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Posts: 114
| The Iowa DNR biologists have done some interesting work on determining the survival rates on stocked muskies and predator/prey relationships between pelicans and blue herons and the newly stocked fish. If interested go to the Upper Great Plains Facebook page and watch the 1 hour video by Meerbeck,Iowa DNR, and see what these predators can do. |
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Posts: 535
| Ive seen it first hand too, even on natural bodies of water. The young muskies will hang out tin the shallows and weeds and exactly the same place as the herons. Ive seen one gobble one down. Also seen a osprey come down in the same area and grab one. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | I have seen juvenile Muskies up shallow and easily seen as well. Always thought what an easy meal for a bird.
The IMA purchased and maintains rearing pond netting for the IDNR. It has increased fingerling survival from around 35% to 80-95%. Birds have a field day with rearing ponds. |
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Posts: 189
| Just thought I would share this. Approximately 12 years ago I was doing an insurance inspection at a residence located on one of the prairie lakes close to Mankato MN. Owner was a very knowledgeable fisherman as well as being quite active politically. He was really complaining about the cormorants eating large numbers of small walleyes on his lake. He went on to explain hundreds if not thousands of the walleye fry stocked by the DNR were simply feeding the birds. After the DNR repeatedly told him he was wrong he proved otherwise. The lake had two rocky islands the birds were using for nesting and roosting. He and the lake association bought a RFID reader and went to the islands to examine the bird dropping and were able to record hundreds of PIT numbers. Obviously they could only identify the PIT tags the birds crapped out on the island but it was still impressive. This guy not only showed them an approximate rate of loss but what years classes were being consumed. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | Not only are the cormorants increasing in number but I am seeing pelicans where I have never seen then before and in large numbers. There is an island in black creek going into LSC that has a huge population of cormorants ruining the island. The smell is nasty. I can't imagine the residents on the other side could be too happy let alone what they are doing to the creek and park area fish populations or any lake fish using it to spawn. They should be hunted.
Edited by ToddM 3/2/2021 1:47 PM
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Posts: 8723
| I won't name the area because I'm not sure what they did was legal, but there was a real cormorant problem for many years. One particular area was always covered in birds and excrement. It was so bad that you couldn't stand to fish down wind of it. After much hemming and hawing and getting nowhere with the DNR, despite overwhelming evidence they were eating everything in sight, the locals took it upon themselves and shot every #*^@ last one of 'em.
What was always a marginal spot turned into a goldmine within a year, with the added bonus that you could fish around the spot without gagging. |
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Posts: 482
| i believe there is a season for hunting cormorants in ontario now
Edited by danlaboucane 3/2/2021 4:15 PM
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Posts: 1209
Location: E. Tenn | USFWS is starting to ease up on the federal protection.
https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/ |
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Posts: 1188
| leech lake strain - 3/2/2021 10:37 AM
Ive seen it first hand too, even on natural bodies of water. The young muskies will hang out tin the shallows and weeds and exactly the same place as the herons. Ive seen one gobble one down. Also seen a osprey come down in the same area and grab one.
I remember a few years ago, walleye size and numbers were and issue on Leech Lake. They took a number of steps to address it, and were successful. One of the measures was to snipe a bunch of cormorants. The MN DNR and tribal DNR, had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get the OK to go after them, due to the migratory bird rules.
Kind of ironic that in my issue of Iowa Outdoors, that just arrived in the mail today, had a story with this picture.
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | I think, and I might be wrong, but the Minnesota DNR typically stocks muskies late fall to avoid this problem with muskies. The lake freezes shortly after to give the fish the winter to disperse and avoid birds. I’m sure some of them get eaten in the spring again but I bet it helps a lot. |
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Posts: 1188
| Kirby Budrow - 3/2/2021 6:58 PM
I think, and I might be wrong, but the Minnesota DNR typically stocks muskies late fall to avoid this problem with muskies. The lake freezes shortly after to give the fish the winter to disperse and avoid birds. I’m sure some of them get eaten in the spring again but I bet it helps a lot.
A couple years ago, I was speaking with a DNR biologist involved with muskie stocking, and mentioned to her that I seen that Iowa had done some spring stocking with fish they kept overwinter, and was wondering what her thoughts were. I was thinking that there could be a two fold benefit to the spring stocking: 1- the fish would be a little bit bigger, and avoid some predation simply by being a bit larger, and 2- have more places to hide, with weed growth, as in the fall, we are basically putting them into an environment with very few weeds to hide in. She had actually seen the same thing out of Iowa, and was looking into it. She said that the size difference probably wouldn't be significant enough to make a statistical difference, but she also thought that perhaps the abundance of weeds might better serve the juvenile fish. She wasn't getting a lot of buy in, as the biggest issue, is the cost of feeding over the winter. The benefit would have to be demonstrable to warrant keeping the fish through the winter. I believe she is still studying it, as there may be enough benefit. But it appears that the primary reason for fall stocking, is cost.
Edited by TCESOX 3/2/2021 7:16 PM
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | But also you risk winter kill keeping them over winter. Also some lakes have very few weeds anyway. But I can see it both ways I guess. |
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Posts: 75
| A couple of years ago, I saw a White Pelican fly by while out in a boat in the Hayward area. That was quite a surprise. |
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Posts: 114
| If you watch the referenced video, one of the pelicans on observed on Spirit Lake couldn't fly more then 50 feet and promptly got back to a sand bar and puked up 5 muskies from 13 to 16 inches, then flew away. Numerous radio transmitters from tagged fish have been found below nests in Blue Heron rookeries 7-8 miles from Spirit.
