I think I had my first GWS incounter of LJ

[MITCHELL]

I was fishing out off la jolla in 150 feet or so of water and the sealions were working me over and going under my kayak and all of the sudden this gray object catches the corner of my eye breaking the surface 10ft from my kayak I say WTF ....was that.... did not see head or tail just a grey boil it was moving fast the thought that came to mind was it was headed for me and veered off at the last second than awhile later I thought it was just a sealion and kept fishing but no.... sealions are brown this was grey and the size of a porpoise but I no it was not a porpoise by the way it moved and never surfaced again as I sit here and type this with that vision in my head I'm thinking a juvenile great white shark chasing a sealion
Anybody out there have a similar incounter and I no it was not a hammerhead

[jorluivil]

If it was a GWS the seals would not be around.

[Geno Machino]

What day was this?

[MITCHELL]

The middle of oct.2015

[lowprofile]

Great whites won't hunt seals until they are over 10ft. Even then most of the SoCal population eats fish and small grey whales. Now if there was a 9-10ft mako nearby the seals would be SOL. Those west coast makos are seal killers.

You could have also seen a very large soupfin, 7gill or a hammer. No doubt it could have been a white though, I ran into a rather large one there.

[MITCHELL]

I release a soup fin....why would it breach right next to my yak...

[ful-rac]

You never know...:eek: !

[DanaPT]

If it was a GWS the seals would not be around.

I disagree. I had a sea lion zig zag under my yak briefly before I saw the GWS swim by for a closer look.

No doubt in my mind on this day, the sea lion was looking for a place out of the water OR simply lead the shark to me as a diversion. It worked.

I too was chased from the water. only shark I care not to see while fishing.

[MITCHELL]

My new toy saving time and money making my own mackerel flys :D

[MITCHELL]

Are you in the Christmas spirit before Holloween....

[chris138]

I'd say it was a white shark almost for sure. This is the time of year they are very common, as are attacks. I saw one attacking a sealion a few months back. Its hard to believe what you are seeing while its happening, but when you replay it in your head usually there's not much doubt. I can say for sure it wasn't a sevengill, soupfin, thresher, or hammer. Sounds like you have lots of hours on the water... you would've easily identified them by their behavior and appearance. Possible to mistake a mako for a white though....

Also as an aside, we do not have porpoise here. We have short-beaked common dolphin, which are often incorrectly referred to as porpoise by fishermen. Pointless detail, I know, but while we are identifying animals we might as well be consistent. Don't even get me started on the seal vs sea lion thing:rolleyes:

[MITCHELL]

Like I said WTF was that....

[TJones]

When you have an encounter you will know . There will be no doubt in your mind . Come hang out up north .

[vincentek9]

had a 12ft GWS hanging out with me for about half an hour in LJ once. i had a dead bloody YT and the blood was trickling through the scuppers. he just cruised under my yak.. then hung out for a bit. never breached water other than his fin. looked like a giant thick torpedo.

[GregAndrew]

Yeti or Chupacabra for sure!

[2-Stix]

When you have an encounter you will know . There will be no doubt in your mind . Come hang out up north .

Come meet "Fluffy"...the Malibu local.

[MITCHELL]

Would love to fish Malibu never been there trailer parks $1000 pre week can't afford that....

[TINCANYAK]

Three wonderful encounters these past few months: Juvenile G W breaching 3 times 30 feet away off Capo Beach. Mr. You-know-who bumpy solo ride off D P break wall and the third two weeks ago during 7 foot swell surfing the Point...6 foot juvenile cursing deep in wave peeling off in channel between point and Old Mans where I was paddling out just while I was duck diving ...definitely not a mammal. Wifey hears about it and reminds me who's visiting who...da.
Cheers to all the good times!

[Dail14]

If it was a great white the seals would have abandoned you long before you spotted it or you would have seen a seal turn into a cloud of blood with half of it trying to swim away. If the shark is obviously not hunting, the seals would have been long gone before it showed up. If it was hunting you would never have seen it near the surface.

[lamb]

Wahoo? :D

[FleshandBlood]

You probably saw a juvenile GW. They are always around just not seen as often. If you've put in the time on the water your judgement call is what I'd go with. The responses that say "if it were a GWS then the seals would have left the area." clearly forget to take into consideration that GWS eat seals...so there is always going to be one unlucky dog out there in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a side note, this year in Seal Beach we had a seal wash a shore that had been attacked by what was estimated to be an 8-10 foot white he was too small to finish the job so he wound up only maiming it. It died from its wounds and the waves brought it in.

