Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

This happened today in St. Francis Yacht club. I was there for 15 minutes and saw one sea lion kill 3 big bass. It just ate the tail and kept hunting. Sad. What really can be done? See video and pic of weight

Need to show this to our elected officials who claim the stripers are eating up all the salmons and other native species.

7.47 LB> without a tail...that would have been my personal best. Have a buddy who had a sea lion breach in front of his boat while going about 40 mph. Barely escaped contact. Now he wont go over 35-40 even though a 250 Merc is hanging off his transom. Think of all the bass they are eating. I never go out now without seeing at least one or more...

Just saw video...that is indeed VERY sad 30-338

Hitting it with the big motor and claiming it sounds like a total accident to me.

4 answers, .380acp, 9mm, 44mag or a .45acp

What made me sick was these were bass that were actively spawning. Cleaned up the whole shoreline in 15 minutes

My son and I launched at Russo's the other day and in the time it took for me to park the trailer a big sea lion dove under the docks twice, each time pulling out a big spawning bass...crunching away with gusto.

Fishin Andy wrote:4 answers, .380acp, 9mm, 44mag or a .45acp

So sad, thanks for posting. We should all have harpoons. Can't get close enough to seal club.

tinybass wrote:Need to show this to our elected officials who claim the stripers are eating up all the salmons and other native species.

Does anyone really think that Gov. Nuisance would care about a Bass losing its *** with a hook in its mouth? Im sure he thinks fishing is cruel and unusual punishment to fish. He's a seal hugger. Of course it's the seals who are eating the salmon and causing a severe reduction in that fishery. Now they are deep into the delta eating LM bass, stripers, and everything else they can.

bayscotter wrote:This happened today in St. Francis Yacht club. I was there for 15 minutes and saw one sea lion kill 3 big bass. It just ate the tail and kept hunting. Sad. What really can be done? See video and pic of weight

What's really sad is this is not feeding behavior. This is thrill killing or 'surplus' killing. We've all seen them kill and only eat the preferred parts with the most calories; the egg heavy bellies of female bass, but this is nothing but thrill killing, common to lots of predators, where they kill for sport. That sea lion likely spit out the tail after biting it off. We aren't gonna get any help from any state agencies. I say pay up your boat insurance and throttle down through the delta!!

But your honor, I thought I was shooting a Nutria, they do look similar.

While launching this morning at Whiskey Slough the guys that work there informed me that there were three sea lions way in the back of the slough yesterday.

The Delta is just being torn apart by these things. I hit one last week, probably didn't kill it, but it did break my prop. It's sad seeing such a great fishery go to waste. Eventually someone is going to get hurt when they hit a big one at 60+.

I saw 4-5 today in mid delta. Way too many.

Chad Sweitzer wrote:The Delta is just being torn apart by these things. I hit one last week, probably didn't kill it, but it did break my prop. It's sad seeing such a great fishery go to waste. Eventually someone is going to get hurt when they hit a big one at 60+.

I agree. Hitting anything that weighs more than 400 lbs is dangerous for both the animal and the boater. I'm sorry to hear your prop got damaged.

Here's what we can legally do emphasis on the bottom.

Caleb.Smith wrote:Here's what we can legally do emphasis on the bottom.

Capture.JPG

Sounds like a paintball derby might be an option.

[quote="mark poulson"][quote="Caleb.Smith"]Here's what we can legally do emphasis on the bottom.

Capture.JPG[/quote]
Sounds like a paintball derby might be an option.[/quote]

Frozen Paintballs.

This really is sad. These fish, especially the big ones, are used to being at or near the top of the food chain, except for us. I'm thinking they just are not used to or expecting something like a sea lion to threaten them. I am afraid any complaint to the authorities will fall on deaf ears because bass are non-native species. Someone mentioned them preying on salmon, if we could show that happening, it might get someone's attention.

I like the paintball idea.

Pat

Paintball on full auto....haha
To bad it wont drive them out of the area

I am not very familiar with the Delta beyond it's reputation for producing large bass. Are the sea lions a relatively new thing? And if so what led to them becoming so prevalent?

Easy food, no predators...at all.

srsnow wrote:I am not very familiar with the Delta beyond it's reputation for producing large bass. Are the sea lions a relatively new thing? And if so what led to them becoming so prevalent?

They were drawn to the Delta because their primary food source, salmon, has declined. They moved into the Delta looking for food. As the salmon numbers have fallen, the number of sea lions in the Delta has risen.
And, as Fishin Andy said, no predators and lots of food (bass, carp, and the occasional salmon), so why leave?

mark poulson wrote:

srsnow wrote:I am not very familiar with the Delta beyond it's reputation for producing large bass. Are the sea lions a relatively new thing? And if so what led to them becoming so prevalent?

They were drawn to the Delta because their primary food source, salmon, has declined. They moved into the Delta looking for food. As the salmon numbers have fallen, the number of sea lions in the Delta has risen.
And, as Fishin Andy said, no predators and lots of food (bass, carp, and the occasional salmon), so why leave?

Yep and no great white sharks to trim their numbers in the Delta..........

We need someone to do some vigilante seal killing to save the great fishery. But in reality, what can be done?

mark poulson wrote:

srsnow wrote:I am not very familiar with the Delta beyond it's reputation for producing large bass. Are the sea lions a relatively new thing? And if so what led to them becoming so prevalent?

They were drawn to the Delta because their primary food source, salmon, has declined. They moved into the Delta looking for food. As the salmon numbers have fallen, the number of sea lions in the Delta has risen.
And, as Fishin Andy said, no predators and lots of food (bass, carp, and the occasional salmon), so why leave?

Thank you, that makes perfect sense.