swooped!

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by driftwood

Even though this clip may seem amusing and entertaining, there is more of a serious and dangerous side to this for us kayakers. I did not plan to tell my story over the internet but this video changed my mind.

In July of the present year, Randy (Old Man in the Sea) and I decided to go fishing for yellow tail off La Jolla Shores. Once I arrived to “the spot”, Randy was still quite a distance from me but coming up behind me were 3-4 other kayakers, one whom I recognized as Kevin (The Kid), who all passed me by. It wasn’t much later that my reel takes off screaming, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I knew immediately what I had, yeah, Yellow Tail!! After a short fight he was onboard. I noticed that its tail was hanging over the kayak just by a little after I had secured him.

All of a sudden and within a flash, my yellow tail is grabbed by a 500lb sea lion. I played tug-of-war for less than a fraction of a second. Well needless to say a 500lb sea lion v a kayak has no chance and he easily flipped me over like a pancake. It happened so fast it seemed surreal, and it took a few seconds to grasp and act upon my predicament. I attempted to climb back onto my PA from the side but kept slipping off. I realized that the only way back on is to climb from the rear of the kayak. I succeeded in the first attempt. At this point, I am sitting on top of my upside down kayak and I begin to yell for help. I manage to flip the kayak over and about this time Kevin (The Kid) arrives and helps me to settle down after the shocking experience. Kevin removed most of the water that was in my kayak and I was able to peddle to shore safely.

Do not think this could never happen to you. Take my word for it. Sea lions can be bold and aggressive, yanking the fish off of a kayak and more. I still continue to use a clip, but I do not tie it to my boat anymore. I lost about $1k in equipment, a mix of rods and reels. But hey, these are replaceable.

I thought that in telling my story it might make others aware. Be safe!

That's a scary story. But I have a question for you. You said in your post you continue to use a game clip but do not tie it to the kayak anymore. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the clip? Or am I missing something ?