[Zed]

Its not true the sealions would be gone. Sealions will flank and annoy a cruising white since they are more manuverable. The white either not in feed mode or in fish feed mode. When its in mammal feed mode it wont be seen until the red cloud.

[jorluivil]

Yes it is.

NOT IT'S NOT!!

Maybe it was.

NO IT WASN'T!!

It looked like

IT WASN'T THAT!!


I guess we'll never know.

[FleshandBlood]

Uhh oh...someone's butt is getting hurt, Let me get you desitin.

[jorluivil]

Uhh oh...someone's butt is getting hurt, Let me get you desitin.


Why would you use Desitin when lube works much better.

[MITCHELL]

If eyes could talk....the surface is a small area in the water colum....I'm sure it's a game of cat and mouse between sharks and everything else...I fished LJ once a week for 6 months and now it's time to move and not because of sharks this encounter did not scare me off the water...what man witness is not even the tip of the iceberg of events that go on every day in the ocean like a bad ass swordfish caught sleeping and gets its tail bit off ect ect ect I would say it's just depends how hungry somethings is before I would judge it's actions plus mistake in identity for sure... thanks for the out put tight lines my friends and I'll tell you all about it when I see it again :iagree:

[MITCHELL]

Pink lady Spanish fly...lol

[lowprofile]

I release a soup fin....why would it breach right next to my yak...

When you say breach, you mean jump?

Any fish can roll on the surface, especially when hunting food. I've seen halibut go airborn.

[TJones]

Come meet "Fluffy"...the Malibu local.

Received from another member of an adult female snagged in the net of a commercial squid boat. It looks like about 16-18 foot and maybe a ton? Not sure it if it was fluffy ? Maybe the shark that killed those two back in the 80's.

[TJones]

Squid grounds , needless to say where we fish .

[jorluivil]

I fished LJ once a week for 6 months and now it's time to move and not because of sharks this encounter did not scare me off the water...what man witness is not even the tip of the iceberg of events that go on every day in the ocean like a bad ass swordfish caught sleeping and gets its tail bit off ect ect ect I would say it's just depends how hungry somethings is before I would judge it's actions plus mistake in identity for sure... thanks for the out put tight lines my friends and I'll tell you all about it when I see it again :iagree:

So you're retiring?

[FARRIER]

http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201467/rs_1024x759-140707123715-1024.lady-gaga.cm.7714.jpg

[MITCHELL]

That's funny retirement mean more time spent on the water fishing :reel:....if I say anymore the line will double in size. LoL

[Superduper]

5 years ago I had my 1st encounter with a great white in La Jolla. Coming in on a summer day approaching the 1st buoy, I would always throw my left over live bait to the sea lions that would sit on the buoy. That buoy is long gone now. This particular day 2 sea lions were on the buoy. As I approached I went to launch a live bait at em when all of a sudden they perked up and froze with their noses pointed towards the sky. My peripheral vision picked up a huge swirl in front of my kayak and when I focused in I saw the distinctive white markings on the lower back half of the shark diving down right under the buoy heading over to seal beach ( think that's what it's called?). I looked around to see if anyone else saw it. No one around me. Wow, I couldn't believe what I just saw... I sat and looked over to where it was heading and nothing happened. When I got home I looked up great whites to to see if the markings were the same. They were identical. Man I couldn't believe it. Middle of summer and a great white cruising through La Jolla...by the way I didn't mention the size. Let's just say based on the back half that I saw which was at least 8' and a side view of 2' or so - who knows it had to be huge. So now when I hear about sightings I think of this experience I had and say to myself "yep their around"...

[Aaron&Julie]

I'm wondering...if you didn't see head or tail, how do you know it wasn't a hammerhead. They are still around from what I've read of recent posts. Just saying.

[2-Stix]

Squid grounds , needless to say where we fish .

Holy Crap!!!!! Thanks for the info. We need to get out some time.

[MITCHELL]

F..k holy shark shit...
When was Fluffy caught....

[Shimano Penn]

I release a soup fin....why would it breach right next to my yak...

Unrelated to thread but thank you so much for solving a big mystery for me. I caught one of those at LJ a year ago and was never able to identify it until now. It was every bit of 6'+ which didn't jive with the species I kept finding on the internet.

As for GWS yea, I had one of those "encounters" up in Cambria last summer. Cruising along at the surface about 30feet from me, minding it's own business thankfully. 20' according to the locals and DFW guys that saw it that day :eek: