...get about half the springers hooked by anglers this year, I think.

Every year these critters get more proficient and more aggressive. I think they hone their techniques and teach them to their friends and children.

I am very concerned that the situation will continue to deteriorate until there will not be any reason to bother fishing for these red-meated torpedoes anymore.

Where are those seal killing Orcas when you need them? I saw this happen several times this year too.
The only reason we got a fish in once was because Hershal II was too busy killing a fish by flopping it all over the place. Geeze....maybe it's time for the slingshot..

In the group of boats i fished with last week two guys had "wrist rockets." Even though they didnt hit the them the sea lions knew the drill. They stayed out of the boats for the most part. They didnt get any of the fish hooked that day.
I am just curious what kind of fine goes along with shooting marbles at those things? Even if you dont hit them.

Everyone be sure and save all the skanky chums you catch next fall and freeze them whole. I'm working on a new product called Sea-Lion-B-Gone.

It's a special reel loaded with 80# braided line with a 2-conductor wire weaved-in. Inside the old chum goes an explosive charge & ignition cap. On the reel, there are 2 buttons: one is the bail release, the other is marked "det". The reel has self contained batteries.

Here's how it works: you "troll" the specially prepared chum salmon through sea lion rich waters.

When he takes the bait, it's:

wait.....
wait...
wait..
DETONATE!


Look Daddy! That sea lion doesn't have a head....

Great idea Slabquest. When you get it done I'll be the first in line to use one.

A few years back, some guys got a fine of $7,000, that is seven thousand and no/100 dollars, for throwing rocks at sealions up near Bonneville.

I've hard that m-80's will make them go away pretty quickly. Apparently, if you seal the fuse and fuse hole with elmers glue, and tape a bit of pencil lead on, it makes them want to leave.

There used to be a product on the market called I think called a "seal bomb". Essentailly the same thing that Silver Hilton just described. Not sure what the legallity of those things...pretty sure if caught you'd be feeding the state and federal coffers money that could be spent on some more k-15's (to replace the ones Hershel steals).

I believe the commercial netters are allowed to (and do) use seal bombs on a regular basis.

Someone even told me that they can legally shoot these critters if they are getting in their nets, but I kinda wonder about that.

Like I have told Slab, my uncle used to shoot seals with his old 97 Winchester 12 gauge pump and then he would harpoon them and cut off the snout. The State of Washington Dept. Fisheries paid a bounty on seals then...in the 50's. It is true and some day I will find the documentation to prove it. WDFW denies it today but I was a little kid on the boat when he did that and even though I was little I remember. Right now sea lions eat more salmon on the Columbia than sports catch and I bet if we could count we would find that they eat more than the commercial catch too.

I belive that there might bee more seal than nature intended (at least around here). Think about it, with fewer and fewer orcas (our seals only natural predator) and us not being able to kill them, the seal have no population controll. Thus, less orcas = more seals = less salmon, steelhead, herring, smelt, and fish in general.

WDFW regulates the catch rate of sports and commercial. It is about time that the tribes and the seals are regulated too as those two groups are the major harvesters of our salmon and steelhead.

There is an over-population of seals- sea lions, but they are protected. So, even harassing them is illegal. But, I like them. Just got in a debate over would I like them so much when they steal my 30 pound springer, hmmmnn. We let them , so why wouldn't they eat an easy catch? Their animals, hungry, fish, so they eat. Don't hate them for doing what seems natural to them. We have let them become used to us, it is just like the cougars who we have taken their land. They are wild and will hunt whatever they can. If you want to hunt and fish, expect them to also. Fair is fair. And ok, I still think they're cute! But, bashing allowed, it is man who has allowed this , blame him, not the animals who just go along with the times.

Grandpa 2-
My Great Uncle used to talk about doing the same thing in Northern Puget Sound...with the seal snouts. Harppons and barrels, kinda like Jaws!

How sweet and cuddly :rolleyes: . Wait until one of those 1500lb *******s tries to swim in to your boat after a salmon. As for cougars, atleast we can manage their population. People who get all misty about seals are generally people what haven't had run ins with them. As for me, if one tries to board the boat I am in after one of my fish.. Its head is going to get canoed by a 240 grain slug . I'll pay the court fees, its cheaper than drowning. If it gets to it before the boat I 'll let it take it, but this year they have gotten more brazen, trying to pull fish out of peoples landing nets. Also they follow commercial boats eating both fish out of the nets and wild fish that the netters release.
You are entitled to your opinion, but know that unedcuated bunny huggers cause more problems than good. (look at the hound rule and the current rise in cougar/people negative interactions )

Across the board we have allowed a small minority of people with radical ideas shape our society. Feel good groups have turned species like the seals and sea lions gain an imbalance in nature by artificially "protecting" them . At the Ballard locks Herschel was finally given a death warrant by the govt...It was finally legal to kill the big fish killing machine and yet we wouldn't do it for fear of criticism by the radical animal rights nuts. So we put brands on their backs and name them and let them overpopulate to the detriment of ESA listed fish runs. What a joke. I'm not sure what the answer is but we should explore an answer to a severe problem.

The Makah tribe in Neah Bay has done a good job of trimming the herd of sea lions up there. Nice and quiet but they have taken control. Especially when the Makahs were given the right to harvest sea urchins...The biggest predator of the sea urchin besides commercial fishermen is the sea otter. Those cute little fuzzy things will not stand in the way of the Makahs harvesting sea urchins...and the sea lions will not threaten their nets....bang bang your dead.

Jesus , Mary and Joseph!! Just got back from Cath. For those of you there today, what a show with that monster sea lion stealing that guy's fish, then the frantic chase all over the main river in his 14ft gregor. ...The kid was brave and determined but Hershal II got his fish ( and hopefully a mouthful of quick fish)

Those seals are aggressive and dangerous. One scared the crap out of me today when we were anchored and putting out the sea anchor...Sucker breached right in front of me...

Whether you like them or not, seals have a major impacty on the fishery and should be thinned out.........

How did you guys do?

skeets

I was down at Cathlamet last weekend and I saw a sealion snatch a springer out of a fishermans hands in the marina, when he was cleaning it. The fisherman was like "what the hell was that?" then got all pist off and wanted to dive in after it, I had to admit it was Kinda funny watching that.

Skeets, didn't do well today. Only saw a handful of fish caught and had one shaker on.

Skeets, we were in the 19ft Stryker with the green top, were you the guys in a Stryker that we talked to trolling? man , we usually hit fish too, but today, we got skunked.