JimCC

Very sorry about the sudden loss of your Mom, Marty; it must have been very tough on your Dad to make the trip, but out on the water, with you and your son, catching all those awesome Walleye and Bass, must certainly have been therapeutic for him and all of you, in some way. Thanks for sharing your experience here ... and the pics were Great !

yeah, but Way smarter and way more organized.

Thanks for your input, G.mech ... the Facebook link provided appears to have gone dormant at first glance as May 2 is the last activity that I can see, with most content dating back to 2017. But at least their trying and did indicate a tough spring to be doing re-stocking. I agree that the overall Lake Nipissing fishery is NOT in crisis mode, based on my own experience and others, such as "Marty's" comment earlier in this thread; however, for all the reasons I've outlined, there are vast shallow areas of the Lake that most like ARE in crisis mode (vs historical norms) as it pertains to numbers of smaller fish (ie. Perch, panfish, etc) vital to the overall food chain for Pike, Walleye, Muskie, and to name the most relevent. Cormorants arrived in Great numbers here, within the last 5 - 7 years, and Perch of any size have virtually disappeared, although we still get some of those 3-4 in. worm stealers, so there's that.

Thanks for your additional info and insight, OF ... you mentioned improved Walleye fishing on the Ohio side (of Erie ?) when commercial fishing was banned. Most are convinced a similar ban on Nipissing would have a similar result; but we all know that ain't gonna happen anytime soon, if ever, due to First Nations historical rights and all. The best we can hope for there, is that they control it themselves, imho. I, and many others feel strongly, that Cormorant numbers, if reduced in the shallow water area(s) where they flourish, as outlined above, would help restore the stocks of Perch and Sunfish, panfish, and the like, over time. I'm not suggesting a mass slaughter of these birds, but an organized, authorized program of egg oiling, plus a few sharp shooters who know what they're doing, would discourage them from flocking by the thousands to this same area each year. Allow local boaters to disrupt their 'fishing circles', which are amazing to witness, but of course the Perch, etc. scared into the ever tightening circle have no chance, once the feeding frenzy begins and water boils with activity. Hey, its a complicated subject for sure, and I don't think there's a once-size-fits-all solution here. But tourism is definitely suffering. The Camp where we've gone for all those years used to be full all season long, with waiting lists for cottages. Not the case any longer and the owner / operators know that part of the reason is the severe dropoff in Perch numbers since the Cormorants arrived in huge numbers. No Perch, then obviously no reason for the Walleye and large Pike to hang around in the shallower waters during peak tourist season. I'll leave it there, but will at some point dig into the contact info for the MPPs who have a vested interest in a healthy Tourism industry in and around the Calendar-North Bay- Sturgeon Falls area, and post it here. Maybe if enough like minded folks encourage them to try and lift the 'protected' status in some form, it will happen. They do have a 4yr mandate and a majority, but this may come down to a private members bill, once again, as only a relatively small group are affected or interested. However, its a HUGE deal for the dwindling number of Camp Owners / operators who need to spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade their water, and sewage systems to meet every more stringent standards. If their dedicated customers stop coming, the math just doesn't work.

