Northwest Fishing Reports

While fishing for blackmouth this past week we lost three really nice fish to seals. The whole day we had between two and three following right behind us. I was fishing with someone from Oregon who said that down there a lot of people will shoot them with slingshots just to keep them away. Is that legal here? If not is there anything you can do to keep them away? Don't mind losing an occasional fish to them but three really nice fish is too many.

only illegal if you are caught.

According to WDFW you can protect your catch as long as you don't harm them.

The seals may have to catch salmon on their own. Judging by the new WDFW Master Plan, sport salmon fishing in Puget Sound and all Treaty waters may be a thing of the past. The usual websites, PP and Ifish are talking about "massive" cutbacks in salmon sport fishing.

https://tidalexchange.com/wp-content/up ... 012017.pdf

Thanks for the responses.... I guess we will be bringing a slingshot on our next trip!

BARCHASER1 wrote:The seals may have to catch salmon on their own. Judging by the new WDFW Master Plan, sport salmon fishing in Puget Sound and all Treaty waters may be a thing of the past. The usual websites, PP and Ifish are talking about "massive" cutbacks in salmon sport fishing.

https://tidalexchange.com/wp-content/up ... 012017.pdf

This really sucks, but I think its the only option at this point - IF - they also shut down commercial and tribal fishing to the same degree.

They won't.

You can defend your catch from seals with non lethal means, and you're not allowed to penetrate their skin. Sling shots, rubber bullets, noise makers, explosives... good times.

Found it...

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov ... ethods.pdf

Sling shot's can be quite accurate and fun. If you get some nice smooth round rocks ammo is cheap!

TrackerPro16 wrote:Sling shot's can be quite accurate and fun. If you get some nice smooth round rocks ammo is cheap!

not to mention therapeutic.

It sure is! Used the slingshot alot yesterday and it seemed to work. We still had the seal follow us for some of the day, but did not have it take any fish off the line this time! From now on will always have a slingshot onboard.

Oddly enough, double ended wad cutters work exceptionally well in a slingshot.

Ive had a few moments of glory recently, standing on a crowded squid fishing dock. Seals definitely were chasing our squid away.... over 200 feet away I nailed that seal when he popped his head up, with 1/2 oz lead weight fired out of my wrist rocket. `Crowds of stunned asain squid fisherman suddenly cheered... at least thats how I remember it! The seals stayed away for a few hours.

A Sling shot and some ball bearings are in the glove box of my SeaHawk.....

Explosives work great too. Something with a waterproof fuse and "m80 sized" taped to a weight to sink quickly. The dock shakes and rumbles, the bubbles float up from the bottom. Then, oddly enough, the few times that Ive tried this the squid seemed to hit hard immediately. Seal free for a few hours!

Yep. Wrist rocket. I prefer ball bearings. Good accuracy with them.

Sideburns wrote:Explosives work great too. Something with a waterproof fuse and "m80 sized" taped to a weight to sink quickly. The dock shakes and rumbles, the bubbles float up from the bottom. Then, oddly enough, the few times that Ive tried this the squid seemed to hit hard immediately. Seal free for a few hours!

Two problems with this, both are the law. One would be possession of explosives with out a license the other would be covered under "you may not" on page 4 of the fishing regs. "Use drugs, explosives, or poison that may kill or injure sh and wildlife."