ErikAllen17
06-10-2014, 11:06 PM
Now that I have a kayak, I was invited to go on a 5-day fishing trip up in Big Sur with some friends of mine. These guys have been doing this trip 1-2 times per year, every year for the past 10 years or so. I was invited way back in January and had planned to go since then. Unfortunately, money had gotten a little tight and I made the decision to bow out just weeks before the trip. the guys were bummed, but what can you do? About 6 days before they were going to leave, I tried shifting things around financially and thought I might be able to pull it off. I texted my friend and asked if I could still get in. He said sure and I said I would get back to him in a day or so. Well, the next day, my water pump on my car suddenly gave way and I was going to have to get it repaired ASAP. Well, there goes my Big Sur trip. After the truck was fixed, I let me buddy know I couldn't go. He was bummed again, but understood. I guess something was telling me I shouldn't go. Oh well, I had the time off anyway, might as well launch the yak out of Ventura anyway just to get some boat time in. My mom's birthday was 2 days before it was time to leave... at dinner, her and my dad find out that I wasn't able to go and said "We have a surprise for you... we would like to pay for your trip for your birthday." I should've been excited to go, but I kind of wasn't. They were shocked. I told them that I probably couldn't make it so close to the trip because the guys would've gotten food and such. Besides, I was also a little apprehensive because the guys had told me some shark tales from past trips. I know there are sharks there... Big Sur is just below what is known as the "Red Triangle". Out of the probably 25 trips those guys have made up there, they have had 3 occasions where they had seen a great white shark while fishing. Nothing threatening... but sightings within 100 yards of their boats. Enough to make you want to head for shore according to them.
I spent the night thinking about the trip and if I could actually go. I psyched myself back up to the idea and texted my buddy. He said I could still get in on the trip if I brought him the $400 that day before he hit the store. WOW... I could actually go. I hear it's beautiful, the fishing is off the hook and the "me" time was very attractive. So, I decided to go.
==================================
DAY 1 (June 5, 2014)
==================================
We left Newbury Park at 4am. The traffic was minimal, so we had breakfast in Cambria and then arrived at the campgrounds around 10am.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_00.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_02.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_03.jpg
I was pumped up as can be to start fishing... but it turns out that the guys never normally fish on arrival day. The water is usually pretty rough around 1pm and launching this late wouldn't be worth the paddle out. But one look at the water, how insanely calm it was, and a couple of the guys were in. We launched our yaks around noon and headed out about 2-3 miles to a place they affectionately called "Schling Rock". The guys have been doing this type of fishing for years, so it was easy for them. I personally have never fished for anything larger than a 16" BSP or maybe a legal halibut. Fishing for rockfish and lingcod was a much different experience for me. I ended up hooking up on several fish and lost them all. Either the fish unbuttoned or the line was cut off by some serious teeth! I did however, manage to reel in one ling... my first and personal best!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_04.jpg
We setup our fillet table in the mouth of the creek that leads to the ocean and everyone proceeded to fillet their catch. I was taught how to fillet rockfish for the first time ever as well. My friends are a great bunch of guys. We got cleaned up, made some dinner and sat around the fire and told lies about fishing earlier that day. This type of fishing was all new to me... it was a great end to a great day.
==================================
DAY 2 (June 6, 2014)
==================================
(Instead of a story, this is more of an account of the days experiences. The words below were written as soon as I hit land while everything was fresh in my mind. My apologies for any language that offends you)
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_13.jpg
It was Friday morning around 8:30am. The guys had already suited up and launched while I was "in the oval office". I finished up and ran back to camp and grabbed my stuff and suited up as fast as I could. Luckily one guy hadn't launched yet (Jon), so him and I launched and paddled out together. As I was paddling out, I commented how (a) it was kind of a "sharky" morning out and (b) how pissed I was that I forgot my GoPro cameras because I ran out to the shore so fast.
The paddle out to their secret fishing grounds is a little over 4 miles... which was NOT fun. By the time I got close, I was winded and my shoulder hurt like hell. Jon had a sizable lead on me and was at least 200+ yards ahead of me and was pretty close to the other guys. I noticed a sea lion swimming pretty quickly towards me from their direction. I thought that was weird but didn't think much of it as there are sea lions everywhere out here. I heard a small splash behind me and turned my head around to see what it was. All I saw was a HUGE dark grey spot and a dorsal fin about 4-5 feet behind my kayak. I whipped my head back to straight and said "oh f**k... please let that be a dolphin". I knew it wasn't a dolphin, but we had seen a pod of dolphins as we paddled back to shore last night... so in my mind, it totally could've been a dolphin. I turned back around and saw the tail fin as well the dorsal fin. By now, my heart sank because I knew it was a great white shark. It was huge... but I didn't know just HOW big it was until a few min later.
