cram

Absolutely am. You described a cormorant cull as "ecosystem management" or playing god......i think managing the fish population, whether it be through preventing overfishing or stocking species in ecosystems where those species had not previously been (or survived) is as "godlike" as determining that the cormorants are a nuisance and should be limited (or eliminated).

You miss the point -- we played god with ecosystem management by killing these things off and removing them from the ecosystem for decades and now letting them back to flourish. Besides, the very phrase "ecosystem management" which is the field i assume you work in infers playing god. Why would managing the cormorant population any less "godlike" than managing deer or fish stocks? Further, while i respect the academic/scientific process it is VERY slow and in a case like this i think you'll find the outcome will be the same but it will be too late. Eventually you guys will slowly and deliberately conclude that YES, there is a negative impact and they need to be culled.....by then they will be MUCH harder to manage than they are now.

little bunny wabbits are the best.

All great ideas :-)

Dr Salvelinus....here you go - a (recent) peer reviewed published article pointing to a very strong correlation between cormorant population growth and the crash of a native fish population. http://www.iaglr.org/jglr/db/view_contents...=34&issue=3

Loons and cormorants are completely different. I assume you havent seen a thriving cormorant community.

I (think I) have a pretty solid grasp of (introductory) population dynamics...i`m just wondering which pressure(s) you feel will ultimately bring them back down? I think that while they are a native species, their long absence essentially makes them an invasive species. The natural predation etc no longer exists to control them. This is not like a rabbit population that peaks, followed by their predators bringing them back down,a nd cycling back and forth (the most basic example of pop dynamics). I can`t think of a single downward pressure on these birds,....are we waiting for disease, or MUCH worse - lack of food? They are also benefiting from artifical conditions created by us or other invasive species (ie....clearer water). I am generally a fan of letting nature work itself out, but in this case i see nothing but negative impact from t his highly invasive species.

Educate me. How.... - quickly is their population growing? - is their population going to control naturally? What (other than disease) will be the pressure on their population? - far are we from having that happen? - is the impact of their CURRENT state being measured? any data?

I don't need a peer reviewed article published in Nature to prove to me that cormorants - in their current, uncontrolled state - are really bad for the ecosystem. Maybe they are natural here, but they are are not adequately controlled by predation (or disease yet) and their #'s are growing exponentially. If rats were native to canada, would we not be able to set up traps to control their #'s? Its funny (and sad) -- someone mentioned to me that there's a proposed study to determine if bait-fishing for musky is a good thing....whether the process of using live bait (which often results in deep or swallowed hooks) is more detrimental to the musky stocks than artifiical lures. Anyone with a brain knows its the case.....but apparently we need an academic study (resulting in a bunch of dead muskies) to prove it?

Its going to be even more have-not over the next couple of years (or longer). Anyone noticed way more speed traps lately? As in, WAY more? Province needs dough.

I'll never fish near someone's dock....it may be legal, but not the right thing to do (IMO). (the exception being if you're on a river or something where you're always near someone's dock, regardless of how far off shore you are)

double cowgirls are the hottest thing in musky fishing....not sure if any good - i prefer spinnerbaits.

Look up walkers....good dogs.

Its still tough. Like Lew said, unless you're willing to take it out for 4-5 walks a day - EVERY day - its a tough life for a dog. YOu might look at breeds which want very little exercise and really go outside just to urinate/crap and smell different smells. btw - you might consider a male dog......their pee is generally less acidic and won't kill grass the same way. Usually when you see dead spots on the lawn, its from a female dog (pee is more acidic).

If your dog isn't allowed in your backyard you shouldn't get a dog....maybe a cat??

They are good reels for musky, and that is a good buy. The only issues with Abu reels are..... - gear ratio is too high (fast instead of power) for pulling the monster inline spinners (ie. double cowgirls with #10 colorado blades). As long as you're not reeling those in you're fine. (don't consider this a big issue......very few reels can work a double cowgirl....this reel will cover 99% of musky baits). - the old drag systems aren't great....as far as i can tell that one (the carbon matrix?) is a new version, which is awesome. Where are you finding it for $80 refurbished? If a store is selling them at that price instead of an individual, please point me in their direction....wouldn't mind picking up an extra for myself.

$70 is very fair.....hopefully kids are cheaper (hopefully free) though.

Is this the spawning walleye feed?

Like, a REALLY pornographic pic. I thought it was a joke/spam or something....

Am i going insane or wasn't there a pornographic pic in the avatar of the OP when this thread first went up?

If you switch out the treble hook for a single, you work the twister onto the single hook.

I often give them pulls (like a jig) and let them flutter down.....more effective than a straight retrieve, IMO. btw - if its colored water use gold instead of silver. White twister tail on a gold spoon is fantastic, especially if walleye or rock bass are a forage species.

Hey -- someone save me the time of looking up the regs....what is open season for pike in lake ontario? (from shore in Toronto)?

juvenile pike. They look different when young......just google juvenile pike in google images.

Give the guy a break. Why would he be TRYING to attract poachers. If you've never seen it, it is quite amazing. I think he was doing us a favour by offering up the location. Maybe he hadn't thought of poachers....but give the guy a break. On my lake there is a committee of guys who take turns dropping by at night to ensure there are no idiots poaching. Not sure if other lakes do it, but it is a good idea (and it works)....