Capitola 1/31/10: Stalked by a seal!!!!!

In-laws were in town so snuck out at the last minute even though the swells were bigger than I am used to..good practice I guess.  

Got out fine and set my crab ring out over off the Adams reef area...drifted a whole squid along the bottom for awhile hoping that maybe the WSB had left Monterey and headed up this way...all I got was a few RockFish (promptly released) and the unwelcome attention of an annoying seal!!!!

He followed me from the time I was setting my ring, and I could've sworn I saw him diving around there later (probably plucking out any crabs that had crawled in)!!  

I even saw him eating a nice sized RockFish that he caught right by me!!!
 
Then I paddled over to a different kelp bed, he followed me and I had the same luck!!!

Then I paddled all the way back to the main Capitola Reef KelpBed and (surprise, surprise) he followed me all the way in (while I was paddling in I stopped a few times and looked back and there he was!!)...managed to get one small RockCrab, but he was just barely 4 inches and his claws weren't very big so I threw him back...

Headed in around 11, and the swell had gotten quite a bit bigger...there were surfers right next to the pier, and the tide was so high there was only about 10 feet of beach before the wall at the back of the Venetian Hotel.

Thought I had timed the swells pretty good, but got caught by a big wave coming in and it lifted the back of my kayak up so much that I could feel the nose about to dig into the sand!! Thought I was gonna eat it for sure, but managed to lean back and ride it in....SAFE!!  

Glad I pulled it off cuz there were a bunch of surfers and tourists watching!!!  

Anyway, came home with no crabs for the in-laws, but had a fun morning out anyway...here are a few pics of my seal stalker eating a nice RockFish!!

Sincerely,

Jim

that happend to me a month ago in SF...LOL , a wave broke behind me and lifted the back of the yak into the air and my nose dug into the sand , i ejected into the air and got tossed in the surf...ahhh good times , then im packin it up and a guy walkin his dog comes up and was surprised i was ok , he said i musta got 8 feet in the air! lol

anyways thanks for the report! bet u cant wait for the rockfish season huh?

Great save on the landing!  Thanks for the report, it was a good read.

Ben

Glad you made it out OK!  Thanks for the report and pictures Jim.

you rule Jim! I walked down to the cliffs that day, wanted to get out with Stoggie, but the water was so high there was no beach at the staircase, it was up to the fith step, called Stoggie and we bagged it. I saw one lone kayak out there in a sea of swells, I told Stoggie, I bet thats BigJim out there! Sure as Sh#t, it was you! Thanks for the report...

Thanks Porky..yeah the tide was super high!!!!

After I landed I had to pull the kayak up onto the cement wall behind the hotel, run back under the pier to where I had locked up my cart, and then take the kayak out through the hotel grounds...there was no beach at all left to try and go back out the usual way!!

Me and you need to hook up one of these days soon to get out there!!   

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the report and pics. Do you have a blue kayak? I was out at New Brighton/Seacliff yesterday and saw another yakker in the distance. The tide was just at the bottom of the staircase at NB too. No swell at NB, but there were surfers out at Seacliff!

AlgieSwift,
No, I have a yellow BigYak...you have any luck over by NB??

Thats pretty funny stuff Jim. We have to fish together this year. Halibut at Monterey with a WSB thrown in too.

I was perching...lots of short bites, some monster kelp, but no hookups. 0 for 2 so far this year, so I figure I'm due next weekend. Great day on the water though. 

man i get those guys following me around at fort ross all the time! Its all fine untill they float up next to you and decide to clear there nose (snot that smells like fish)

Glad you made it Ok Jim. Thanks for the report.

Jedmo

Sounds like you've found a new pet, have you named it yet? Good thing it didn't follow you all the way home.

Great report Jim. Its funny the look you get from people on shore when landing, its kind of like deer in the headlights.

Way to save the landing Jim! The good ole' backwards lean has saved my bacon (&fish) many a day.
Nicely done!