Cormorans on Nippissing

[Scott S]

Just got back from a trip from Lake Nippissing, and seen something that really disturbed me. We were having a few pops on the deck looking onto the lake when we see a bunch cormorans feeding like crazy on fish(wasn't sure what they were). Was kinda peeved at how many on them there were and the amount of fish they were eating.So went out for the evening fish and on are way back we noticed something floating in the water. As we pull up, it turns out to be a dead cormoran with a 14" walleye caught half way down it's throat The walleye fishing on Nippissing has enough problems without these buggers adding to the problem. Something has to be done to these fish eating machines!!!

Thanks I feel better now

Scooter

[e-z-out]

in the end the walleye won some what

[irishfield]

Did ya grab that fish for supper??

 

We have a way of dealing with them on Temagami.. not gonna type it here!

[e-z-out]

lol wayne you know you eat them up there

[Terry]

what happens on Temagami

stays on Temagami

[wankerjohn123]

I fish the Nip for a week long trip every year for the past 13 years and still have not seen one of them.

But everyone I know who goes up on trips there see them all the time.

[BillsTheBassMan]

They've killed an island on Couchaching . . . Shipa Island. It's a "dead" island now and looks quite creepy. It doesn't smell too good either.

[Paully]

lol wayne you know you eat them up there

 

Tastes like chicken..

[Muskieman]

I've seen flocks of 300+ :devil:

 

There are many roosting but not nesting right here in downtown Sturgeon Falls .... IMHO... They should be harvested with the "much hated" commercial nets and sold at the Fish Markets along side the Walleye.

 

We should be able to blow these devil birds right outta the sky at will with no permit .. and should carry a 5$ bounty per bird... that would be way better than getting $$$ back from the friggin' HST.

 

 

RFS

[Scott S]

I've seen flocks of 300+ :devil:

 

There are many roosting but not nesting right here in downtown Sturgeon Falls .... IMHO... They should be harvested with the "much hated" commercial nets and sold at the Fish Markets along side the Walleye.

 

We should be able to blow these devil birds right outta the sky at will with no permit .. and should carry a 5$ bounty per bird... that would be way better than getting $$$ back from the friggin' HST.

 

 

RFS

I like your way of thinking Randy

Scooter

[JimC]

as a 2-weeks per year (one May/June and one in Aug) vacationer to Lake Nipissing, I first noticed large, and I mean large, flocks of hunting cormorants about 5 years ago. We fish exclusively in Cache Bay to Hardwoods area in NW quadrant of Nip.

 

strangely, we have seen a dramatic drop-off in both Perch and particularly Bluegill over these five years. In fact I can't remember the last time we hooked into a Sunfish. Our Walleye luck has diminished proportionately to the lack of panfish in the area we fish. Coincidence?

 

Now I have seen pictures on a different thread of some really nice Bluegill surrounding about 6 or 7 Walleye 'keepers'. I am pretty confident these were not from the NW arm of Nipissing, but I could be wrong.

 

I am curious to know if Cormorants in large numbers have been sited in the Calendar Bay, South shore area of the Lake?

 

In the shallow 4 - 7ft waters were I fish, 'Cormorants vs Fish' is not a fair fight. these pests are native to the ocean and are equipped to dive deep. Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind.

 

They are protected but I am surprised that the 'locals' including the "commercial fishing" folks haven't done some sutle interventions to protect the fishery. Gawd knows our present Provincial government powers to be are unwilling and incapable of making the right decision in this matter.

Edited June 14, 2010 by JimC

[Gerritt]

There are large colonies of them in the South Shore region, I would say moreso then the West Arm

[alexcba]

what happens on Temagami

stays on Temagami

 

cept for herpes.. that crap'll follow you home.. LOL!

[JimC]

There are large colonies of them in the South Shore region, I would say moreso then the West Arm

 

hmmmm, thanks Gerritt; however, that only means that I am a REALLY poor fisherman I guess ...

 

OR, maybe the really large flocks have migrated to the south shore, and are just starting to do their damage, like what they did in and around Cache Bay to the Perch and Bluegill population.

 

As a matter of fact, on our recent trip (to Cache and Harwoods area) we didn't see many at all, which was the first time in the last four or five years that i can say that.

[canadadude]

hmmmm, thanks Gerritt; however, that only means that I am a REALLY poor fisherman I guess ...

 

OR, maybe the really large flocks have migrated to the south shore, and are just starting to do their damage, like what they did in and around Cache Bay to the Perch and Bluegill population.

 

As a matter of fact, on our recent trip (to Cache and Harwoods area) we didn't see many at all, which was the first time in the last four or five years that i can say that.

Funny thing is perch & smelt populations have never been higher on Lake Nipissing, Cormorants generally seek out baitfish populations when in a flock,they will take individual fish but that is not the normal behavior I don't beleive the cormorants will affect the gamefish populations unless they drasticlly reduce available baitfish supplies

[lew]

C'mom guys, cormorants hafta eat too ya know

[mistyriver1]

They used to be on Rice a few years ago, now they're pretty much gone. The "local" residents in the Nippising area should see how this was accomplished

[alexcba]

dogs with bee's in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bee's?