Edited by kapcoleo 3/3/2021 9:36 AM
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Posts: 390
| I assume this to be an issue. I went a visited a musky hatchery just to check out the facility a number of years back and the ponds were lined with 100s of birds just waiting for an easy meal. also F@& cormorants, watching them consume schools of perch is the 1000s is depressing. I know they helped clean up the alewife population on the bay but they have gotten out of hand, if anyone remembers 20 years or so ago the beaches looked silver and the smell was unbearable. |
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| bwalsh - 3/3/2021 8:07 AM
A couple of years ago, I saw a White Pelican fly by while out in a boat in the Hayward area. That was quite a surprise.
About 15 years ago, the pelicans returned to the Lake Winnebago system after being absent for decades. Huge birds, appear to be even larger than tundra swans. If you are traveling on Hwy 41 over the Butte de Mor bridge, you will often see them. |
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Posts: 13
| I've seen seagulls feeding on Musky fry right after they were stocked at Chautauqua Lake. Me and another guy were casting at the seagulls and making all kinds of noise to chase them away. We got some interesting looks to say the least. |
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Posts: 114
| Iowa has done a lot of work of stocking and survival rates based on transmitter monitoring on the stocked fish. Our chapter helped with the funding to obtain the transmitters. It is hard for some to believe but they found that 13 inch fish has a statistically advantage of survival over a 12.2 inch fish stocked at the same time. This was verified in two consecutive years of stockings. Therefore in 2021 no muskies will be stocked in the Iowa Great Lakes unless they are at least 13 inches. All fish will be held and minnow feed for up to 30 more days before they are stocked after coming from their southern Iowa winter rearing ponds. to increase their length, to get away from some bird migrations and get into more stained water. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | kapcoleo - 3/4/2021 2:20 PM
Iowa has done a lot of work of stocking and survival rates based on transmitter monitoring on the stocked fish. Our chapter helped with the funding to obtain the transmitters. It is hard for some to believe but they found that 13 inch fish has a statistically advantage of survival over a 12.2 inch fish stocked at the same time. This was verified in two consecutive years of stockings. Therefore in 2021 no muskies will be stocked in the Iowa Great Lakes unless they are at least 13 inches. All fish will be held and minnow feed for up to 30 more days before they are stocked after coming from their southern Iowa winter rearing ponds. to increase their length, to get away from some bird migrations and get into more stained water.
That's interesting, I just seen the answer to the question of changing Illinois stocking from September to the end of the year. The cost is 45K per pond and put them way over budget. That doesn't even factor the conflict with needing the ponds for salmon. |
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Posts: 1277
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | The Spooner, Wisconsin hatchery had a huge problem with Osprey taking muskies out of the ponds. The Hayward Muskie's, Inc. Chapter paid to have the ponds covered to keep them out. It has been very successful. |
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Posts: 480
Location: Northern Illinois | Larry Ramsell - 3/5/2021 1:02 PM
The Spooner, Wisconsin hatchery had a huge problem with Osprey taking muskies out of the ponds. The Hayward Muskie's, Inc. Chapter paid to have the ponds covered to keep them out. It has been very successful.
Interesting as I am watching on TV an osprey take what looked to be a 2# bass during the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. |
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Posts: 2237
Location: SE, WI. | Not Muskies....But, the past 2-3 weeks, the DNR has been stocking Thousands of Cohos in the ports of SE Wi. I’ve watched Thousands of Mergansers preying on these 5-7” Cohos. Watched them beat the water to a froth, and many coming up with a mouthful of Coho. I’d go through waving my Landing net, and would spook them away for about 1/2 hour. After the Frenzy, several cohos were floating through the currents. 1/2 hour later, they were back;(. JD |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | jdsplasher - 3/6/2021 6:00 AM
Not Muskies....But, the past 2-3 weeks, the DNR has been stocking Thousands of Cohos in the ports of SE Wi. I’ve watched Thousands of Mergansers preying on these 5-7” Cohos. Watched them beat the water to a froth, and many coming up with a mouthful of Coho. I’d go through waving my Landing net, and would spook them away for about 1/2 hour. After the Frenzy, several cohos were floating through the currents. 1/2 hour later, they were back;(. JD
Salmon predation at stocking time has always been an issue. They shoot them a little farther out and deeper that took the seagulls out but not the divers. |
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Posts: 1206
Location: Walker, MN | We need those GT's that eat birds out of the air lol. |
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Posts: 36
Location: Central Illinois | Canada had their first cormorant season last year and the limit I believe was 15 per day. I saw some pictures of the piles - they were stacking them up big time. Some company even produced cormorant decoys. |
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Posts: 267
| I have two experiences. One was stocking fingerlings on Mille Lacs back in the 1990s. We stocked fish at the Cove Bay access site and some fingerlings were eaten by seagulls during the process. Another experience was when we had a rearing pond with muskie fingerlings in it. We electrofished a few weeks prior to harvest to get an idea as to how many fish were in the pond. We rolled several fingerlings in a short time which led us to believe there were good numbers in the pond. When we set trapnets to harvest the pond we only caught a few. We were scratching our heads, but then the owner of the pond told us a big flock of cormorants were on the pond for awhile. We concluded they put the hurt on our muskies. |
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Posts: 1198
| 15 20 years ago or so the Minnesota DNR had a couple staff go out on a island on Leech Lake with pellet guns and take out a bunch of Cormorants. Also there's a little pond in my town some springs fish and game stocks trout and the Cormorants show up for the feast. |
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