Finally got a few minutes to respond ... Thanks OhioFisherman for your very interesting background on Lake Erie as it relates to the Cormorant impressive ability to dive deep. I read every word of the lengthy article you linked to. Also very interesting, but clearly authored by someone who has way way more invested in the well being of that particular bird vs others (Gulls, loons, etc) and of course fish. At least that's how it struck me, but very well written for sure. captpierre, yes I realize there are other factors that many feel are adversely affecting Nipissing's Walleye, Pike Perch fishery. They've been covered extensively on this forum over the years I've been visiting here from time to time; I chose not to go there. Marty ... what can I say, but WOW ... good for you and your fellow anglers !! 60+ Walleye a day! You didn't specify how many in your group, how many hours per day fishing, how well equipped your boat(s) were ie. depth readouts, fish finders, gps to mark those honey holes, etc. but hey it doesn't matter. Clearly the Cormorants have little impact on the very experienced , well equipped (assuming) fishermen, that I'm guessing you and your posse are, which is Great. pics ... I stand corrected ... its a provincial thing. I guess I got the 'Federally protected' from the link OF provided above, but that's in the US. Maybe our recently elected majority, PC Provincial government could be persuaded to take another look at resurrecting the Bill that your refer to ? What I'm most concerned about, and why I started this thread, is the obvious, devastating effect that the huge Cormorant flocks are having on the shallow areas of Nipissing, where the casual, once-a -year fisherman, could once take their kid /grand kids, and catch their first 'keeper Perch', and maybe a few 9-12in.'ers in the basket for a nice dinner. Not too much to ask for dropping $2-$3 thou. for a weeks cottage and boat rental, not to mention the 6 -10hr. drive to get there. Before the cormorants arrival, we could do that any day of the week, minutes from the cottage, and without risking long distance travel in the rock and shoal infested areas, in and around Cache Bay, west of the Veuve River, where have enjoyed so many good times. It's been noted Cormorants dive 100 feet to chase a fish. Not much of a challenge in the 5ft - 12ft waters that is the depth range of the vast area of NW Nipissing between the Veuve, Pine Is. the Hardwoods, Collins Bay and so on. Most of those 'keepers' are gone from the area now. Oh, and where have all those big Sunfish gone ? Used to be plentiful and so much fun for the kids to catch, cuz they fight like heck. Haven't seen one of those in years. So, yeah, there are still plenty of Walleye, and decent Pike, Perch, in Nipissing.... Marty's comments are proof of that. But for those, vacationer or locals, who fish infrequently, and don't have a fully equipped boat and navigational skills to cross the lake to the deep waters of the French River, catching a few 'keepers' for the dinner table, and to see the smile on your kids face, has pretty much become a distant memory. and finally to Grimsby guy ... what a beauty condescending, arrogant, presumptuous comment. Made me laugh actually. You know nothing of my ability to catch fish. I've done pretty well over the years, especially given that I only get out once or twice a year. For the record, I did actually catch a couple of Walleye last week, both about 17.5 inches and in case you were wondering, I did return them, given the asinine 18.1 in. slot, but that's a whole other thread. We also got ONE Pike , 26in. and a couple of nice Smallmouth ... but NO PERCH because there are NONE, in our area ... and yes I blame the Cormorants 100% for that, based on 40yrs vacationing there. Although you totally missed my point initially, Hopefully, my further clarification will help you understand where I'm coming from. If not, that's ok too. Cheers.

I just saw a different thread below, referring to Toronto area cormorants. Some links therein seem to show there was a Queens Park Bill floating around to de-protect these things, but it got sidelined. I do hope it gets re-introduced under the new government.

Our family just returned from our annual vacation spot on Lake Nipissing. The fishing was pretty much non existent. For the past several years, HUGE flocks of Cormorants have invaded the lake. Baitfish have disappeared in large numbers, and of course, now larger fish have become extremely scarce, in the shallow waters that makes up much of this lake. Northern Pike used to have Perch in their stomachs. The Camp operator where we go, has been checking himself and with others, and now its pretty much all crayfish, if anything at all. These fish vacuum cleaners are protected federally. What can be done? They are killing the fish population. What about them? We enjoy ourselves on the beach and around the campfire (if they're allowed), and so on, but renting a boat, and catching a few fish for a tasty lunch has always been part of why we come all these years. Camps are closing. After nearly 40 years of supporting the area with our vacation dollar, we think its finally reached the point where we give up, and may not be returning in 2019. Sad really. I think only an organized lobby effort, perhaps by a forum like this, plus Camp operators who still remain, need to push for a Cormorant cull on our inland lakes. Let them stay protected, if necessary, on their normal coastal habitats, but geez, we need to do something about the slaughter of our inland lake fisheries. Would love to hear what others have to say on this topic. Thanks for reading. Side note to Admin: I've been a member of this forum for something like 12+ years, I used to post quite a bit under 'JimC' handle but was unable to Sign-In and neither of my 2 email addys were recognized when I tried to do a password reset. So, I've Signed up as a newbie under JimCC