Thread: The numbers game

Lake Hefner here in OKC was a fantastic fishery before PETA got cormorants on the endangered species list, and 9,000 of them (according to the headline in the paper) descended on Hefner for 7 weeks.
Catfish, crappie, and sand bass fishing was outstanding during the 80's and early 90's. During the spawn, I would fish early morning to about 9:30 with dough bait and catch 125 cats by slip-corking dough bait. Most of them were dinks, but there were some 10-15 pounders.
Crappie were very plentiful and they were big. I would float tube from 6:45 to 9:00 and get 70 crappie, two at a time on jigs. Most of them were 1.5-2 pounds.
Sand (white) bass would be schooling, and I would fish the last four hours of light, getting 200 sandies, using a gay blade and a small plastic crawdad. The only problems came when I would get a hybrid on one hook and a sandie on the other, breaking my my line.
Most of the time, all the fish were released.
The cormorants are still around, and they have decimated the populations of many lakes in the state. You can still catch quite a few cats, but nothing like it used to be. The crappie are much smaller, and after the cormorants visit, many of the crappie that you DO catch have stab wounds. I haven't caught a crappie over 1.5 pounds from Hefner in the last 20 years. Sand bass are fairly plentiful, but nothing like pre-cormorant times.
Do the math on how many pounds of fish would be eaten by 9,000 cormorants when they eat 1 pound of fish per day and they are on a lake for 7 weeks.
End of anti-cormorant rant.

My nephew and myself did 100 Crappies in 47 minutes each of us using one pole and plastics do not think you could even come close using live bait...... It was FUN.

Same as others have mentioned when it happened for me it was mostly small fish.

I have only once in 50 plus years of fishing caught 15 plus 10" or larger keepers in under a half hour. I did however once catch 12 over 12" in about that length of time at a private lake.

Originally Posted by Bigskyfisherman

Lake Hefner here in OKC was a fantastic fishery before PETA got cormorants on the endangered species list, and 9,000 of them (according to the headline in the paper) descended on Hefner for 7 weeks.
Catfish, crappie, and sand bass fishing was outstanding during the 80's and early 90's. During the spawn, I would fish early morning to about 9:30 with dough bait and catch 125 cats by slip-corking dough bait. Most of them were dinks, but there were some 10-15 pounders.
Crappie were very plentiful and they were big. I would float tube from 6:45 to 9:00 and get 70 crappie, two at a time on jigs. Most of them were 1.5-2 pounds.
Sand (white) bass would be schooling, and I would fish the last four hours of light, getting 200 sandies, using a gay blade and a small plastic crawdad. The only problems came when I would get a hybrid on one hook and a sandie on the other, breaking my my line.
Most of the time, all the fish were released.
The cormorants are still around, and they have decimated the populations of many lakes in the state. You can still catch quite a few cats, but nothing like it used to be. The crappie are much smaller, and after the cormorants visit, many of the crappie that you DO catch have stab wounds. I haven't caught a crappie over 1.5 pounds from Hefner in the last 20 years. Sand bass are fairly plentiful, but nothing like pre-cormorant times.
Do the math on how many pounds of fish would be eaten by 9,000 cormorants when they eat 1 pound of fish per day and they are on a lake for 7 weeks.
End of anti-cormorant rant.

I want to start a petition myself to end the protection , all the state fisheries and hatcheries know exactly how smart and how bad they are . they are just bad news birds that need to go back to the coast where they belong , but why should they ? fish in a barrel beat heck out of fish in the sea and they know it ....almost everywhere I go the fish are bit up bigtime by them and for sure they damage fisheries , my good friend has a 40 acre lake that used to be the best crappie lake ever made , until about a zillion cormorants and pelicans showed up 2 winters in a row . Now the only fish in it are big carp best I can tell ....pretty sad for sure , cant even ketch a bream or a bass or a crappie in it now ) =

Not crappie, but alot of fun....
Smallmouth on lake St. Clair, avg. over 4# each, as fast as you could cast, 20 fow. Went on for 3 days, same hole.
Best fishing I've ever had or imagined ....

Originally Posted by wolfhnd

Same as others have mentioned when it happened for me it was mostly small fish.

I have only once in 50 plus years of fishing caught 15 plus 10" or larger keepers in under a half hour. I did however once catch 12 over 12" in about that length of time at a private lake.

I've had days on KY lake when i had my limit of keeper crappies in less than an hour and was back at the marina for breakfast by 7:30AM. I've found bluegill beds that i caught fish every cast for at least an hour before i got tired. good keepers too.

Originally Posted by Kevmc

Not crappie, but alot of fun....
Smallmouth on lake St. Clair, avg. over 4# each, as fast as you could cast, 20 fow. Went on for 3 days, same hole.
Best fishing I've ever had or imagined ....

My son had it like that the first time he went to Dorr's (sp) County, only the average wasn't as good. The funny thing is that the guys with him complained that the fish weren't as big as usual.

Originally Posted by Bigskyfisherman

Lake Hefner here in OKC was a fantastic fishery before PETA got cormorants on the endangered species list, and 9,000 of them (according to the headline in the paper) descended on Hefner for 7 weeks.
Catfish, crappie, and sand bass fishing was outstanding during the 80's and early 90's. During the spawn, I would fish early morning to about 9:30 with dough bait and catch 125 cats by slip-corking dough bait. Most of them were dinks, but there were some 10-15 pounders.
Crappie were very plentiful and they were big. I would float tube from 6:45 to 9:00 and get 70 crappie, two at a time on jigs. Most of them were 1.5-2 pounds.
Sand (white) bass would be schooling, and I would fish the last four hours of light, getting 200 sandies, using a gay blade and a small plastic crawdad. The only problems came when I would get a hybrid on one hook and a sandie on the other, breaking my my line.
Most of the time, all the fish were released.
The cormorants are still around, and they have decimated the populations of many lakes in the state. You can still catch quite a few cats, but nothing like it used to be. The crappie are much smaller, and after the cormorants visit, many of the crappie that you DO catch have stab wounds. I haven't caught a crappie over 1.5 pounds from Hefner in the last 20 years. Sand bass are fairly plentiful, but nothing like pre-cormorant times.
Do the math on how many pounds of fish would be eaten by 9,000 cormorants when they eat 1 pound of fish per day and they are on a lake for 7 weeks.
End of anti-cormorant rant.

Too bad both PETA and cormorants aren't extinct.