Cormorant & Pelican Sighting

[Fishpro]

If I didn't see it with my own eyes I would never believe this. I was sitting in my easy chair taking in the beutiful lake and sipping a cold beer.(It was my first beer of the day and my fishing buddy was there to whitness the specticle also). Out from my dock a few cormorants were diving around for fish when suddenly there was a pelican with them. Then almost 50 or so cormorants showed up and were feeding. One cormorant came up with a fish and the pelican went for it. Seems the pelican was using the cormorants to catch fish for itself. The whole flock of cormorants then took to flight and the pelican followed them. Just seeing a pelican so far from the ocean and watching it use the cormorants was unblievable. My friend took some pictures of the birds and the pelican. Has any one else out there spotted this unbelievable sight?

[ShaneO19]

Have never seen one anywhere on freshwater in NY. Really cool though.

[erik]

So are ya gonna post the pics!?

[Tori]

My youngest son lives in Montana and he said that Yellow Stone National Park has lots of pelicans on lakes in the park....no oceans there!
Tori

[GuidedBassTrips]

I see pelicans mixed in with packs of cormorants a lot in Central FL but I'm not sure I've ever seen one on Black Lake. They can be a problem when there are too many. That is exactly how they feed with the cormorants. They are very aggressive.

[Fishpro]

Unable to post picture of the cormorants and the pelican. I am not computer savy. Lucky if I'm able to use the forum. Sorry - I would if I could. I also knew that someone would ask for it .It would definitely back up my post. Thanks for those of you who have whitnessed this in other areas. Catch & Release!

[Phil]

Fishpro. If you can get the PICs into an email to me, I'll put them up on here.

ptrivilino@gmail.com

We don't really need any backup to your post. The pics would be interesting.

[erik]

I don't doubt what ya saw, I just want to see it too!

[Phil]

Updated the Fishpro's original post with his PICs. Not the best, but that big white bird is definitely a Pelican.

[mikeroc]

This is my opinion and a little bit off topic. Cormarants do nothing but hurt fishing in NY state. The DEC is aware of this but does nothing. There should be an open season to shoot them and discard them in a safe maner. Oiling the eggs also works. The ST lawrance river along with zebra mussles has been devistated by the combination. Not much can be done with the zebra mussles but the cormarants should be eliminated. Just my opinion...

[Phil]

One of the issues with the Cormorant is that they are Federally protected. Of course that does not mean the NYDEC could not plead our case "strongly" to the proper federal entity. As far as the St. Lawrence River, those things have definitely not devastated the fishery there. Changed it - yes.

[MrSimon]

I have a theory about Cormorants and their impact on the St. Lawrence.

According to the study linked below, cormorants are opportunistic feeders and don't single out sport fish. And, as a general rule, sport fish do not make up the bulk of their diet. They also don't eat fish much over 6-10 inches long.

That doesn't sound too bad, does it?

BUT, cormorants can dive under water more than 100 feet! That's insanely deep for a bird. Also, they eat over a pound of fish EACH DAY and they generally feed in flocks. Can you imagine what a flock of these eating machines could do to a bunch of pike/walleye/bass fry swimming around in shallow water? Especially the gin clear water in the St. Lawrence.

Cormorants might not have an impact on the adult sport fish population, but in my opinion they are REALLY hurting each new year-class of bass, pike, and walleye.

If small fish can survive until they are big enough to eat gobies, they're golden. But I'm afraid the cormorants are eating most of them before they get big enough.

Personally, I catch almost all big healthy adult fish in the river. It's really rare for me to catch a 4-10" bass or walleye. In fact, I don't think I've caught one in years.

Lastly, I think the weed cover and water clarity (or lack of) in Black Lake is what allows the young fish to hide from the cormorants. I don't cormorants will ever have a noticeable impact at BL, other than being gross and destroying trees.


http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/curre ... egies.html

[mikeroc]

Phill could you elaborate a bit on the ST lawrance river. I will admit I don't fish the river as much as I used to but I too don't seem to catch small bass anymore. As a child when I could only see 2-4 feet down we would catch 3-5 bass under 12 inches to every 1 keeper. Often catching 10-30 bass in 6 hours of fishing with a few keepers mixed in. Yes things have changed and maybe the way I fish and locations are no longer productive.. If others feel the way I do we need to spread the word on how bad cormarants are. There is power in numbers...

[Phil]

My "target" on the River is Walleye, it's all I fish for and only spring through fall. My winter fishing (ice) gets divided up from the River to the Black lake and others.
Last winter we hard a hard time catching a Walleye over 12" in one area of the River and then I have gotten into some nice schools of eyes later this summer and expect to stay with them till first ice.
When I was a young guy (14 - 18) the St. Lawrence was much like it is today, as far as water clarity. A lot has transpired from till now in the RIver. Oil spills, zebra muscles, gobies, spiny water flea, and more. I believe the fish adapt and change with whatever nature deals them. The Walleye fishery in the River is unbelievable today.

[ShaneO19]

Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion on everything including cormorants. However it should take more then some peoples opinions before rallying to get a season opened to slaughter a certain species of animal. There needs to be extensive studies with evidence showing that they are hurting the ecosystem before such actions are done. I personally do not know what impact the cormorants have on the ecosystems of the lakes. From my own experience and from what I read and hear from others, it does not seem like there has been any noticeable negative impact on fishing in the waters where they are prevalent. Speaking of gobies, it seems like they would actually be the easiest target for cormorants in the St Lawrence. Maybe the cormorants help some with the goby population? That's just my own hypothesis. It would definitely be informative to know what which fish they eat most.