scare the seals off.

San Diego Bay
 

Had one going nuts on me yesterday by Zuniga, It was a smaller one, but was jumping in and out of the water, literally smacking my Solo Skiff a few times in mid air.. circled me for a good minute or two jumping around as if to avoid a shark or something. I ended moving after it almost landed in my lap.

i must have had his little brother hopping and skipping acting all erratic
last month at the end of bug season. i do prefer the SD BAY dogs to La Jolla way more chill.

I had a very similar encounter the other night as my original post. Seal jumping out of the water getting closer and closer...barking at me. A couple of seconds later I see a 6-8ft shark slowly swimming by. I wasn't able to make out what kinda shark but the seal bailed out pretty quick after that.