At this point, I thought I was f***ing dead. However, it didn't attack me or my boat. I figured it'd take a test bite out of my kayak to see what it was, thus knocking me off and then chewing on me to see what I was. I was screaming like a little girl inside, but on the outside, I collected myself and did what I had to do. This totally surprised the s**t out of me and the guys. Instead of freaking out, I calmly put my paddle on top of my head as to not to create shadows that looked like sea lion fins. I didn't scream, but instead loudly shouted to the guys "Help! Hey... um, help. I have a great white behind me." Even though the guys were a couple hundred yards away, I could hear them clearly say "Oh f**k!".
I turned back around and the shark's nose was now about 6" from the back of my kayak. Even though I wasn't paddling anymore, it somehow managed to stay right behind me and it was pacing me.
Now, I no longer thought I was going to be test bitten. I did however still think I was going to get bumped off. This went on for about a minute, even though it seemed like forever. Then I looked back again and noticed that now a second, smaller, great white shark was behind me as well. At this point I was like, "F**k... really???"
I loudly shouted to the guys "Uh... guys... there are 2 whites here now. Get the f**k over here please!!!" I looked to my right and noticed the bigger shark had moved right next to my kayak now. It's head was maybe 2-3" from the right edge of my yak... I could've put my hand 3" into the water and actually touched it's head. I saw every detail on it's skin. At this point, I was bracing for the shark to bump my kayak to see what I was. I imagined myself going in the water, throwing my paddle and climbing back in the kayak ASAFP. But it didn't do anything... it just sat there and stared at me with it's HUGE, all black eye for about another minute. It just hovered next to me... sizing me up and making sure I wasn't a threat. It's weird to say, but we shared a moment. We stared right into each others eyes... and then I literally told it, "I know this is your ocean and I respect you. Please leave me alone so I can see my family again." All I kept thinking about was my family.
About 15-20 seconds later, it decided to move on. As it swam up to the front end of my kayak, I looked back again because I wanted to see how big it was. It's nose was at the front and there was still several feet before the shark ended. Keep in mind, my kayak is almost 15' long. It looked like its tail was going to bump my kayak and I braced myself to be knocked off. The tail missed my kayak by millimeters and the only thing I felt was a little movement from the tail going into the water.
The guys shouted to me if they were gone? I didn't know and just kept saying "Just get the f**k over here!! Safety in numbers guys...". I needed to get close to them so we looked bigger than the shark in case they came back.
Later I found out that from their view, the shark was 20+ feet long and that the dorsal fin was taller than me when I was sitting in my kayak. The other shark was roughly a 12-14 footer too. Turns out that the smaller shark was the same shark that was chasing the sea lion I saw jumping away from the guys. Dave said the shark was chasing the sea lion, then turned and made a run at him. It dove down about 25 yards before his kayak. Scared the **** out of him too. I guess the smaller shark made the turn and joined the bigger shark at my kayak.
Even though that scared the living s**t out of me and Dave (and kind of the other guys too), we fished for several hours since we paddled all the way out there. I wanted to head in... but I certainly wasn't going to do the 4 mile paddle in alone. So we just stayed a lot closer to each other. I wouldn't let anyone go past 10 feet from me.
As I'm hooking up on fish, I was scanning the horizon instead of worrying about the fish on my hook. I lost lots of good fish, but I didn't care. About 2 hours later, Dave, Jon and I were fishing about 40 yards outside of the kelp stringers. I look over and see a fin again about 80-100 yards away. I tell Dave, "Are you kidding me... there they are again". He looks over and verifies it. We see the fins turn towards our direction and then the fins go under. That was our signal to get the f**k out of there. We bee-lined it for the kelp and made it there safely. We never saw the sharks again.
We started making our way back to shore, fishing along the way. Dave kept telling me to "Put that line in player"... but I wasn't having it. I was done fishing. My eyes were constantly scanning the horizon. If anything, they should've been thanking me for keeping a look out. I had my 7 fish... I was good.
We got on land and all I could do was lay on my back and make a sand angel. I shouted out "Anyone want to buy a kayak??" I was happy to be alive. All I could do was think of my babies, wife, mom, dad, brother, friends, etc and be thankful that I would be able to see all of you guys again.
As scary as that was... now that I'm OK, it was actually one if the most amazing experiences of my life. Sharks are one of my favorite things in the world. To have been that close to two of the top predators in the world, and in their environment and not in a cage was priceless
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_06.jpg
HAPPY as hell to be on dry land and to be alive!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_07.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_08.jpg
My stringer of fish... I could've easily hit limits, but I was too busy making sure no one would get eaten!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_09.jpg
Laughing about the days events... no lies today! No need to...
