Cayuga Cormorants on cayuga

[bulletbob]

Cormorants on cayuga

 Has anyone noticed they are there by the THOUSANDS???.. I knew they were around, but the south end of the lake was infested with them, from Treman to Myers and beyond.. big flocks everywhere, diving, resting, flying.. Great,... with all the problems on these lakes, this is just what we needed,.,, I hope they eat billions of  gobies, and choke as they are doing it..
Cormorants in  the numbers I observed is a very  bad  thing.. They decimate fish populations in pretty short order... bob

[lyk2fish]

Noticed them heavy on owasco the last 2 weeks also. Knowing how much they eat, the state is gonna have to release fingerlings under the ice......pending we get any.........its gonna gonna be the only way young stocked fish will survive from them and the Eagles.

[Playing Hooky]

I was thinking that the DEC might have an open season on those things. Does anyone know of a good recipe for them?

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[alex1young]

Noticed them heavy on owasco the last 2 weeks also. Knowing how much they eat, the state is gonna have to release fingerlings under the ice......pending we get any.........its gonna gonna be the only way young stocked fish will survive from them and the Eagles.

Noticed the same thing. They're everywhere on the lake just not to same extent from the sounds of Cayuga.


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[Sk8man]

The Federal protection of them is ridiculous...saw some on Seneca Sunday as well.

[fishmaster13184]

2 hours ago, Sk8man said:

The Federal protection of them is ridiculous...saw some on Seneca Sunday as well.

Well our governor has no problem looking past other federal laws that don't fit his agenda so I don't see what the problem would be 

[Sk8man]

Might get in the way of his Presidentail bid

[suttontroller94]

5 hours ago, fishmaster13184 said:

Well our governor has no problem looking past other federal laws that don't fit his agenda so I don't see what the problem would be 

If only that were true... a while back (years) some guys tried to do a little "vigilante justice" on commerants on lake Ontario and got slapped with heavy heavy fines after killed hundreds to thousands. I'm sure you could find the article somewhere it was a huge deal 

[Low Baller]

Last year, labor day weekend, as we were motoring out of the salmon river estuary at sunrise, all hell broke loose. Shotguns blazing. Heard they issued a permit to blast a huge flock that had been roosting there.

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[semperfi]

Yea confirmed, they have been all over the north end of Seneca this week

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[dawsonscreek]

On ‎8‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:27 AM, suttontroller94 said:

If only that were true... a while back (years) some guys tried to do a little "vigilante justice" on commerants on lake Ontario and got slapped with heavy heavy fines after killed hundreds to thousands. I'm sure you could find the article somewhere it was a huge deal 

I remember that too. I think they got onto a nesting island and smashed a bunch of eggs also.

[bulletbob]

 Just what these lakes needed.. Another monstrous stress factor to layer on top of a bunch of other stress factors that have been increasing in frequency over the past decade.. Cormorants  can decimate healthy fish populations in short order...  Salmonids are NOT immune.. Although  a 5 pound trout isn't in danger,  dozens of 10 inch ones a day are, EVERY day.. Cormorants  eat a  LOT.  They usually dive 50 feet or less, but have been recorded  diving over 200 feet, so there is nothing that swims thats safe from these SOB's... Maybe next we'll be lucky enough to get Walking Catfish, Asian Carp, and  Snakeheads  to go along with all the other good stuff  thats gotten into in the Finger lakes... bob

[jk1]

Here in north Central Pa we see singles everyplace we fish.  and we fish a lot.  Never heard of singles or two at a time before, even over seas theya re a flock bird????

[bulletbob]

 They feed and travel in flocks.. BIG flocks.. If you see singles, you are lucky. When you see flocks, the fishing goes south FAST.. They eat an average of a pound of fish a day, each bird.. When you see thousands,.. well just use your imagination as to the damage they can do to ANY body of water in a year,, They destroy fishing, period... Here's a good read... bob
http://www.startribune.com/cormorants-actually-are-a-problem/133719513/

[jk1]

I trap and I got one in a mink conibear set underwater(of course) it had a 10 inch trout in it.  My buddy took a photo but that was with and old cell phone and we can not down load it.  the photo is to big????

[Bearcat]

Lake champlain has been loaded with them the past couple of seasons and the numbers of young LL's boated this season have been absolutely in the toilet compared to the past few years.

