butthunter:
This morning I was paddling out hoping to fish the Pedro Rock for some rockfish, and right as I got near the first rocky point before the hidden beach I saw a dark shadow in the water. There were some scattered clouds so I hoped it might just be a cloud shadow or some seaweed... but then I saw the fin. It wasn't huge, probably was about the same size as my kayak or a bit smaller, so a 10-13 ft juvenile great white (tax child?). It was about 30ft in front of me and sort of turned around a bit, and that's when I basically shat myself and turned back the other way and paddled with the current back into the cove. It likely saw me and was sniffing me out, but I didn't see it follow after that initial encounter.
I figured it was hanging around that point on the left side of the cove, so I decided to paddle to the other point off Rockaway to try for some rockfish. When I got there, I saw ANOTHER great white of a similar size, this time really close to me. It could have been the same one, but there's no way to be sure. Anyways, I packed my rods and headed in after that.
I always knew they were lurking out there, especially at Pedro Point, but honestly to have my first and second GWS encounter on the same day really shook me. Careful in that area :smt009
li-orca:
Thanks for sharing, and I’m glad you’re ok. LM is my home beach, and I’ve kayaked it so many times to the spots you mentioned, but never saw a thing. Apparently, in 2013 a shark attacked a kayak. Same style as other kayak-shark encounters; they seem to be biting on the bow. Thankfully I’m on a Revo 16 so if that happens to me I’d be some 7ft away…
ken jan:
There’s a big resident gws that lives out there as well.
Eddie:
No thank you. Hopefully your lifetime quota is met. I'd prefer 0 meetings. Glad you're well and I hope you get out soon. :smt027 :walk:
jkjhung:
They are definitely out there. Last summer we were fishing right in front of rockaway cove and all of a sudden we hear a loud whoosh and splash behind us. When we looked back there was nothing in sight. 5 mins later I hear Kurt yelling omg great white! He said it was right under him and about the same length as his yak. I was about 20 yards away but still almost shat my pants :smt005