Cormorants and Pelicans....oh my !

[skeeter]

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.

[bobby b.]

The cormorants have been on the lower end for several weeks now, fishing with the gulls and loons.

[dtrs5kprs]

Not good. 

[skeeter]

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.

[dtrs5kprs]

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.

[jdmidwest]

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.

[Ketchup]

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?

[skeeter]

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.

[bluebasser86]

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. 

[dan hufferd]

Both are on Stockton every year....well they used to be😁