Fisherman yanked overboard by this hungry sea lion

Dan Carlin's big fish story isn't about the one that got away.

It's about the one that got ripped out of his hands by a sea lion -- a sea lion that dragged him into the water, too, and smashed him into the side of his boat.

"I thought 'This is the way I'm going to die,'" Carlin tells As It Happens guest host Tom Harrington.

It began as a typical fishing trip. Carlin was in a bay off San Diego, California. He had caught several yellowtail. His wife, Trish, was taking a photo of him with one of the fish.

"At the very second that she said 'smile,' that's when the sea lion attacked," says Carlin.

It jumped out of the ocean and clamped its jaws onto the fish -- and Carlin's hand -- pulling him into the water and smashing him onto the side of the vessel.

"He continued to drag me straight down and flipped me over like a rag doll," he say. "Fortunately I didn't open my mouth and take any sea water in because I probably would have drowned."

Carlin struggled with the animal and got his hand free. Then, as he was swimming to the surface, the sea lion bit his foot.

The whole encounter lasted only about 15 or 20 seconds. But Carlin had to have surgery. The gash in his hand is now closed with 20 stitches.

Still, he says the attack won't stop him from going back out on the water.

"I'm raring to go," he says.