[Low Baller]

Maybe if fishermen sent photos, sightings, personal experiences, etc, to the state biologists or DEC, it could aid in data for future control. Just a thought. Lot of folks on the water with good intel.

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[jk1]

Boy I hope this fishery does not go they way Keyuka did.....jk

[Nautitroller]

Boy I hope this fishery does not go they way Keyuka did.....jk

Keuka had a major die off of alewife probably from the lake freezing over a few years back and the sheer numbers of Lakers in that lake put a serious hurting on the bait.
Cayuga has a very nice balance happening now, great bait and fish that are feeding aggressively. That equals great Fishing. I think that Seneca has an over population of bait currently. Fish do not have to work for food and they feed but not aggressively. Tons of fish being marked in Seneca each time we are out just have to find the wolf pack that is feeding..
Will the cormorants destroy the lake I think not because they have been there for as long as I can remember. It's again a balance. Stocked fish are always the wild card in the balance equation. Too many and no bait, just right and fishing is tremendous. Too few, bait thrives and fishing is slow. The question is do these birds hurt the balance? Probably.. but good luck selling that to the DEC and having a season to just kill them.

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[Low Baller]

Haven't fished Keuka since the early 90s .used to be my go to for bass. Spend a couple of weekends each summer on Cayuga since I got into precision trolling about 10 yrs ago. Noticed alot of water turkey's too this summer. Clear water lakes are the hardest hit.

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[bulletbob]

1 hour ago, Nautitroller said:

 

Keuka had a major die off of alewife probably from the lake freezing over a few years back and the sheer numbers of Lakers in that lake put a serious hurting on the bait.
Cayuga has a very nice balance happening now, great bait and fish that are feeding aggressively. That equals great Fishing. I think that Seneca has an over population of bait currently. Fish do not have to work for food and they feed but not aggressively. Tons of fish being marked in Seneca each time we are out just have to find the wolf pack that is feeding..
Will the cormorants destroy the lake I think not because they have been there for as long as I can remember. It's again a balance. Stocked fish are always the wild card in the balance equation. Too many and no bait, just right and fishing is tremendous. Too few, bait thrives and fishing is slow. The question is do these birds hurt the balance? Probably.. but good luck selling that to the DEC and having a season to just kill them.

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 I understand your point of view,  but the sheer numbers of Cormorants will put a severe crimp in all fishing on these lakes,, The ONLY thing that will stop  a fish  from getting eaten is size.. 150 FOW is nothing to a Cormorant.. It won't hurt the trout/salmon trolling for the next few years, I agree, but remember without stocked Salmonids, these lakes would not have  many in them.. Cormorants are notorious for loving  stockie size trout.. Its a LOT more efficient for them to grab a 9-10 inch trout, than it is to grab a 4 inch Sawbelly or Goby.. Never think they can't decimate these big lakes.. they have decimated entire  coastal fisheries in the northeast, and those fish migrate, away from the  damn cormorants.. However when they are juveniles, in shallower water, Cormorants eat dozens a day, ...each.. They have wiped out the winter flounder in many NE states, a species that for many years had no limit, no closed season.. Now you can take 2.. Cormorants  wiped them out.... They can and do  destroy fish populations in widespread areas, and the Finger Lakes and Great lakes are not immune..  The flocks I witnessed  on the south end of Cayuga were massive.. Hundreds and hundreds of them, all over the place, acres of them in places.  I was sick when I saw the numbers, unlike anything I have ever witnessed... They don't eat grass as we all know, they eat fish, lots of fish, and man, there are a LOT of birds out there right now...bob

Edited September 1, 2017 by bulletbob

[MikeyP]

On 8/29/2017 at 6:16 AM, fishmaster13184 said:

Well our governor has no problem looking past other federal laws that don't fit his agenda so I don't see what the problem would be 

He couldn't care less how it affects fisherman. He only cares about who/what agenda keeps him in office and I guarantee you it isn't fishermen/women or hunters.

[weave]

.

Edited September 1, 2017 by weave
nm

[suttontroller94]

You think they are bad now go to the lake and sit on shore during december/January during duck season.... This ain't nothing 

[Fishstix]

A little off topic but I launched at Treman last Sunday and the amount of goose Sh#t at the launch was unbelieveable. Ground was totally covered except for a little strip at the the north launch. Almost went to Meyers so we would not have to walk thru it and track it in the boat.

 

Good part is people are not walking behind you when you are trying to launch.