Has anyone seen this?

[fisherking01]

I was just out checking some shore fishing spots and noted that there were hundreds of cormorants feeding on a small shallow lake. I drove ahead to where there is a high bank overlooking the lake and could see cormorants diving. I know the lake and it is about 3-4 feet deep where they were. Then I saw what looked to be large fish floating in among them. I got my binoculars and could plainly see them, they were not floating but coming to the surface as the cormorants dove. They were large walleyes, I presume the cormorants were eating whatever the walleyes were feeding on, or smaller walleyes. I saw several fish scattered and some in groups of two to four. I then spooked the cormorants and once they were gone I didn't see anymore fish. Has anyone ever witnessed something similar?

With the wind blowing and the distance, I could not get a picture that destinctly shows the fish, Too bad It would have been neat to show it to everyone.

I'll be checking it out again this afternoon.

Brent

[18 inch Crappie]

Should of got the fishing rod out

[mtreno]

i have been watching those things hunt in like packs up on mille lacs all year. i cannot believe how many of them there are this year! always watching to see if they stop and stay feeding in one spot but they always seem on the move - i think they have been going after the ciscos out there.....

[ghotierman]

Saw something similar on a BBC Blue Planet Special on the Open Ocean (I love documentaries) a school of herring is attacked at sea by some tuna, they're forced to the surface..and then the gulls/terns start diving in from above. The herring are getting pummeled from above and below, and in a matter of minutes, the last one is picked off. really interesting.

which lake was this on?

[klw]

give me directions.....I wouldn't mind warming up the barrel on the high power.

[fisherking01]

Honestly, there are a lot of cormorants on most of the lakes in wc MN. It can't be doing any good supporting these birds. The numbers do need to be cut down, but It's not worth the risk to me to shoot them. I sure don't care if anyone else does.

[brian6715]

yea kill them all

[LocalGuide]

I think the only people that care if they are killed are PETA and the government since its a protected bird.

Everybody I talked to so far hates them. I only ran into one person that didnt think killing them wasn't the right thing. He didn't understand that they eat anyfish available and can disrupt the food chain in the process.

[HAppnhook]

I too like documentaries and I watched one where, in some asian country, the cormorant was raised from birth, trained and then used for fishing, they were smart and tied a string around their throat so they could not swallow. The "master" would then remove the fish from the birds throat and sell it at market. Where can we get a deal on string?

[Eric Wettschreck]

Or piano wire. Good strong piano wire.......with a bowling ball tied to the end of it.

[stmichael]

Come on now...what did the bowling ball do? besides that may cost too much in the long run...OOOH, OOOH, I have an Idea, we can get the government to finance the whole deal. We say that we are going to use bowling balls, and go down to the river and get rocks. We can then use the money for the bowling balls to finance a boat that we can all fish from, (not to mention a vehicle to haul us lake to lake). Fishing poles and tackle will be a necessity (not the cheap stuff either), we need to take a count of how many fish we are saving in this project. ...not only the fish that we possibly saved, but, we also need to target the larger fish to show that they have a better chance to grow large without these annoying imbalancers of the eco-system.

It will not happen, but, ahhhh, the thought is almost enough! Maybe Bobby can use this information to set up something on LIWTBT??

[primetime49]

PETA ,I am confused because I thought it meant People Eating Tasty Animals and when I attended thei r meeting and handed out deer jerky they cursed me.

[stmichael]

[BigWadeS]

I would be confused as well

[VMS]

Just think of the cost here...

a committe of 30 to decide which bird to tie the rope to, who's gonna tie the rope to it, what type of rope to use, what color rope to use, what knot to tie, what brand bowling ball, what color bowling ball, and weight of ball should be attatched. This could take months....even years to figure out. The birds might triple in population...or more before the comittee would be done figuring this stuff out.

And the rope and bowling ball?.... That will probably cost somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars.. Then, multiply that amount for how many birds you want taken out and there would be substantial additions to the national debt.

Then again, I suppose we could hire Dick Cheney to do it with a shotgun, but I wouldn't go with him, although I hear he is an excellent shot.

Steve

[wasssit]

those fish killing birds gotta be killed, just look what they did to leech lake.

[SCUMFROG]

I'd like to see an open season on them year round. It would help your aim and save on all those clay pigeons. they have feelings to.