The OFFICIAL Seal and Sea Lion thread.

[billjr64]

My question is, do you think the seal ate the plug maybe while it was attached to a salmon, or do you think someone snagged the seal and the quick was pinned to it`s side? Bill

[Graceclaw]

Beautiful agate beach! I do rock collecting too Have quite the collection of agates myself

[mullet]

My guess is sealion went in freshwater to eat hooked salmon,
he bad,
he dead.
End of story.
All fairytales should end so well.

Mike

[budsfishin2]

so i took the boat out of camas yesterday for a shake down crusie.
saw a big seapuppy just upstream from the ramp.that ate not just 1 but 2 what apperead to be keeper size sturgon in bout 20 mins.on the 2and one he came up with it bout 15 ft in front of the boat.woulda been the perfect shot.

[GorgeCaster]

You should read the articles printed in Thursdays Columbian newspaper about the observations from a retired USFW biologist, they are pretty shocking for the numbers of sturgeon he witnessed killed in just over 12 hours. Makes me sick.

[shawn b]

i saw 2 sea lions to day take out about 9 gators out by the mouth of the sandy river

[Chinook311]

Just a few more years of "study" and we wont have any sturgeon left to worry about.

[Bait Bucket]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j55W...layer_embedded

[Fishplay]

OK...I'll play. My guess is less than 20 posts.

[stream]

Originally Posted by Fishplay

OK...I'll play. My guess is less than 20 posts.

I will go 21 posts

[Bait Bucket]

I'm thinking with the hazing, the bridge construction and the salmon fishermen, it's gonna be a traffic jam up there.

[DZ122/6]

Originally Posted by Fishplay

OK...I'll play. My guess is less than 20 posts.

I'll take the over. 30...

[JDarr]

Grrr....I want to end this post right now, but I'll play nice. Sea lions suck!!!

JD

[Tree Surgeon]

Eskimos would not be illegal emigrants since Alaska is a state and there is no way we should even consider depriving them of their normal diet and clothing.

[Graceclaw]

From what I've heard, it's definitely not "overfishing". The sea lions taking fish right off the line? That's the exploitation of humans!!!!! I'm not in favor of killing sea lions so you can have a few fish- that's not really acceptable to me, but dropping seal bombs into the water and scaring the crap out of them is 500% OK by me. I think everyone should handle their own seal problems appropriately.

And I'm in the 30+ response boat as well. Let's say 40.

[Native Fisher]

I was impressed with the news footage. I liked that they showed pictures of seals/sea lions attacking the salmon. I also liked the description of them lol.

[Ottafish]

ghglgliuy;nj

[fishinfool82]

There saying fisherman kill more, yeah im sure they do but we pay for what we take an generate lots of revenue dollar's which funds fish an wildlife an hatcherys..just my thought on it

[fishin"G"man]

Pretty lame excuse they are using to allow the sea lions to eradicate the salmon or sturgeon runs. Fishermen pay for the right to fish for them and we also spend FAR more money on hatchery births and perpetuation of the species than hazing a few or even killing a few. Let them have their way in the ocean. Predators are natural and we should expect SOME predatory demise. Not this smörgåsbord at the base of the dams.

While in the rivers, I say we have the right to decide what predators take the fish we pay to perpetuate. My vote does not go to the perpetuation of sea lions taking our fish in any fresh water river or tributary. Sea lions were not a problem before but they have gradually over run the taking of our tax funded fishery to the point of near endangerment and eradication.

To haze or shoot to reduce/discourage the continued and increasing slaughter is within our rights as a taxpayers. Bring on what ever it takes. If they are smart, they'll leave with the hazing. If not, the next step up is to shoot them. Maybe then they'll get the picture.

[bonjoevi2000]

I was fishing last year up there with 100 guide boats 200 public boats 2 ODFW boats and 7 that i knew of or so sea lions,and that was between the West Linn bridge and 205. It was crazy at times a little chaotic when someone would blast by with a 24ft boat sending a wake into the hog lines, oh sorry gettin off track I was up there fishing in my private spot lmao, and then I feel this brrrrrrrmmmmmm under the boat ? Im thinking what the f@$#@, then there it is again, brrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm. I look up river and oh yeah hazing. The aluminum boats would feel the percussion of the seal bombs. Not sure if it affected the fishing, as the seals would come down to where we were catching fish and chase hooked fish around. It's crazy. I personally have yet to lose one to a seal. Whats worse is Im feeling excited to do it again this year.One more thing, Im not trying to bash anyone, especially guides. No harm intended, I know how sensitive we ifishers are, so my apoligizes if I offended anyone. Peace Joe B.

