If you were kayak fishing and.....

[Mooch]

...a white shark suddenly makes a pass on you = what would you do?


My answer: throw all fish caught as far away form your kayak and paddle back to shore SLOWLY....and maybe call in a boater (who is nearby) from your VHF and ask for ride back to shore...

just my two cents....

any tips or suggestions from any shark experts would be nice....

[sundownersam]

I was thinking about that.... What if you carried a couple of those m80 firecrackers and light one and throw it in the water to scare it way?

[Travis]

I would frantically splash the water around me to lure him in for a second pass.  When he makes his second pass shank him in his eyes, then keep fishing.

[Rikshaw]

I would fire off a round from the potato cannon I have mounted as a swivel gun on the forward hatch of my yak.




It's there to repel boarders.

Ric

[Bill]

Sit still, watch her, think "this is so cool" throw half a dead seal in Mooch's boat and paddle like hell  

[mickfish]

Bait the big hook I tied to your bow line and get out the video camera.  

Seriously I would probably disperse my urine scented shark repellent though the scuppers in my seat well, dump my fish, then paddle like hell.

Can sharks hear very well? What about one of those air horns that would annoy just about anything.

[Tote]

Hard to say. From the comfort of our easy chairs or couch we all would like to think of what we would do , but if it happens it is always a different story. I can remember a few times when seals have either popped out from nowhere during a dive or when I was on my kayak and it struck an instant fear in me that, for a very brief moment makes me freeze in my tracks. Once I process the fact that it is a seal, then I am fine. But then I wonder, what if it was a GW? And more important..HOW BIG?? I might toss everything I have over the side just to lighten my yak and paddle like hell to the nearest land mass. Or maybe just sit motionless and make up for all the years I missed in church in that brief period of time I was waiting for it to leave. Either way I would probably need a clean pair of shorts when the coast was all clear.

[InSeine]

White sharks are deathly afraid of Orcas (Killer Whales)  I suggested spraying yourself down with Orca urine   and carrying a recording of Orca sqeaks to play when you see one .  In reality if you see a white shark you are probably safe, if all of a sudden you go flying through the air after something bumps into your kayak, just remember that white sharks eat seal blubber if they bite you, you'll want to be as skinny as possible.  Otherwise kiss your ass goodbye, and feel good about the fact that your moving up the food chain.

[scwafish]

Tonights guest Motivational Speaker Jim Hobbs...  

Unfortunately I think he's right...if it wants you, your done, if it cruises ya your fine.  Within our feeble abilities there's not much we could do unless you had a shark shield.  

Paddling like hell will just make the kind of commotion its looking for, besides its a pelagic fish that can cruise at 20 knots...how fast can you paddle?  Throwing fish in the water will just getting the action started...no thanks on that either.

[chefstefano]

Here is my two cents, I would love to see one because, what I understand if you see it it doesn't know what it think of you. if comes up nicely to check you out real close and you don't want to go out in glory doing something we all love. smack that sucker on the nose with you paddle and tell it to go eat a dog. chef

[Mooch]

you'll want to be as skinny as possible.

kiss that idea goodbye  

....now if I can only get an Orca to piss on me  

LOVE the response - funny stuff! With a lot more of us going out there these days....a GW sighting will soon happen. In a strange way, as much as I fear it, I do look forward to seeing one.....hopefully - just not the hungry one

[agarcia]

I was thinking the same thing, fish in the water would probably make it think you might be a food item as well.  Its not gonna take it very long to inhale your stringer and bump the yak to see if its food also.  

When I got bumped by the damn harbor seals in HMB I stopped dead in my tracks, grabbed my gaff and braced myself.  I figured if it was a shark and came back to take a shot at me, my best defense would be to let it get a mouthful of yak then hope I can get a few swings at its nose, eyes or gills and try not to fall in the water.  It would have been the whole taking a knife to a gun fight scenario but it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of options (well, unless you're into bathing in Orca urine and have some handy)

According to a Discovery shark week program, if a white shark wants you you're not getting away, end of of story.  If its just coming up for a curiosity bite the best thing to do is fight back, the white shark is a very low risk predator and is likely to let go and back off if it knows you're not food and capable of injuring it.

[Sharkbait]

I'd hope he doesn't read this forum and doesn't know my handle here.  

[KZ]

If you read about shark attacks on kayaks in California... virtually all of them are the about same scenario... Shark nails the kayak once and goes away... people either fly out of the kayak or get lucky and stay in the kayak... kayak is usually seriously damaged... the paddler lives to tell about it.

My thought is that they are using their mouth to check out whether or not it is what they think it is... once they realize it's not a sea lion... they go away.

You just hope that part of your body isn't in the path of that initial bite I guess.

EK

[Mr.Matt]

Come on no one said the honest answer...

Id crap my drawers.....