[JimC]

Funny thing is perch & smelt populations have never been higher on Lake Nipissing, Cormorants generally seek out baitfish populations when in a flock,they will take individual fish but that is not the normal behavior I don't beleive the cormorants will affect the gamefish populations unless they drasticlly reduce available baitfish supplies

 

I'm sure you have stats to support that, but I can tell you for sure the Perch numbers in NW Arm (Cache Bay to Collins Bay) where we have fished for many, many years has almost totally dried up. In the spring we used spinners and worms, and buy a flat (40 dozen) going in. Five years ago, we almost always ran out near the end of our week, due primarily to a LOT of worm-stealing Perch 'hits' ... little 3inchers to nice 10-11 inch eaters. This year, we left about 3/4's of that flat with the Camp owner, where we were stayin. We 'boated' a grand total of THREE Perch (5 guys, 2 boats, 6 days fishing about 6-8 hours a day). Others in Camp, and some we talked to on the water were having the same results. So if the Perch population on Nipissing is high, as you say, then it must be REALLY good somewhere, but not where we spend our vacation dollars.

[canadadude]

I'm sure you have stats to support that, but I can tell you for sure the Perch numbers in NW Arm (Cache Bay to Collins Bay) where we have fished for many, many years has almost totally dried up. In the spring we used spinners and worms, and buy a flat (40 dozen) going in. Five years ago, we almost always ran out near the end of our week, due primarily to a LOT of worm-stealing Perch 'hits' ... little 3inchers to nice 10-11 inch eaters. This year, we left about 3/4's of that flat with the Camp owner, where we were stayin. We 'boated' a grand total of THREE Perch (5 guys, 2 boats, 6 days fishing about 6-8 hours a day). Others in Camp, and some we talked to on the water were having the same results. So if the Perch population on Nipissing is high, as you say, then it must be REALLY good somewhere, but not where we spend our vacation dollars.

All I go by is the record perch #'s caught during the winter season,perch were everywhere and it somewhat saved the winter fishery due to poor catches of walleye.I never have seen so many perch caught in Nipissing then this last winter fishery,if fishing sucks so bad for you and your not happy perhaps you should spend your vacation dollars somewhere else.What you did 5yrs ago may not work this year the key to success on any body of water is to be versatile and change,people tend to use the same tecniques year in year out and fisheries change to be successfull you have to change aswell.We always jump to the conclusion that the fishery is dead because we didn't catch as many as last year when it may be perhaps the fish have changed there habits.If you spend 6-8 hrs a day doing the same thing with poor results it's time to try something else or you'll continue with poor results.

Edited June 16, 2010 by canadadude

[JimC]

All I go by is the record perch #'s caught during the winter season,perch were everywhere and it somewhat saved the winter fishery due to poor catches of walleye.I never have seen so many perch caught in Nipissing then this last winter fishery,if fishing sucks so bad for you and your not happy perhaps you should spend your vacation dollars somewhere else.What you did 5yrs ago may not work this year the key to success on any body of water is to be versatile and change,people tend to use the same tecniques year in year out and fisheries change to be successfull you have to change aswell.We always jump to the conclusion that the fishery is dead because we didn't catch as many as last year when it may be perhaps the fish have changed there habits.If you spend 6-8 hrs a day doing the same thing with poor results it's time to try something else or you'll continue with poor results.

 

hey 'dude' thanks for the sermon, and suggestion that my buddies and I take our business elsewhere. I'm sure the owner of the Camp where we rent a cottage and boat annually, not to mention the Store Mgr at the 'No Frills' in Sturgeon Falls, would be mightily impressed.

 

anyway, this thread is about Cormorants, and their effect on the fishery ... for the record, we covered a lot of water, and tried every technique imaginable, and the Walleye weren't there, cause the Perch weren't there, cause the freakin Cormorants have been feasting on them for the last Five years in the very shallow waters that I described. I'm clearly not as knowledgeable as you are, but I do know that if you present a fat dew worm to a Perch they will hit the hell out of it. No hits, no Perch.

 

I might be wrong, but you sound like a local 'dude' and I'm happy that you had success catching Perch Ice Fishing, this past winter. Not a lot of multi-thousand flocks of Cormorants around then are there? Look, all I'm saying is that the damn Cormorants have contributed to fewer baitfish in the shallow waters that prevail in the Cache Bay to Collins Bay area and have therefore impacted the overall fishery. That is the big thing that has changed in the area I am familiar with.

 

The good news, is that Cormorants tend to move on to other lakes or other areas of large Lakes (like Nipissing), once the quantify of feed can't sustain their numbers. We saw signs of that this spring ... only about 30-50 sighted, but I understand there are now large flocks in Calender Bay and along the South shore. Good luck with that.

[blarg]

I boated past a flock between the Manitou islands and North Bay yesterday, at least 200 strong, probably closer to 300.

[cityfisher]

They've killed an island on Couchaching . . . Shipa Island. It's a "dead" island now and looks quite creepy. It doesn't smell too good either.

Everytime i drive by that island, i wanna bust out the 12 gauge and empty a couple boxes of shells.. its disgusting