[klcjr]

Here's a couple shot's from last year.

[RiverMan]

He looks pretty happy.

[justtryin]

Thanks for the photos, I like to see the sea lions getting a satisfying meal, looks like a nice springer, jealous?

[Graceclaw]

Om. Nom nom. Nom nom.

[Holley Rod Wrapper]

I was surveying today down on Sweet Creek Rd And Hadsall Creek in Lane County and I heard a splash in the water, I turned the 40X scope on the splash and seen 3 seals chomping down a Steelhead in the tide water. Pretty disgusted when I witnessed that. I fished for 2 days last week on the Siletz and seen one at the Mill Park boat ramp. Last year I seen one at Moonshine and at the Guardrail hole below Twin Bridges. I kinda think there needs to be a season on them cute little things.
JFS

[Boomer2]

I'd even spend money on a tag if I had to, it would look good hanging on the wall.

[loon]

Parsed from 2632 thread:

Originally Posted by Keta

If you can't tell the difference between seals and SEALIONS you really shouldn't be commenting on SEALION predation on salmon and the current overpopulation of SEALIONS.

We have seasons, bag limits and we can't retain unclipped fish, do you think SEALIONS care if it's a hatchery fish, a wild fish or a threatened fish.

As far as I'm concerned it should be legal to shoot ALL SEALIONS that are found in the Columbia over 20 miles from saltwater no matter what a judge in California says.

The SEALION problem, just like the nonindigenous trash fish problem, isn't the only thing we have to face if we wish to have our salmon runs back and ALL of the problems need to be addressed in order to get our salmon runs back to where they were.

I am just on here to put in my 2 pennies. All of this chatter is completely irrelevant in the whole scheme of things, I am just trying to open the eyes and clear the tunnel vision of both sides.
I'm sorry to be the one to inform you but both SEALS and SEA LIONS consume salmon. I agree that seals and SEA LIONS don't know the difference between hatches and nat's. But should they? Who has been fishing for salmon longer? Remember hearing of those "historical" runs "back in the day"? Do you think that their were seals and SEA LIONS then too? Man has only multiplied his/her interest in harvesting these fish since then, and its completely o.k.!! But pull the wool out of your eyes and stop these witch hunts.
I had a feeling you as well as most of the supporters of this bill would and do kill every SEAL and SEA LION whenever someone turns their head away. I am an avid salmon/steelhead as well as bass fisherman. I love fishing in general. I have been on boats where the owner of the boat feels differently about SEALS and SEA LIONS so they pull their .22 out. It is sad. I wonder which side has more numbers fishing...seals/ sea lions or commercial/recreational fisherman.
After reading a dozen or so comments on the matter it seems to me I have found their is one thing in common and I hope I am wrong. The supporters of this bill are using the bill itself as a FRONT to enhance their satisfaction and numbers during the season. In no way are most people offering to limit themselves, cleaning the water, preserving area's of streams/rivers, not spraying their lures with WD-40. Supporters of this bill will have to change their voice if they want anything accomplished and actually offer something for what the believe in.

-Disgruntled angler

[Two Fister]

Originally Posted by loon

I am just on here to put in my 2 pennies. All of this chatter is completely irrelevant in the whole scheme of things, I am just trying to open the eyes and clear the tunnel vision of both sides.
I'm sorry to be the one to inform you but both SEALS and SEA LIONS consume salmon. I agree that seals and SEA LIONS don't know the difference between hatches and nat's. But should they? Who has been fishing for salmon longer? Remember hearing of those "historical" runs "back in the day"? Do you think that their were seals and SEA LIONS then too? Man has only multiplied his/her interest in harvesting these fish since then, and its completely o.k.!! But pull the wool out of your eyes and stop these witch hunts.
I had a feeling you as well as most of the supporters of this bill would and do kill every SEAL and SEA LION whenever someone turns their head away. I am an avid salmon/steelhead as well as bass fisherman. I love fishing in general. I have been on boats where the owner of the boat feels differently about SEALS and SEA LIONS so they pull their .22 out. It is sad. I wonder which side has more numbers fishing...seals/ sea lions or commercial/recreational fisherman.
After reading a dozen or so comments on the matter it seems to me I have found their is one thing in common and I hope I am wrong. The supporters of this bill are using the bill itself as a FRONT to enhance their satisfaction and numbers during the season. In no way are most people offering to limit themselves, cleaning the water, preserving area's of streams/rivers, not spraying their lures with WD-40. Supporters of this bill will have to change their voice if they want anything accomplished and actually offer something for what the believe in.

