I caught a whale!

Literally...

Launched out of Moss Landing at 6:30 this morning and dodged a bunch of whales on my way out. I headed south, using my downrigger at various depths, fishing in about 130 to 150 FOW. After about an hour, I noticed lots of activity to the north (boats, dolphins, etc.), so I turned and headed that way, cutting across the canyon in 600+ FOW, causing my FF to go wacky for a while.

Nothing exciting happened until about 9:30. At that time, there was still some whale activity, but nothing nearby, or so I thought...

A commercial fishing boat passed by and the captain shouted out, "Halibut, over there in 60 FOW". At that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a fin (or something) on the other side of my kayak. I didn't think anything of it. Maybe 30 second later I got a big tug on my fishing line. Things happened quickly after that.

Reflexively, I gave a couple of big kicks of the pedals and reached to pull the rod from the holder. Before I even touched the rod, I could tell that something was wrong, and line started to peel off the downrigger at a high rate of speed. At the same instant, I saw something large---very, very large---about 4 feet below the surface, right next to my kayak.

At this point, I grabbed the brake release on the DR with my left hand (putting it into free spool), pulled my knife out of its case with my right hand, and in one continuous motion, cut the DR line, setting the 4 lb ball free. Fortunately, the fishing line didn't get hung up, so there was no need to cut that.

I'd practiced this maneuver many times, except for actually cutting the line. My goal was to be able to free myself of the ball within 2 seconds of detecting trouble, and I think I succeeded in this case.

IMHO, here's the takeaway:

1) Using a wire cable on a kayak downrigger seems like a bad, bad idea. Even if I'd had a wire cutter immediately at hand (highly unlikely), the line was pulling out so fast that I could never have cut it. It seems to me that wire could have turned this non-event into a real disaster.
2) If possible, position your downrigger so that you can cut the line quickly. And have a knife that you can access in a heartbeat.
3) Think about the worst-case scenario. Have a plan, and practice it.

Holy crap!! Great point about te cable. I know I don't have cutters on board to cut it. From now on though!

What kind of a whale was it, do you know? Other than big.

  Yeah, if you can't identify what kind of whale it was, you're not getting any points for it in AOTY! 
   Really enjoyed your post, I was imaginng what would be going through my mind in the same circumstances. 
       I gave up on the downrigger idea when my chopped- off- fishing pole-large reel, 2.5 weight, spectra line version got hung up on some kelp.  But then I was using  two hands to propel the kayak , and wasn't as quick with the knife as you. I think I should have just thrown the contraption overboard instead of cutting the line, because now it's just  taking up space in the garage.   

That 'll be the biggest fish story of your life!
That's so cool

Wow.  Glad you are safe.  Thanks for sharing. Makes me rethink kayak trolling and methods.

That's a whale of a story!

Damn, that's a good lesson. Thanks for sharing!

Whew!  Good job handling the fast emergency on your boat.  Being prepared makes all the difference, good on 'ya.

Nice skipper on the commercial boat though, letting you know about the flatties....Maybe it was sharkey.

Bushy

Nice skipper on the commercial boat though, letting you know about the flatties....Maybe it was sharkey.

Bushy

For the longest time, I thought that commercial boat was going to run me over. I kept trying to steer out of its way, and it kept correcting course so that it was coming straight at me. So, he really wanted to tell me about the halibut. And I would've given it a try but I was all-in on the salmon trolling and once I'd lost the DR ball, I was done. But, I'll definitely be going back to give the halibut fishing a try.

Ever heard of them being caught in that area---just a little ways north of the ML harbor entrance?

You're going to need a bigger hog trough.  Remember, the mouth must be closed!  Lol

I've heard some tall tales in my day. that's literally a whale of a tale
 glad it ended well for you .

My "Fish-n-Map"(the large red and blue one I bought at Bayside) says "Good for halibut & stripers near the entrance to the Pajaro River to Moss Landing.".    I caught a small flattie up about a mile in that direction.

One hell of a whale tale and you tell it so well.  What kind of damage would ripping that DR off of your Adventure done?

This is another great reminder why you need a knife attached somewhere to you that can be pulled in a second.

Nice skipper on the commercial boat though, letting you know about the flatties....Maybe it was sharkey.

Bushy

For the longest time, I thought that commercial boat was going to run me over. I kept trying to steer out of its way, and it kept correcting course so that it was coming straight at me. So, he really wanted to tell me about the halibut. And I would've given it a try but I was all-in on the salmon trolling and once I'd lost the DR ball, I was done. But, I'll definitely be going back to give the halibut fishing a try.

Ever heard of them being caught in that area---just a little ways north of the ML harbor entrance?

oh yes.  Sand flats all the way up to Capitola......