Best reason for 30# leader: seals!

so about 2 hours after high tide this morning, trolling a cut plug herring bare (no flasher) at the bottom just below Cushman, my rod buries and the deep fighting heavy fish gets my hopes up, doesn't break the surface, first time over by the boat, good look, nice sized chinook for sure, high teens easy, it runs hard across the river but with no boats around us it becomes clear that with my friend Kurt on the net, relax and wear it out for an easy netting. what we failed to see was a large and smaller seal lurking...

third time at the boat, close to netting but still staying down in the water, it suddenly takes off upriver like a 60 pounder, I had to use my thumb on the spool to stop it and then it felt like a log, I could barely move it towards us but slowly I got it back to 30 feet away when things pop up in the water: the smaller seal has it by the head, the larger seal right behind going for the tail. Kurt and I start yelling and stomping, I push the drag to full and start jerking hard, plenty hard to break lighter leader, and the small seal loses its grip! The fish is totally spent, I am reeling it to the boat as fast as possible, Kurt gets the net down and a seal gets hold of it again right at the boat, net under the fish hits the seal, fish in the net, seals OFF! we fist bump and get about bleeding out the 34" hen..

30# leader in tidewater? you bet but not because I feel it necessary to get big fish to the boat. Today it absolutely meant the difference between giving those two seals the finger (that felt real good..) or having them enjoy the chrome chinook that I went out today hoping to find....cheers, roger

top and side of the head shows the seal damage

Good one sir. Damn seal took my one and only properly hooked salmon, in Astoria in August. Snapped the 25 lb leader immediately an soon as the guide twisted the line around the reel after I was spent fighting it.

Awesome story! Glad you won, I've heard plenty of stories that turned out the other way.

Great job, Roger! I love it when seals come up empty. :thumb:

Excellent story. We fought the seagulls for our bait today. They kept trying to grab it in the water when it was near the boat.

Roger 1, seals 0. That's a great ending!

Great story, nice fish!

I know the feeling Roger. Those fir bags are thick up here on the Columbia estuary. Sunday a sea lion chased one and got it right at the stern of my buddy'' boat. He was so big and hit so hard it knocked the hood off my buddy's trolling motor. With fewer boats up here they are becoming more aggressive. Seal are bad enough but those sea lions can be spooky. They add a new twist to the term endangered species. Be careful out there. Glad you got your fish, and it's a good looking one at that.

Nice going, Rog!

I use 30 or 40# leaders in case the big one (fish) is hooked. Good idea for other reasons too!

Nook Hooker said:

Excellent story. We fought the seagulls for our bait today. They kept trying to grab it in the water when it was near the boat.

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yeah they were after our herring also, grabbed my friends twice while he was checking to roll on his plug cut...we are 'fur bag' fortunate here on the Siuslaw in that we don't have a large bay and the sea lions stay out in the ocean and up at SeaLion Caves....

Wow! close call! Glad you came out the winner!

I am glad you got your fish. I had a similar experience on 9/22 at Alsea and also with 30 lb. leader. The difference was that I was in my kayak and the seal ended up with my spinner stuck in the left side of its face. You cannot break 30 lb. leader from a kayak just by pulling hard. I had quite a ride around the bay for two or three minutes and was just hanging on and trying not to break my brand new rod. It was one angry seal and no amount of drag tightening and thumbing the spool helped any. Finally the swivel broke and the seal departed with a Mulkey spinner in its face and a green flasher and sinker dragging behind. It was very scary and now just a blur, hopefully never to be repeated. It was witnessed firsthand by bb2fish from the NWKA forum. I am sticking with 30 # regardless of this anomaly.

TimberTodd said:

Roger 1, seals 0. That's a great ending!

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A perfect game winning score!

Sure wish that my beloved Beavers, would have fought as hard as you against their quarry.