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_10.jpg
Displaying my HUGE Chucklehead... biggest one the guys have seen in a long time!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_11.jpg
Showing off our larger models...
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_12.jpg
Every day we came in, the fillet table drew a crowd of people
==================================
DAY 3, 4 & 5 (June 7, 8 & 9, 2014)
==================================
I spent the remaining days on dry land. I don't know if I'll ever go out on the ocean in my kayak again. I know that the chances of this happening again are insanely low... however, the chances of it ever happening in the first place were that low. I figure, why tempt fate even further. I lived to tell about the first experience... why take the chance? I'm pretty sure that my kayak will be up for sale in the next month or so... I'll stick to actual boats and the shore for now on.
I spent the night thinking about the trip and if I could actually go. I psyched myself back up to the idea and texted my buddy. He said I could still get in on the trip if I brought him the $400 that day before he hit the store. WOW... I could actually go. I hear it's beautiful, the fishing is off the hook and the "me" time was very attractive. So, I decided to go.
==================================
DAY 1 (June 5, 2014)
==================================
We left Newbury Park at 4am. The traffic was minimal, so we had breakfast in Cambria and then arrived at the campgrounds around 10am.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_00.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_02.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_03.jpg
I was pumped up as can be to start fishing... but it turns out that the guys never normally fish on arrival day. The water is usually pretty rough around 1pm and launching this late wouldn't be worth the paddle out. But one look at the water, how insanely calm it was, and a couple of the guys were in. We launched our yaks around noon and headed out about 2-3 miles to a place they affectionately called "Schling Rock". The guys have been doing this type of fishing for years, so it was easy for them. I personally have never fished for anything larger than a 16" BSP or maybe a legal halibut. Fishing for rockfish and lingcod was a much different experience for me. I ended up hooking up on several fish and lost them all. Either the fish unbuttoned or the line was cut off by some serious teeth! I did however, manage to reel in one ling... my first and personal best!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_04.jpg
We setup our fillet table in the mouth of the creek that leads to the ocean and everyone proceeded to fillet their catch. I was taught how to fillet rockfish for the first time ever as well. My friends are a great bunch of guys. We got cleaned up, made some dinner and sat around the fire and told lies about fishing earlier that day. This type of fishing was all new to me... it was a great end to a great day.
==================================
DAY 2 (June 6, 2014)
==================================
(Instead of a story, this is more of an account of the days experiences. The words below were written as soon as I hit land while everything was fresh in my mind. My apologies for any language that offends you)
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_13.jpg
It was Friday morning around 8:30am. The guys had already suited up and launched while I was "in the oval office". I finished up and ran back to camp and grabbed my stuff and suited up as fast as I could. Luckily one guy hadn't launched yet (Jon), so him and I launched and paddled out together. As I was paddling out, I commented how (a) it was kind of a "sharky" morning out and (b) how pissed I was that I forgot my GoPro cameras because I ran out to the shore so fast.
The paddle out to their secret fishing grounds is a little over 4 miles... which was NOT fun. By the time I got close, I was winded and my shoulder hurt like hell. Jon had a sizable lead on me and was at least 200+ yards ahead of me and was pretty close to the other guys. I noticed a sea lion swimming pretty quickly towards me from their direction. I thought that was weird but didn't think much of it as there are sea lions everywhere out here. I heard a small splash behind me and turned my head around to see what it was. All I saw was a HUGE dark grey spot and a dorsal fin about 4-5 feet behind my kayak. I whipped my head back to straight and said "oh f**k... please let that be a dolphin". I knew it wasn't a dolphin, but we had seen a pod of dolphins as we paddled back to shore last night... so in my mind, it totally could've been a dolphin. I turned back around and saw the tail fin as well the dorsal fin. By now, my heart sank because I knew it was a great white shark. It was huge... but I didn't know just HOW big it was until a few min later.
At this point, I thought I was f***ing dead. However, it didn't attack me or my boat. I figured it'd take a test bite out of my kayak to see what it was, thus knocking me off and then chewing on me to see what I was. I was screaming like a little girl inside, but on the outside, I collected myself and did what I had to do. This totally surprised the s**t out of me and the guys. Instead of freaking out, I calmly put my paddle on top of my head as to not to create shadows that looked like sea lion fins. I didn't scream, but instead loudly shouted to the guys "Help! Hey... um, help. I have a great white behind me." Even though the guys were a couple hundred yards away, I could hear them clearly say "Oh f**k!".
I turned back around and the shark's nose was now about 6" from the back of my kayak. Even though I wasn't paddling anymore, it somehow managed to stay right behind me and it was pacing me.