-Disgruntled angler

Yeah right...a disgruntled angler...that's a laugh.

I think this is more like it..



The only question is are you PETA or HSUS?

Back to the topic which is HB 2632 and it has absolutely nothing to do with marine mammals.


The warm water folks have a well oiled machine for getting their word out to their representatives. I strongly suggested that those of us that care about wild and native species take the time to contact our state reps and ODFW to express our support for HB 2632. Our state can't afford to protect, enhance, and promote illegal introductions that damage Threatened and Endangered species any longer.

TF

[Big EEE]

I'd buy a tag!

[Net-em]

you guys are all funny talking about a problem we created. the seals used to stay fat and in the lower river when we had a healthy smelt run.

[SandySteel]

So were they truly seals or possibly sea lions?

[Holley Rod Wrapper]

Originally Posted by SandySteel

So were they truly seals or possibly sea lions?

Seen them again today, To small to be sea lions. an to big to be Nutria!

[greeneggs]

Originally Posted by Holley Rod Wrapper

Seen them again today, To small to be sea lions. an to big to be Nutria!

Were they solid colored or did they have spots? If they were seals they will be spotted anywhere from silver/gray to brown or black.

[Black Dog Boat]

I was always curious if historically Grizzly Bears would have kept them out of the rivers? I understand the seals in tidewater but, 30 miles upriver seems a little weird.

[Keta]

Originally Posted by Black Dog Boat

I was always curious if historically Grizzly Bears would have kept them out of the rivers? I understand the seals in tidewater but, 30 miles upriver seems a little weird.

Coastal natives probably had more to do with keeping the pinneped numbers down.

[Treeshot]

Originally Posted by Black Dog Boat

I was always curious if historically Grizzly Bears would have kept them out of the rivers? I understand the seals in tidewater but, 30 miles upriver seems a little weird.

Historically the native americans kept them out of the rivers.....maybe we should give them a yearly quota.

[tidalboy]

Originally Posted by Keta

Coastal natives probably had more to do with keeping the pinneped numbers down.

ah, the good old days...

[danielboone]

Originally Posted by loon

Parsed from 2632 thread:




I am just on here to put in my 2 pennies. All of this chatter is completely irrelevant in the whole scheme of things, I am just trying to open the eyes and clear the tunnel vision of both sides.
I'm sorry to be the one to inform you but both SEALS and SEA LIONS consume salmon. I agree that seals and SEA LIONS don't know the difference between hatches and nat's. But should they? Who has been fishing for salmon longer? Remember hearing of those "historical" runs "back in the day"? Do you think that their were seals and SEA LIONS then too? Man has only multiplied his/her interest in harvesting these fish since then, and its completely o.k.!! But pull the wool out of your eyes and stop these witch hunts.
I had a feeling you as well as most of the supporters of this bill would and do kill every SEAL and SEA LION whenever someone turns their head away. I am an avid salmon/steelhead as well as bass fisherman. I love fishing in general. I have been on boats where the owner of the boat feels differently about SEALS and SEA LIONS so they pull their .22 out. It is sad. I wonder which side has more numbers fishing...seals/ sea lions or commercial/recreational fisherman.
After reading a dozen or so comments on the matter it seems to me I have found their is one thing in common and I hope I am wrong. The supporters of this bill are using the bill itself as a FRONT to enhance their satisfaction and numbers during the season. In no way are most people offering to limit themselves, cleaning the water, preserving area's of streams/rivers, not spraying their lures with WD-40. Supporters of this bill will have to change their voice if they want anything accomplished and actually offer something for what the believe in.

-Disgruntled angler

the problem with the sealions is that their fear has gone away and they're getting to the point where they're damn near jumping into the boat to get netted fish. what's going to happen when somebody gets killed by one jumping into they're boat, possibly capsizeing it or flat out just running into them. with any animal, when they're is no natural predator for them, like in the rivers, the populations increase, and the fear on anything happening to them is lost. for those of you that think hazing them or killing them is bad, just wait until someone gets killed or injured by one, it could be you or a loved one, and your attitude might change.

[1991 Arima]

Originally Posted by budsfishin2

so i took the boat out of camas yesterday for a shake down crusie.
saw a big seapuppy just upstream from the ramp.that ate not just 1 but 2 what apperead to be keeper size sturgon in bout 20 mins.on the 2and one he came up with it bout 15 ft in front of the boat.woulda been the perfect shot.

