Sea lions
afteryou
2012-12-29 20:22:33
Well I finely managed to make it through the sign up process. It was a lot easier with the computer than on my phone :D So I would like to say HI to everyone and thank you guys for hours of entertainment. I would also like to start off with a doosey. LEGAL Sea lion control. What is and what isn't? What works and what doesn't? My experience with seal bombs is that they don't work for s#@t. I have seen a boat or two towing Orca shaped bags. Does this help at all or is it just for looks? Someone was telling my that they would turn up wind and squirt bleach behind the boat, anyone tried this, is it legal? I have heard people talk of playing orca noise, well howaboutit ? On that note I had three Orcas come up between my bags this summer. I s##t you not one came up and plucked a nice coho off the leader at just below my feet! I hope this doesn't become more common, scary! Orca song I don't know. All in all I find the best deterrent to be no fish, but sometimes even then. Well have at 'er. Again thanks to all. :P
Salty
2012-12-29 22:37:27
Sea Lions are very smart. They know how to read but not perfectly. They seem to communicate with each other. So, my friend with the boat ALBO had all kinds of problems because they thought it spelled ALPO.
I grew up trolling in SE Alaska in the 50's where we killed any sea lion harassing us. We also had bounty's on harbor seals, eagles, and dolly varden. Since the rules changed I have never hurt a sea lion. The bounty's did not work and I am glad to be rid of them. You do not need to hurt sea lions, they are smart, they understand it when you let them know you are not the boat to steal from, and somehow they communicate that to their buddies. I do not think I lost a salmon to a Sea Lion last summer. Since I often fish on drags away from the fleet with Sea Lions around I was pretty happy. Without going into the details on the net, trollers and sea lions can co-exist without harming each other. Often, just demonstrating the noise makers is enough.
Trolling is the environmentally friendly fishery with all our fish choosing to bite our gear.
afteryou
2012-12-30 00:36:03
Thanks for the reply. I understand the technique your referring to, but I don’t like it in practice it scares the heck out of me. For starters you cannot use it all the time for safety reasons, or other…
What I would like to do here is start a discussion on legal safe means of deterrent. Either things people have tried that didn’t work, things that might kinda work or pure speculation on things we might try out this up coming season.
Personally I don’t have a huge problem with them. They get a few. I have upped my leader size now I mostly get strait hooks. Bend’em back with pliers good as new (almost).
I have not had any form of noisemaker on the boat for two years now. There are times I regret that decision but that’s why I made it. I run my gear as fast as I can while turning towards the fleet. If that doesn’t work I stack and run for a little while (that sucks) but what else can you do?
So I think we should find a better way to deal with the problem. Like you said Salty their smart maybe we as a group could find a better way of dealing with or teaching if you will those fat ugly… :evil:
SE AK
2012-12-30 01:01:55
Greywater discharge? Bear mace? Really spicy soap...
SE AK
2012-12-30 02:03:22
One of those LRAD sonic weapons that they use on somali pirates and protestors might work against sea lions, people following too close, charter boats, etc. Google "LRAD sonic weapon" sometime. They sound like fun, they are also used as giant bull horns on helicopters during emergencies. I wonder how much they cost.
squareface
2012-12-30 17:49:04
How about the fins towed by the West Fork? Do they work? They sure look cool.
afteryou
2012-12-30 18:48:27
So I am looking at the LRAD corp. website. They list wildlife preservation as a use. It says birds, bats, and waterfowl
“LRAD systems can potentially save renewable energy companies millions of dollars in annual losses that result from wildlife-related equipment damage. At distances in excess of 1000 meters, LRAD is highly effective transmitting intense, directional sounds in a variety of tones and predator calls to deter birds and waterfowl from flying through or landing in control zones. __Wind and solar farms, nuclear power facilities, mining and agricultural operations, fisheries and other industries and critical facilities that have wildlife preservation concerns can benefit from LRAD’s unique long range, directed sound capability. “ Sounds promising.
Ahh the 100X has a cigarette lighter plug option, and a mp3 player. That could be fun. Looks like it might run you ten G’s though. That’s a lot of flashers. :o
Salty
2012-12-30 19:09:02
The North Fork and Puffin Orca fins as float bags must work for them, they keep using them. I once saw three sea lions acting very nervous over by Fred's Creek. They were raising up, looking across my bow etc. So I glanced over there and noticed it was the Puffin and those Orca float bag fins that had got the Sea Lion's attention.
I used to have a couple of Alaska Native troll partners who were always looking for whiskers. That worked for me years ago before Sea Lions and I became partners. It also pays to avoid the drags where the charter fleet is feeding them. They are harder to educate.
afteryou
2012-12-30 19:11:39
Care to elaborate? By spicy soap are you thinking something like cayenne pepper. I wonder if that could help with the humpy slime build up around the scuppers. Bear mace on a windy day? Define gray water. Thanks for your input it is appreciated.
afteryou
2012-12-30 19:28:56
I used to have a couple of Alaska Native troll partners who were always looking for whiskers. That worked for me years ago before Sea Lions and I became partners. It also pays to avoid the drags where the charter fleet is feeding them. They are harder to educate.
So what would happen if we all ran Orca floats? Would they become accustomed to the fins and lose their fear of their natural predators? Or would they just figure out our game. I bet the guys who are running them now would be pissed off if next year all of us had them. It is good to hear some positive feedback for this idea. I know a lot of guys are wondering if they are any help at all. Thanks.
afteryou
2012-12-30 20:48:00
Thinking of the LRAD reminds me of my experiment with the loud hailer. It’s mounted on the back of the cabin aimed at the pit. It is normally used to broadcast daily editions of the Your Mama news hour (or other fine programming performed by yours truly) to the crew for harassment purposes. I also like karaoke. :mrgreen:
So I rubber banded the key on the mic. and turned the volume all the way up. With the back door open this caused the hailer to feed back something fierce. Though this was extremely annoying the both the crew and myself, it seemed to have little to no effect on the Sea Lions. I think more volume may stand a better chance. I’m sure it wasn’t that loud back behind the Detroit.
Does anybody know whom you would contact for some kind of experimental permit for use of the LRAD on Sea Lions? Where would you even start with that, NOAA?
Hey Salty do you get along so good with them that your using them to find fish? Is that what you mean by “partners”? I think that would work quite well if they would leave you alone. :lol:
Salty
2012-12-30 22:01:00
No, they don't help me find fish. If they leave me alone I don't call in the whisker hunters.
SE AK
2012-12-31 01:36:24
Capsaisin, the active ingridient in hot peppers and mace is availible in it's pure powdered form through chinese distributors for around $100-$200 per kilo. I would guess that a little would go a long way.
SE AK
2012-12-31 23:54:18
I've heard that pepper powder improves bottom paint, I bet that might really upgrade the cheap stuff.
afteryou
2013-01-01 00:15:27
I bet you would need a full hazmat suit to paint that on. Better warn the guy pressure washing your boat the next year to. :D
thebowlerfamily
2013-01-22 01:14:04
Years ago when I first started trolling, noise makers where the preferred means -the closer you got to them, the more of their attention you'd get. I do know that profanities do not bother them (but man do they make me feel better). LRAD sounds a bit expensive, and would probably finish off my hearing as well. What about my teenage son's acid rock music? It's a great deterrent for me. Is there certain music sea lions do not like (yeah, right). Where do you by enough pepper to make that work? (customs would have a hay day with that -i'd be detained for illegal spice trading) Anymore, I just pick up the gear and run for a bit, and it's too bad, because they only show up when I'm catching.