Now, I no longer thought I was going to be test bitten. I did however still think I was going to get bumped off. This went on for about a minute, even though it seemed like forever. Then I looked back again and noticed that now a second, smaller, great white shark was behind me as well. At this point I was like, "F**k... really???"
I loudly shouted to the guys "Uh... guys... there are 2 whites here now. Get the f**k over here please!!!" I looked to my right and noticed the bigger shark had moved right next to my kayak now. It's head was maybe 2-3" from the right edge of my yak... I could've put my hand 3" into the water and actually touched it's head. I saw every detail on it's skin. At this point, I was bracing for the shark to bump my kayak to see what I was. I imagined myself going in the water, throwing my paddle and climbing back in the kayak ASAFP. But it didn't do anything... it just sat there and stared at me with it's HUGE, all black eye for about another minute. It just hovered next to me... sizing me up and making sure I wasn't a threat. It's weird to say, but we shared a moment. We stared right into each others eyes... and then I literally told it, "I know this is your ocean and I respect you. Please leave me alone so I can see my family again." All I kept thinking about was my family.
About 15-20 seconds later, it decided to move on. As it swam up to the front end of my kayak, I looked back again because I wanted to see how big it was. It's nose was at the front and there was still several feet before the shark ended. Keep in mind, my kayak is almost 15' long. It looked like its tail was going to bump my kayak and I braced myself to be knocked off. The tail missed my kayak by millimeters and the only thing I felt was a little movement from the tail going into the water.
The guys shouted to me if they were gone? I didn't know and just kept saying "Just get the f**k over here!! Safety in numbers guys...". I needed to get close to them so we looked bigger than the shark in case they came back.
Later I found out that from their view, the shark was 20+ feet long and that the dorsal fin was taller than me when I was sitting in my kayak. The other shark was roughly a 12-14 footer too. Turns out that the smaller shark was the same shark that was chasing the sea lion I saw jumping away from the guys. Dave said the shark was chasing the sea lion, then turned and made a run at him. It dove down about 25 yards before his kayak. Scared the **** out of him too. I guess the smaller shark made the turn and joined the bigger shark at my kayak.
Even though that scared the living s**t out of me and Dave (and kind of the other guys too), we fished for several hours since we paddled all the way out there. I wanted to head in... but I certainly wasn't going to do the 4 mile paddle in alone. So we just stayed a lot closer to each other. I wouldn't let anyone go past 10 feet from me.
As I'm hooking up on fish, I was scanning the horizon instead of worrying about the fish on my hook. I lost lots of good fish, but I didn't care. About 2 hours later, Dave, Jon and I were fishing about 40 yards outside of the kelp stringers. I look over and see a fin again about 80-100 yards away. I tell Dave, "Are you kidding me... there they are again". He looks over and verifies it. We see the fins turn towards our direction and then the fins go under. That was our signal to get the f**k out of there. We bee-lined it for the kelp and made it there safely. We never saw the sharks again.
We started making our way back to shore, fishing along the way. Dave kept telling me to "Put that line in player"... but I wasn't having it. I was done fishing. My eyes were constantly scanning the horizon. If anything, they should've been thanking me for keeping a look out. I had my 7 fish... I was good.
We got on land and all I could do was lay on my back and make a sand angel. I shouted out "Anyone want to buy a kayak??" I was happy to be alive. All I could do was think of my babies, wife, mom, dad, brother, friends, etc and be thankful that I would be able to see all of you guys again.
As scary as that was... now that I'm OK, it was actually one if the most amazing experiences of my life. Sharks are one of my favorite things in the world. To have been that close to two of the top predators in the world, and in their environment and not in a cage was priceless
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_06.jpg
HAPPY as hell to be on dry land and to be alive!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_07.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_08.jpg
My stringer of fish... I could've easily hit limits, but I was too busy making sure no one would get eaten!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_09.jpg
Laughing about the days events... no lies today! No need to...
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_10.jpg
Displaying my HUGE Chucklehead... biggest one the guys have seen in a long time!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_11.jpg
Showing off our larger models...
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/BigSur_06-05-2014_12.jpg
Every day we came in, the fillet table drew a crowd of people
==================================
DAY 3, 4 & 5 (June 7, 8 & 9, 2014)
==================================
I spent the remaining days on dry land. I don't know if I'll ever go out on the ocean in my kayak again. I know that the chances of this happening again are insanely low... however, the chances of it ever happening in the first place were that low. I figure, why tempt fate even further. I lived to tell about the first experience... why take the chance? I'm pretty sure that my kayak will be up for sale in the next month or so... I'll stick to actual boats and the shore for now on.