Fish storage

I pull a couple gills then toss them in a big "dry bag" (its the liner to my seattle sports soft side yak cooler) keeps them contained and blood out of the water, and they're dead in a couple minutes.  For a proper brain spike (like used on tuna) you need to sever the brain stem not just pith them in the brain bucket

You guys hanging them over the side to bleed have bigger stones then me OR have not fished some of the areas with aggressive sea lions.  I'm not worried much about sharks, BUT there are some big bulls off Oceanside, among other places, that will come right up to your yak, like 15ft and look right at you (I ran one off that got even closer by throwing a 4oz jig at it), if you were to have fish hanging in the water or a serious blood trail I have no doubt they would investigate further.

Makes me wonder what Dave's Insanity sauce would do for them fur balls?  Give them a quick taste of it and hope they don't like it.

Makes me wonder what Dave's Insanity sauce would do for them fur balls?  Give them a quick taste of it and hope they don't like it.

Dave's is the best!!! I love that stuff.  Where can you buy it around here I haven't seen it on the shelves in a long time?  I used to add it to my boiling water when making spaghetti.  Had a roommate that got nosy, leaned over the pot for a sniff and maced the piss out of himself with the steam lol!

Beats me?  I've only heard of the chicken wing stories at work.

Regarding deterring seals and sea lions..

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Deterring-Pinnipeds.cfm

Beats me?  I've only heard of the chicken wing stories at work.

If you like that kind of stuff it's awesome but you definitely have to be careful with it ^ See my above story lol.

I fish three arches off Oceanside and just keep an eye and ear out for the stellars.  If they are close, I pull the fish in and under the burlap.  Have had some come close to check it out, but never agressive or within 10'. 

What's the difference with regards to eating quality of spiking/severing cord vs. just wood/plastic/metal shampoo?

I fish three arches off Oceanside and just keep an eye and ear out for the stellars.  If they are close, I pull the fish in and under the burlap.  Have had some come close to check it out, but never agressive or within 10'. 

What's the difference with regards to eating quality of spiking/severing cord vs. just wood/plastic/metal shampoo?

Probably nothing if you are cooking the meat - they mostly spike/cord tuna to keep the meat sashimi grade, which brings a higher market value. I'd think on the small scale, spiking a fish after bleeding it would potentially reduce the lactic acids in the muscle tissue, and result in a slightly firmer texture, as well as the added benefit of not having the fish flipping out and slamming into the boat/sending out electrical signals of a fish in distress.  Clubbing the fish doesn't necessarily stun the fish for very long - i clubbed the big ling I caught at ORC, pulled gills on both sides, and it still decided to flip out a few times over the following two hours, when it should have been good and dead.

Ling's are one tough sob. The first one I ever caught was off the Tillamook jetty. Bonked it good, cut both gills and stuck it in my burlap bag and fished for another two hours. 45 min drive home to PC, go to fillet the ling and it flops and quivers when I stick the knife in. Scared the carp outta me, I cut the head off to be sure I wasn't filleting a live fish! Haven't had one last that long since, but I usually put them on ice so maybe that puts them under quicker.

I lost a nice king to a sea lion last week----it took my fish, and the 6inch spoon was firmly hooked in the sea lion's mouth, he towed me 1/2 way from Dalco to Point defiance before finally breaking the mainline.  They are damn big, and can be short tempered---we always gave them a wide berth in the Broken Group, back in the day of sea-kayaking (1980's).  I now carry a slingshot in my Arima, but a paintball gun sounds like a nice legal deterrent.

I'm with PP about using a dry bag.  hanging a stringer of fish from your yak turns you into a big bobber with a couple feet of leader and fresh bait for something very big to bite on.  I don't want to experience a bobber down like that.  

The sea lions can be very aggressive and territorial in the Salt.  About a month ago I had a small one (about 400-500lbs) come up out of nowhere and jump two feet from my yak. all I saw were brown fur and flippers, then I was drenched with water.  This was more of a territorial thing.  Zee and I were fishing together and one did the same thing to him only it was about 20 feet away earlier that day.  If hungry enough, a sea lion wouldn't hesitate to come looking for an easy meal from a stringer or a scent trail.

Scott