We are now in salmon season, and I’m hearing reports of incidental catches locally in the Santa Barbara Channel.

I haven’t fished for them yet this season, but I sure am thinking about them and remembering wild fishing trips of the past.

I was recounting (which is sorta like spinning a yarn, but with more of the truth left in) a particularly wild moment on a day of salmon fishing off Carpinteria, during a memorable past season. It went like this …
 
A reel zipped and rod pumped as a fresh 20-pound Chinook salmon bit a trolled purple haze hoochy lure and tossed its head angrily (as any of us would likely do after finding ourselves biting a purple haze hoochy lure with a hook in it).

I screamed, “Hook up!” which of course is my very favorite thing to do.

My charter passenger grabbed the rod and the battle began. All eyes were on the happy angler … except mine.

I was watching a pesky California sea lion that had been following our lures for the past 20 minutes. They do that, in hopes of stealing a freshly hooked fish.

The sea lion went straight for the hooked fish, and I yelled quick instructions to the angler.

Fortunately, he was an experienced angler who knew how to follow my advice. He put the reel in free-spool and let the salmon run at high speed to the bottom to escape the slower sea lion.

The pinniped came to the surface and looked right at us. We just pretended like we didn’t have a thing going on. I even whistled my favorite tune, the theme to the Old Spice commercial.

But that critter was a smart one, too. He hunkered below the surface until we hoped he was gone, and we began bringing in the fish once more. That wily sea lion was on that fish faster than a fox on a hen.

After tearing the fish off the hook, the critter played with its meal right in front of us, just enjoying itself immensely at our expense, and acting pretty darned smug about it. You can imagine our chagrin as we looked on helplessly.

Then in the span of one heartbeat, justice was served.

A large mako shark broke the surface of the sea like an explosion, bit the salmon and jerked it right out of the shark’s mouth, then headed for deep water.

I have never seen a person or critter with a more shocked and horrified look on its face than that sea lion.

I love the food chain. It keeps all critters (including seasoned captains like me) honest and humble. Thinking about sharks always makes the shark scars on my left hand begin to itch and twitch.

I think I’ll go rig up some shark leaders now. After all, one of my favorite places to fish for sharks is right off of the Carpinteria Beach, which has a sign that reads “World’s Safest Beach.”