[Rager1234]

Just watched the news. Nice to see that our ODFW tag and license money is going toward giving grown men and women fire works to scare sea lions all day long. Seems this has been going on for years with no effect. We are doing nothing but annoying the lions, but the food is too easy to get, they won't go away. They will now teach their offspring the same thing. It may get to the point where a shot and a shovel will be the only way to rid the problem. Last I checked there seems to be plenty of Sea Lions out there, don't think a few dozen problem Lions will hurt the overall population. Don't remember them ever being a fresh water inhabitant.

[1991 Arima]

Originally Posted by Chinook311

Just a few more years of "study" and we wont have any sturgeon left to worry about.

[Troutcatcher23]

Originally Posted by danielboone

the problem with the sealions is that their fear has gone away and they're getting to the point where they're damn near jumping into the boat to get netted fish. what's going to happen when somebody gets killed by one jumping into they're boat, possibly capsizeing it or flat out just running into them. with any animal, when they're is no natural predator for them, like in the rivers, the populations increase, and the fear on anything happening to them is lost. for those of you that think hazing them or killing them is bad, just wait until someone gets killed or injured by one, it could be you or a loved one, and your attitude might change.

Won't take to long before someone gets pulled overboard by a sea lion, They will grab the fish when it's already in the net. Good idea to not fish by yourself especially where there is a good curent

[6horsekicker]

Already 1500 sturgeon killed by Sea Lions so far this year! Its time they take care of the problem. Sea Lions populations are up and its time to balance them out, at least above the 205's.

http://www.cbbulletin.com/405388.aspx

[hawkeyes]

i have never personally fished where there is sealiions but i someday want to go over there and fish i hear there real smart[sea lions]i wonder if they took a big rubber and foam fake orca or great white shark and floated it down from the dam and tow it back and forth if that would run them furbags out of there

[Plunking lead]

Originally Posted by hawkeyes

i have never personally fished where there is sealiions but i someday want to go over there and fish i hear there real smart[sea lions]i wonder if they took a big rubber and foam fake orca or great white shark and floated it down from the dam and tow it back and forth if that would run them furbags out of there

That is the best idea I've heard on this topic. WDFW and ODFW should do this instead of bombing the furbags and see if it scatters them for good. The scarecrow concept.

[PRINCEMASTER]

I believe you would also have to replicate the sounds they make in the water and the smell in the water

[Fishouttawater]

Originally Posted by PRINCEMASTER

I believe you would also have to replicate the sounds they make in the water and the smell in the water

Bingo. Little thing called echo-location(animal sonar). The high frequency clicks ought to sound to them like the Jaws theme to girl in a bikini.

Plus there have got to be some replica orcas from the Free Willy movies, etc.


Just found this:

"Although the population is now very large and may be greater than any historical level (Low 1991), there is no evidence that it has reached its optimal sustainable population (OSP) level which is the management goal mandated by the MMPA (NMFS 1992)."

from: http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publicatio...m28/mammal.htm

That is...very depressing to me.

[Oly1]

Here is another video that will make your blood boil a little. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwmD4ejBW24

Oly1

[dieseldoc]

In 1970 or there abouts when they put them on the endangered list there were 70,000 sea lions. Now there are over 700,000 of them. Do we need to keep protecting them? The solution A. Give us a tag to hunt them B. Kill them above a certain river mile. C. Let the do-gooders adopt them, build a pool in their back yard, and pay the bill to feed them. The fishermen are paying to feed them with our license fees, tag fees, boat license, trailer license, ramp fees.

[Rawbd]

They've been targeting the bottle necks all the way past Logsden for 20 years.Wheres the bell curve on the survival rate for the salmon n steelhead there.I'll pay more every year to feed them huh.

[Rock Phish]

I'm pretty sure that it's a no no, but are you allowed to use non lethal weapons when sealions are clearly attacking your fish? They'll come right to the net. Can you bonk them with an or? Seems like it should be at the discretion of the guy/gal fighting the this in question. The fisherman should be able to feel theatened or not. I take it seal bombs are out. How about paint guns? I have fish come withing 20 from shore an had the sweet springer ripped away from me in 2 seconds. We battle the gillnets, the climate, and now other preditors. The teqnues they've been using aren't cost effective and do a poor to mediocre job controlling the sealion population to boot. They tell 2 and the next thing you know, they're all over the B C and othr tribs. I know that's not an easy job, but it's getting worst every year and our seasons seem to be getting shorter. i though that extra money paid to fish the Columbia was to clip more fish and give us more days. so much for that theory. We spent thousands annually on licences not to mntion, boats, poles, gear, gas, and deserve more say in the current situation. I've honestly had it.allow fishermen to have some sort of say. Too much money spent on fishing and not enough on sealions. sad, really. Believe me. I'm not alone in this type of mentallity. Over a 100 years throught my family. I'm sue that you know some of them. One has the Winter run State record Steelhead. the god father of fishing, he's called. ok 'King" for short. i only hope to be half of the fisherman he is someday....ps. not trying to upset anyone and nor an i god's gift to fish. I'm just a regular guy that wants to fish. I just was wondering is anyone had any opinions on the current situation.

