skeeter Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 We've been seeing this large flock of Cormorants hanging around for over a week now and the surprising long stay-over of the migrating White Pelicans this year. Yesterday, before the heavens opened, we saw the Pelicans and the Cormorants fishing in the same area almost like they were cooperating with one another....that is until some Bass boaters decided to run right through the middle of them ! Anyone else recall the problems the Cormorants caused to the Fishery on Lake Erie ? I hope they are gone before our Bass get on the beds because those birds can and will pick-off any Male guarding a bed. dtrs5kprs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby b. Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 The cormorants have been on the lower end for several weeks now, fishing with the gulls and loons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted April 15, 2022 Author Share Posted April 15, 2022 20 hours ago, dtrs5kprs said: Not good. Very true and I had a report from a different site that those Cormorants have been heavy over on Taney. Those are some fish-eating machines that fly with their wings assisting them underwater and any time they overpopulate an area the fishery declines. Just ask the Smallie anglers up on lake Erie. cheesemaster and dtrs5kprs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 58 minutes ago, skeeter said: Very true and I had a report from a different site that those Cormorants have been heavy over on Taney. Those are some fish-eating machines that fly with their wings assisting them underwater and any time they overpopulate an area the fishery declines. Just ask the Smallie anglers up on lake Erie. Absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdmidwest Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 Cormorants are pretty thick on Pickwick and the Tennessee River. They had a roost on a dike tree a few years ago. Stinking place to fish around. River went to 300,000 and blew that tree out. Gulls and Pelicans also getting thicker down there. Usually see several loons while we are out. dtrs5kprs 1 "Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously." — Hunter S. Thompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketchup Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 On 4/15/2022 at 7:43 AM, skeeter said: Very true and I had a report from a different site that those Cormorants have been heavy over on Taney. Those are some fish-eating machines that fly with their wings assisting them underwater and any time they overpopulate an area the fishery declines. Just ask the Smallie anglers up on lake Erie. So if you had to pick, what’s more detrimental to the Bass population, the birds or tournaments? fishinwrench, Ron Burgundy and vernon 1 1 1 TinBoats BassClub. An aluminum only bass club. If interested in info send me a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted April 18, 2022 Author Share Posted April 18, 2022 On 4/17/2022 at 8:49 AM, Ketchup said: So if you had to pick, what’s more detrimental to the Bass population, the birds or tournaments? Good question. If it's an MLF derby or a similar tournament that catches and releases at boat-side and is not a "fish transporter" it would have to be the Cormorants...especially during the spawn. I just saw hundreds, yes, hundreds of them this morning, flying away from out in front of the Baxter Marina and the size of the flock is GROWING ( possibly doubled or even tripled the number of birds ) from when they were first seen here about a week to 10 days ago ! Looked like they were possibly headed over to Flint Cove because they weren't trying to gain a lot of altitude. There were four distinct, separate flights of about 50-60 birds each. No Pelicans with them this time. mixermarkb and dtrs5kprs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebasser86 Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Those water turkeys are a plague. They showed up on one of my favorite small reservoirs in central Kansas a few years ago that had a low population of bass but the average size was incredible. A few years of those things hunting the low population of smaller bass that already existed, now it seems as if bass are almost extinct from the lake. The birds remain to hunt the abundant shad and stunted crappie but bass are basically gone and shocking samples by the state reflect that. Not sure if they'd do the same on a huge reservoir, but they're not a good thing. dtrs5kprs and skeeter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan hufferd Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 Both are on Stockton every year....well they used to be😁 cheesemaster and dtrs5kprs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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