Saw the mascot today!

Ignorance IS bliss... however, being the only one of the three of us that had bloody fish in the tank well, I decided not to doubt the fisheries biologist's opinion about what he saw and joined him for the trip closer to shore... promptly putting the fish into my fish bag inside my yak. 

It was then that I noticed about an inch of standing water inside my yak.  Borrowed Sean's pump (thanks bud) and was able to manage the flow by pumping out every 30 minutes or so...  still need to idenify the source of the leak... doh!

Bite picked up again right after Sean and Mahi left... Shimmy and I each scored several more lings and reds.

My stringer included 29 and 27 inch lings, a 22 inch red and a 20 inch red.  I tossed a couple other reds back and caught about half a dozen lings on the day and way too many gophers to count.

Great way to spend a Tuesday.

EK

Nice Fishies...

Glad you weren't part of the food chain...

 Really glad you two got out, looks like you were rewarded

Sorry you had to meet the man, but it had to happen eventually.  Glad you still have all your parts.  I hate those friggin things.
Dave

Makes one wonder how many times we have been checked out and never aware. Ignorance or lack of imagination is sometimes a good thing.

Ditto.

Sorry you had to meet the man, but it had to happen eventually.

Agreed.  I spend a lot of time out there, and I had never seen one until yesterday including years of PB time etc.  There were few dead seals there a few weeks ago but they still had there noggins...didn't look like they had been attacked from what I could see, but I second-guessed myself ALL night long.

Really after watching this a ton of times
http://www.topp.org/species/white_shark (watch the whole thing...the data and pattern is more visible by 2006 when they get more tags out there) you think I would have the brains to do three things

1) stay out of the water in Hawaii in Jan. (check haven't been back to see the family in toooo long)
2) stay out of that area ALL of the GWS clearly migrate in the summer (probably where they "hook up"  ...thankfully that is only in Ed Gillets paddling range)
3) Quit fishing SW around here after September.(this is where I kinda f'd up)

Fall is my favorite time to be out there and the data clearly shows its the dumbest time to be out there.  While I am not a 100% Sharkshield believer, I guarantee you I would have fired that bitch up if I had one!  If I ever want to fish again, the wife (who is super nice but forever worried about my impending death) may mandate the purchase of a bug zapper.

All in all, I have seen a lot of stuff in the water out there, heck there was a BIG humpy all around us in the am, and I thought I was cool with just about anything...WRONG!  Watching that fin sink out was scary as hell.

...., I on the other hand was shitting myself....

Does this mean you had to rip the sleeves off another shirt?

Brian!....you made me SNOT myself&keyboard    TMIw/badVISUALS

I'd be paddling softly to the shallows, as I try to stay calm.
You MendoCrew'ers handled it like the seasoned Vets' you are. Lossing your head out there is the last thing needed.(no pun intended)
Like said...we may have missed many already, but I'd be CRAPPIN too! The up close Humpback@Bean last-last week scared me.

 *BACK TO FISH*  Nice Clips Fellas! them BIG Verms have been on the top of my TARGETING list ALL season long, but have only hook'd them way north or way south, and they weren't big like thems'.



 

I think that when we get to finally see one in the water is something that we all secretly desire. To see this beautiful totally adaptable thing that sits on the top or near the top of the food chain is an awesome experience.I have never seen a white in the ocean but I saw a big blue come up under my achilles in 1984. Jeff Guiliano had hooded a huge ling offshore from Stillwater Cove, ho fought it to the surface where it disengaged itself from the hook. About 2 seconds later me friend says"there is a shark under the boat". We all looked over and here was this blue about 8ft long going up one side and down the other. Mike Sheridan tries to snag it with his bar and I say" uh mike , you know that we are in a rubber boat, right?" It was a very cool sight. I dont want to get eaten. I just want a tooth to give to my grandchildren.

Wow, that's freaky man.  The quality of the red and lings look a lot like the area we fished "south of the point" on Sunday (see pics I added on the Mendo Coast 9/14 post).  Your story has me rethinking the whole "fish on a clip" thing and fishing off the side of the boat with my feet dangling.  Not that the Landlord is too interested in a stringer of fish when mature, but it's probabaly like smearing smelly jelly on my grey kayak that my wife reminds me looks like a dead baby grey whale.......

I think about the fall migration every year about this time, but the calm weather, big lings moving shallow to get their groove on, usually get me out on the water against my better judgment (and the science you mentioned). 

Glad everyone remained calm and safe.

Norm

I figure the landlord is always there and your are in the food chain as his guest. We were also adjacent to seal haul outs which were noticeably smaller than earlier in the year. So it is a prime location for a encounter of the "White Kind". Also the data collected on attacks and what Sean posted does show that late summer-fall time is "prime time."

The day started off slow except for the incredibly "iconic" wide open Gopher bite with everyone being pestered . I paddled out check some old gps numbers and missed the excitement the other guys had. I had only bagged a hitch-hiker ling and a verm. until the other "Great White" left to attend a meeting. Then the bite and water conditions changed it had been calm with a confused drift then the regular drift came back and Erik and I started banging lings and reds with every drop. The verms were a nice grade and the lings were real fiesty taking line like larger fish would.

I think about the fall migration every year about this time, but the calm weather, big lings moving shallow to get their groove on, usually get me out on the water against my better judgment (and the science you mentioned).

Right there with you.

Shim~ would you say the non-movement of water, slowed the bite? I know it's probably old hat/info for you ol'salts...but I'm still just a boy and trying to learn when to wait it out, instead of baggin a slowed down day that may be salvageable with some movement. 

Freaky stuff, and scary.....yow.

...., I on the other hand was shitting myself....

Does this mean you had to rip the sleeves off another shirt?

  Did the extra "cushion" allow a better view?

All kidding aside, any SWAG (Scientific-Wild-@ss-Guess) as to the size of the critter?

John

None...I don't even know how much of the fin I was seeing.  It was clearly visible from about 50 yards or so and I could see a small wake in front of it, it cruised along for about 100 feet or so and then just gradually went under.

Wow, I go back and forth about whether or not I would ever like to see the landlord on my yak (from a distance of course).  I don't really worry about GWS on my yak any more than I worry about hungry bears when I am backpacking. But, I will say that my one and only experience with a skinny adolescent bear charging at me and a friend from just 30 yds away while in the middle of the Hell's Gate Wilderness was both one of the coolest and scariest things I've ever experienced.
I imagine seeing the landlord would be a similar feeling. 

This has probably been posted before, but when I read this guy's account of his experience, I would think that my fears would be quite the same as his. Of course, I don't ever plan on chumming from my kayak for exactly this reason. 

http://www.fishingkites.co.nz/sharks/greatwhitesharkattack.html

Insane fishing guys. Those reds and lings look aweeeesome!

The shark sighting is really freaky/cool. I know that feeling SCWA. I've been in the water w/ GWS surfing near Anő and you're just in the headlights frozen like a bad dream. Funny though how after the initial shock gets you you calmly go "well.... I'm gonna get the f*ck out of here. Guys, let's go."  Glad to hear there was no incident. And like you guys are mentioning, I'm sure we've all been checked out many times. I think we need to pray to the GWS gods more often.. 

Z