I figured I would chime in with a somewhat amusing story. I've been "lurking" here since last winter when I travelled to WA to visit a friend and fish steelhead.

The January before last we were taking a fmaily vacation in San Diego and my daughter REALLY wanted to go whale watching. All of the charters were booked for the SD area schools so instead I booked a charter to go fishing. She REALLY loves to fish. Well, despite severe and persistent bouts of sea-sickness, she was all bubbly about everything. The dolphins, the birds and especially ... the Sea Lions. Now, the deckhands HATE sea lions. We were bottom fishing with a friend and his son plus two other couples. Fishing was great but packs of sea lions were circling the boat. Now, my daughter thought this was GREAT! When the deckhands weren't looking, she would even toss bait down to them! It made for quite an adventure catching the fish. Reel like heck to get the fish in before a sea lion could nab it! We probably lost half of our fish but nobody really cared. All were thrilled to enjoy the experience through my daughter's 11 year-old eyes. We all felt like kids again -- after all, my daughter knew that the sea lions were just doing what they do -- and she enjoyed every minute of it! By the end, even the deck hands would hand her some bait to throw when the captain wasn't looking!

My daughter even marvelled at the birds -- especially when one of the ladies hooked - and landed! a cormorant!! (What a mess!!!)

Well, by the time we were finished, all of the deckhands and even the captain were under my daughter's charms. Before we left, they gave her a bucket of bait to feed the sea lions. During the morning, one deckhand had heard of her disappointment about missing out on the whale watching tour -- I saw him go up to the bridge to speak with the captain. He soon announced a slight detour on the way in (with a wink and a smile). They soon spotted a grey whale in the distance and brought us within a hundred yards! What a treat -- my daughter was especially thrilled at this special treatment, but didn't realize how "special" it was until she learned that that morning's whale-watching boats did not get that close to any whale!

So you see, it's all in your perspective. The seals were bothersome to all of us until we saw my daughter's delight. A fish or two? Heck, they weren't salmon or steelhead but we still were doing what we loved best - fishing. And who has the more proper "claim" on the fish. Us ... or the seals?

MNCharlie thanks for the great post looking at life through the eyes of a child is timeless and always refreshing. A lot more good is accomplished with that youthful enthusiasim than the old grump syndrome.

Everyone forget about the Ballard Locks and what they did to the runs of fish!!! How about off the mouth off the Hamma Hamma! I could go on and on. There has to be some kind of CONTROL!!!

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Tight Lines!!

I think I may have a solution. The Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest seem to have their way with the Fed.s via their very powerful Treaty trump card when it comes to fish & game. Even getting to take Fed. ESA fish in their nets! Much of the balance of nature has been removed from eco-system intrcacies forever so we need to concentrate on attempting control balancing in a proper way. One of them was the regular hunting of seals by early Native Americans, but now they only do this rarely. My idea is for the Fed.s, in conjunction with the states, to promote more Indian seal & sealion seasons periodically in exchange for an ethical and much needed reduction of fish netting. What they don't consume of the seals would find ready Asian markets that would bring revenue to the Tribes. There would be less fish eaten by seals and a little less fish netted by the Tribes. Fanatical groups like PETA and Green Peace would not be able to stop this partial return to nature's past (i.e.- Makah whaling). Seems like a win win scenario to me. Can anyone involved with the state or Tribes up there propose that solution to them? - Steve

I Was told that "seal bombs" are legal in puget sound, grab them m-80s and chuck 'em at those *******s!
Endangered my *ass, there must be 25 seals at Jeff Head alone

edit, the above is b*astards!

[This message has been edited by salmontackler (edited 08-09-2000).]