Sharky in La Jolla!

[surfrider]

I have been monitoring this site occasionally for 3 years now, and with all the awesome posts and information on here I didn’t feel I had anything of value to contribute……… until now!
Saturday 8/22, launched in the dark thru mild surf with my Stealth 14 paddle yak, and was parked at the kelp by daybreak. The first 12-15 times I dropped the sabiki in water I reeled it right back up with a Spanish Mac or 2! Never seen this kind of action before, and the sea was calm, so was thinking this might just be a great day for fishing! My girlfriend nearby was also slowly making bait, in an X-Factor. After putting 24 macs in the tank, we dropped lines and began paddling towards deeper water. >>
{I wanted to have plenty of bait, since I fed a whole family of Sea Lions my last trip out; Including one on the paddle-in which pulled on the 14# & 26# YT’s tied to the side of my yak, forcing the fish clip to spring open and both fish to slide off. That was my best day of fishing EVER, as well as only my 2^nd and 3^rd Yellowtail landed in 3 years, so boy I was “pissed”! I was tempted to jump in to retrieve the one fish not in the Sea Lions mouth, and slowly sinking, but this also happened to be my first day I decided to wear waders - thus figured it was a bad idea! Then I got to watch the Sea Lion taunt me, as it feasted on my fish from 30 feet away! Where is Sea World when you need them??? To make the day worse, once I got to shore, exhausted from 10 hours on the water and embarrassed from losing my catch, I found a $50 parking ticket on my truck window. Now I know that La Jolla does street sweeping on Thursdays!!! UGH} >>
So anyway, about an hour into it something took my mac for a ride, but got off. Same thing happened about an hour later; this time I fought it a minute or so, before losing bait. A while later in 180ft water, my girlfriend hooks up briefly but soon has trouble with her reel, I paddle over and get the reel working again and to my surprise find there was still a fish on…. Even though the line had been slack for 5 minutes or longer! I bring in a 14# YT. We continue paddling, heading west now and into a little shallower water. I soon get another hit, takes out line like my drag wasn’t working? I tighten the drag and finally get a couple cranks on it before the line snaps at the hook. Upon inspection, I noticed 3 bite marks in the 40lb flouro, so figured it was most likely a shark! Around 8:30am now, and roughly 3 miles out at 140 ft depth. The wind was still calm, and the water flat, then I noticed a fin maybe a hundred yards in front of me. Just cruising in a large radius at 5-7 mph - I’m guessing. At one point the fin came about 8 inches out of the water, so I knew it was a shark but didn’t give it much thought since my YT was inside the hatch and it continued swimming out of sight. We paddled out a bit further and the bite had gone dead for a couple hours now….. Strangely, we had only seen one Sea Lion come around trying to steal bait and that was much earlier in the day. Off in the distance, maybe ¼ mile, we could hear some kayakers hollering about something stealing bait. Then we heard something about an 8’ hammerhead. Since we were paddling back towards shore anyhow, we kept fishing. About 30mins later, I had just put the YT over the side because the bag of ice I brought along had completely melted in the hatch, when I hear/feel this tremendous pounding on the bottom of my kayak. My first thought was; not the Sea Lions again! I reached down and grabbed the fish clip and felt something pulling as the head of this huge hammerhead came out of the water!!! In an instant, the shark let go as it filleted the back side of the YT and the mangled fish ended up in my lap. Shit, now what to do? I threw the YT in the back of the kayak and braced myself as the 7-8’ (it was very close to my paddle length, which I measured today at 7.5’) shark was swimming around and headed right back for me! He hit the side of my yak square and forcefully with his head, obviously mad because he had lost his dinner. I would have been in the water, had it been a narrow boat. Not knowing what to do and feeling quite vulnerable, I stuck my paddle into the water to try to deflect the next 6-8 runs it made at me. One might compare it to jousting, and after each hit and rocking of the kayak, I had to regain balance and prepare for the next. THANKFULLY, the shark finally admitted defeat and swam away! My girlfriend, who was a couple hundred feet away at the time, later told me “great job, that was awesome, watching you fight it off and all the splashing” REALLY?! I apologize for not getting a selfie or turning on my go-pro….. however, I was a bit pre-occupied pissing my pants! That experience is something I never hope to go thru again, and I am purchasing a fish bag this week. And for those who say a Hammerhead has a small mouth and are not aggressive….. think again! You can see where it bit onto my YT about 8”up from the tail. Be safe out there!>>

[chris138]

Wow great first report! I would recommend keeping fish inside the boat...

[ctfphoto]

LOL, been there done that with a mako and a seal.

Never hang your fish. Ok to dip to clean blood out and to cool them during the day, but never store in the water.

Nice fish btw.

LJ is full of sharks fyi.

[1morehobby]

Oh my... Yak fishing newbie here.

You guys are doing a fine job of keeping me out of the water. I need to get a harpoon with a snake venom tip to go with my VHF radio and life jacket. Glad to see you made it back safely.

[TJones]

Isn't hanging a couple of fish over the side of yak like ringing the dinner bell? You are fortunate that the predator be it shark or seal did not flip you and drag the yak away . For your safety I would not recommend doing that in future . I believe someone has shared such an experience in a previous post .

[DanaPT]

And for those who say a Hammerhead has a small mouth and are not aggressive….. think again! You can see where it bit onto my YT about 8”up from the tail. Be safe out there!

imagine if these jaws were starring you down.

[summers in kuwait]

I was fishing near you guys around 7am, in the red hobie revo. Glad to see you guys hooked up! Was really fishy over there, had a few hookups and yielded one yellow and one thick bonito. Coming from a lot of fresh water fishing(float tubing and kayaking), it had always been my instinct to hang the fish on the side, but not in these waters. I bleed and gut and down below or store in the back.

[Cbad Mike]

Thanks for the report and am glad you weren't hurt.
This sport has its dangers, don't ever take them for granted.
As for fish over the side well now you know. I see this as also a prime example on why not to use a bait tube.
As a safety precaution I have a plastic connection on the strap from my kayak to my game clip that will break away before possibly flipping me if something grabs my fish while I'm bleeding it or when it's on deck.
When I catch I store the fish behind me and am always aware that blood is draining out of my scupper holes providing a nice trail for something that may want to follow.
Fishing has changed this year with more sharks around than usual so act accordingly.

[bigbarrels]

You almost got the Darwin award.

It is ok, I almost got it once with a couple calico bass.

[FISH11]

I hear it all the time shark keeps hitting the kayak, or keeps bumping it, or followed me in to shallower water. In all cases people had fish over the side or on top and either visible or releasing all the juices through the scuppers. I ask, "WHY" would anybody basically be chumming while in a kayak. I think it's a no brainer to hide the fish or better have it inside the kayak though a hatch. Never ever have them hanging over the side in a game clip. If you don't loose it to a seal or shark, you might be in the water, because they are a lot stronger and faster then you. Just really lucky not to have been hurt. Thanks for sharing, because you might save someone else.

[Cadillyak]

Glad you're safe. Everyone hit it on the head. Before yak fishing I used to rent skiffs in the bay. Had a 30"+ but on a game clip in the water. Sea lions came up with so much power, hit the boat, got the fish, and enjoyed dinner on us.

I keep my fish on deck with a towel and occasionally wet it.