Thanks for your time,

rock phish

[dieseldoc]

The artical in today's Oregonian says 32 sealions ate 1400 sturgeon in 29 days. That's 43.75 for each one. That's only one month, multiply by 12 months= 16,800!! How about 64 sealions? Thats 33,800!! 1400 is the observed number. How about the Willamette and the other 110 miles of the C? We're talking huge numbers of salmon and sturgeon being taken by predators. How fair is 16,800 for the lions and 17,000 for the fishermen?

[Quackerhead]

I read this article in the Oregonian this AM also and had to take another blood pressure pill ! These quotes don't take into consideration that humans are regulated to keeping hatchery salmonoids and sturgeon within a length slot limit while the fur bags feast on anything they can catch and many times they just bite the belly out and grab another one !

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last year halted removing or killing California sea lions below Bonneville. The Humane Society of the United States argued that the government had not made a good enough case as to why sea lions killing endangered salmon was worse than sport and commercial fishing killing many, many more.
Sharon Young of the Humane Society understands her opponents' concerns about sturgeon. But she says commercial and sport catch - 17,000 this year - is much greater than what Stellers take.

IMHO the author of this article needs to do "a little more research" on this subject and tell the whole story ! I would be willing to wager the average reader doesn't even know what constitutes a "legal fish" but thinks the seals/sea lions are native to the CR and "really cute" ?
For those of you that haven't read the story here is the link...I think "we all" know the easy solution but as long as the Humane Society has money for lawyers and the 9th Circuit Court is involved it will be business as usual !!!

http://www.oregonlive.com/environmen...ching_stu.html

[Troutcatcher23]

Originally Posted by Quackerhead

I read this article in the Oregonian this AM also and had to take another blood pressure pill ! These quotes don't take into consideration that humans are regulated to keeping hatchery salmonoids and sturgeon within a length slot limit while the fur bags feast on anything they can catch and many times they just bite the belly out and grab another one !

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last year halted removing or killing California sea lions below Bonneville. The Humane Society of the United States argued that the government had not made a good enough case as to why sea lions killing endangered salmon was worse than sport and commercial fishing killing many, many more.
Sharon Young of the Humane Society understands her opponents' concerns about sturgeon. But she says commercial and sport catch - 17,000 this year - is much greater than what Stellers take.

IMHO the author of this article needs to do "a little more research" on this subject and tell the whole story ! I would be willing to wager the average reader doesn't even know what constitutes a "legal fish" but thinks the seals/sea lions are native to the CR and "really cute" ?
For those of you that haven't read the story here is the link...I think "we all" know the easy solution but as long as the Humane Society has money for lawyers and the 9th Circuit Court is involved it will be business as usual !!!

http://www.oregonlive.com/environmen...ching_stu.html

Well said,

The sealions are killing the oversize fish!! It takes a sturgeon a long period to reach spawning stage they are slow growing, late maturing fish....,All that time spent growing just so the sealions get to kill them! Sad if you ask me, A steller compared to a oversize sturgeon is nothing they will rip them apart, toss them around like nothing. That said they don't consume the whole sturgeon!! We are talking hundreds even thousands of breeder sturgeon that are dead now! Then we have people ask why is there a big decline of sturgeon... Imagine how many eggs a sturgeon can produce... Well? What happend to all the oversize fish? They didn't make it...!

[RIPPLE]

This is really a simple issue ........

Sealions are a protected species, Riverlions are not!

RIPPLE

[Slick]

Saw this today at Rainier.

[fhs willamette]

The Humane Society of the United States

[rtg]

Where can you buy the decal with the sea lion with the red circle with the line through it? I want to tag my PU and Boat...

[judyfish99]

Originally Posted by rtg

Where can you buy the decal with the sea lion with the red circle with the line through it? I want to tag my PU and Boat...

Ollie Damons...I think. That is where I got mine. Someone tried to peel off the decal off the back window of my SUV. Must have been one of those greenies at the Dave Hunt debacle. (Whew!!) I am going to replace it with a new one here soon....

[Tyeedog]

sealions OK, riverlions take em out...