Video: Sea Lion Steals Salmon

This makes me laugh if only because it has happened to me several times in Barkley Sound and on the banks off of Ucluelet.

A couple of years ago I was fishing with Murphy’s Sportfishing out of Ucluelet with my Dad and a buddy (another salmonboats.ca owner). My Dad and I got into a double header with a couple of nice Chinooks when all of a sudden my line went limp. About 15 seconds later my Dad’s line went limp. We continued reeling until all we had was two salmon heads on hooks. A true double header.

30 seconds later, a couple of Sea Lions popped their heads up and both had 15-20 pound Chinook salmon in their mouths! The amazing thing is the fact that they were smart enough to bite off the salmon just behind the gills so that they didn’t have to deal with our hooks!

Luckily the fishing was unbelievable and the Sea Lions soon had their fill and went back to laying in the sun on the Ukee gas dock. We still got our Chinook limit by 10 AM and then limited on 30-40 pound Halibut…