C_Run said:

I am glad you got your fish. I had a similar experience on 9/22 at Alsea and also with 30 lb. leader. The difference was that I was in my kayak and the seal ended up with my spinner stuck in the left side of its face. You cannot break 30 lb. leader from a kayak just by pulling hard. I had quite a ride around the bay for two or three minutes and was just hanging on and trying not to break my brand new rod. It was one angry seal and no amount of drag tightening and thumbing the spool helped any. Finally the swivel broke and the seal departed with a Mulkey spinner in its face and a green flasher and sinker dragging behind. It was very scary and now just a blur, hopefully never to be repeated. It was witnessed firsthand by bb2fish from the NWKA forum. I am sticking with 30 # regardless of this anomaly.

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zoiks, I definitely had luck/karma on my side yesterday and I expected some sad seal stories but that takes the cake, great reason to keep a knife/scissors handy on any boat. Last year I learned quickly while dialing in my kayak salmon fishing method, it is not possible to break a 30# leader while in a kayak (I hooked a sunken log with my herring rig), 20minutes later I concluded to not repeat that, just cut the mainline and start over..

I am hoping to have denied the seals a second fish yesterday, heading up river before my hook-up, we came across a big coho floating belly-up and slowed to investigate (clearly no seals near it...), it was moving and not bleeding so I 'tailed' it as we coasted by, slowly pulling it backwards, the gill plates flared out and for a few seconds water must have been surging through, it kicked harder and I lost my grip. It swam down several feet, top up now and we floated for a minute and did not see it come to the surface again, so fingers crossed it might have made it...

it is sad to see the coho carnage going on due in large part to the 2 fish seasonal limit for the rivers (1 fish seasonal for the north group), IMO this huge run is going to totally overwhelm the spawning grounds on many rivers, well above "full seeding" which means spawning fish will be digging up redds already in the gravel which will not increase the number of fry that can hatch...I understand that due to the coho listing ODFW is limited by NOAA as to what they can do but it sure seems like this year, for sure on the Siuslaw, it would have been safe to lift the seasonal 2 fish limit, letting people get their 5 total. no reduction in the coho fry to be born, better for the fishermen (who doesn't hate releasing an injured fish?), and I guess bad only for the seals, crabs, and seagulls!

maybe, assuming good runs are predicted for next year, they can make the change for 2015 wild coho run, maintaining the 1 per day/5 for the year but lifting the restrictions on where you can catch them. that would be progress towards simplifying it all into the permanent regulations like it is for Siltcoos and Tahkenitch....rant over. cheers, roger

^ x2

When's ODFW opening up a seal/sea lion season? I want to buy a tag!

SiletzTroutKiller said:

When's ODFW opening up a seal/sea lion season? I want to buy a tag!

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the NOAA rules do allow, while actively fishing or crabbing, the use of paintball type guns using water soluble paint or rubber dummy balls to deter seals and sea lions, see page 2 under "Physical Contact"...just not much time for that while playing tug of war with them over a salmon...

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/protected_species/marine_mammals/pinnipeds/sea_lion_removals/081914_potential_deterrence_methods.pdf

rogerdodger said:

the NOAA rules do allow, while actively fishing or crabbing, the use of paintball type guns using water soluble paint or rubber dummy balls to deter seals and sea lions, see page 2 under "Physical Contact"...just not much time for that while playing tug of war with them over a salmon...

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa...ovals/081914_potential_deterrence_methods.pdf

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Well next time you go out fishing let me know and I'll tag along with a paintball gun with water soluble paint and I'll be full-time seal lookout

rogerdodger said:

yeah they were after our herring also, grabbed my friends twice while he was checking to roll on his plug cut...

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Had the same thing happen today but the stupid bird ran the 2/0 lead hook through its bill. Had to cut the line. Be on the lookout for a brown gull running around Florence with a silver Gamakatsu "nose ring".

A little trick we learned a few years back is to circle over the seal with your boat. You want to be directly over the seal and they will let the fish go. If they come back for it once you reel it up to the boat do it again. It has worked for us every time.

I do not think that the redds will be disturbed from to many fish in the system even on a good year like this. The coho go much further up river than the Chinook. You will be able to find coho up in the smallest creeks and puddles way up river on the Siuslaw this fall. The Chinook will be in the main river for the most part. The Siuslaw, NF, Lake Creek and all of the small tribs give the fish plenty of room to spawn.