Great White Scare!

Jack and I launched our kayaks at 7:30 am and lined up for bait.  The 30 minute wait was worth the beautiful sardines we received.  These were the best I have seen this year.

We decided to go to the pipe.  We haven't bothered with the headlands this year as the kelp is mostly gone with this warm water year.  The hot sun was cooled by the high clouds and we welcomed the shade.  Air temperatures would reach the 90's before we returned home.

I baited up with a strong sardine using a 1/0 Mustad 92677 hook and a half ounce sliding sinker.  The water was blue and crystal clear.  I dropped in my sardine and watched it race down until it was out of sight.  Then it got hit so hard it back-spooled my reel.  It took me 15 minutes to untangle the mess.  By then Jack was radioing me:  "Jan, you better come!" 

I peddled over and he was hooked up to a nice yellowtail that was pulling him in circles.  Jack finally pulled the fish up and stuck a gaff in it.  What a beautiful 22.6 lb. yellowtail.  He put it in the game clip, bled it and decided he should take it back to dock since it was only 9 am and the water temp was 75 degrees.

Jack's neighbor, Jim, had started out with us but he continued on out to the barber poles while we fished the Pipe.  After Jack left,  I headed in his direction but Jim was coming back my way.  Jim's kayak doesn't have peddles so he has to paddle.  He was trolling artificial baits instead of live bait.  I told Jim that Jack would be back out after he dropped off his yellowtail.  Jim told me he had seen the largest shark of his life out at the pipe.  He only saw his dorsal fin and tail and described it as large.  He hadn't seen the head.  I thought it was probably a hammerhead as there have been many hammerheads around.

Jack radioed that he was on his way back and I said I was in 60 feet of water and heading deeper. Soon I was in 85 feet of water and close to the first barber pole when I got bit.  I put the reel in gear and "bing" the fish was gone and so was my hook and sinker.  Just then I felt the bow of my kayak get bumped from below and the fin of a great white shark surfaced in front of me and circled back on my left. 

I started peddling as fast as I could towards land.  I was afraid to look back so I just peddled.  I radioed Jack and told him what happened but he couldn't understand me.  Guess I wasn't speaking slowly or clearly enough.  That was my second encounter with a white shark while in my kayak.  The other time was in June 2008 just after I had purchased my kayak but then the shark was just cruising the headlands. And "Yes", I do know what white sharks look like up close and personal.  These are photos of large great whites that I took in August 2006 while on the Excel fishing Guadalupe Island.  That dorsal fin is unmistakable!

Jack and I fished a while longer along the pipe.  My bait got slammed a couple more times then I caught and released a calico bass and we decided to call it a day.  We were off the water by 1 pm just as the clouds let the sun through.  I cleaned up my kayak, Jack filleted his yellowtail and Tim provided the cold beverages and promised to join us next week.  Looking forward to next week.