Busy week and a question for you guys>>>

Not been on much lately cause all last week we was either fishing or running lines. Catfish weren't doing much on Gillham lake and the rain put the lake up shutting the crappie down. I heard today was the 1st day they bite again, buddy caught 15 or 20 big ones this evening, too bad i'm in Atlanta headed to a job now. We did manage to have a decent fish fry yesterday evening before I left. I did have a question for you guys though. We seem to have a bunch of those water turkeys on the lake and found a cove where they was at just full of 8-10" suckers and bait fish dead floating. Do those darn protected birds kill that many fish or what??? My vote is we exterminate them on my home lake! We even caught one on a trotline that had a bait in its mouth.

They are real effcient predators and are protected. They have done real well with protected statis. I see lots of them here and Arkansas River . We have caught them in real deep water in gill nets when we gill netted Buffalo and Catfish.

They seem to be a problem.... I'd like to eliminate a few of them

I'm all about conservation, just not saving the sportfish eating bird that is

If you take action SSS Shoot, shovel and shutup.:twocents

I have come across a lake where some guys were alloweded to kill them ? yep , just east of little rock a couple of years ago. i guess you need to aquire a depreadition (sp) permit of some sort ? dont know , but these guys were killing the he#@ out of them.......i asked them about it and they told me they had a permit? must have killed many o dozen if each shot counted...........prolly fired for 2-3 hours nonstop.

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Originally Posted by tonyjohn

I have come across a lake where some guys were alloweded to kill them ? yep , just east of little rock a couple of years ago. i guess you need to aquire a depreadition (sp) permit of some sort ? dont know , but these guys were killing the he#@ out of them.......i asked them about it and they told me they had a permit? must have killed many o dozen if each shot counted...........prolly fired for 2-3 hours nonstop.

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I need to check into that and I need a permit but need sleep at this point....been on the net way too long tonight.

If you haven't seen cormorants making a drive, telling about it will sound like a big lie. From a distance it resembles a huge striper boil. Hundreds of them congregate and push fish into a cove...They are terribly efficient. I've seen it on Atkins and Ouachita.

They taste just like chicken!

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Originally Posted by Billy E

They taste just like chicken!

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If we bring one to Crappie camp will you cook it? Better yet will you eat it?:Rofl

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Originally Posted by Billy E

They taste just like chicken!

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This story sounds a little fishy to me!!!!

I think they all should die, the destroy the fish.

I bet they would be fun to catch crank baiting. What would ya'll recommend 100s, 200,s or 300,s and in what colors?

I used to herd them with a R C airplane and the minnow farmers around here would shoot them, that was a ball :highfive

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Originally Posted by RCC

I bet they would be fun to catch crank baiting. What would ya'll recommend 100s, 200,s or 300,s and in what colors?

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Well they are endangered and illegal to kill from what I understand but one did get in the way the other day of us casting carolina rigs. Lets just say he went down after taking a hit from a half ounce egg weight in mid-flight, lol. It was my buddy who scored the hit and it broke the line....kinda glad it wasn't mine cause I run 10-50 braid on that rig. I figure it would've taken the rod plum outa my hand if I'd have hit one like that. They are a problem though and should be addressed. Most fisherman are great conservationists if the GF would let us take care of the problem??? We also hooked one on a trotline that had a bait in its mouth, I'm afraid they are doing damage to our lakes.

Cormorants have caused problems for fish farmers in the south for a lot of years. I've caught a few crappie with large scars across their backs caused by them. I used to trap, band, and put GPS trackers on cormorants ...sharp beak and strong jaws hurt when they latch on to you.

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Originally Posted by waterturkey

Cormorants have caused problems for fish farmers in the south for a lot of years. I've caught a few crappie with large scars across their backs caused by them. I used to trap, band, and put GPS trackers on cormorants ...sharp beak and strong jaws hurt when they latch on to you.

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I was thinking of feeding them lead from a safer distance, out of beak range. :fingerdance

I have been told folks at Old River Lake in Scott have permits to shoot them...
It may be worth looking in to.

Conway is covered with them!
They roost in Conway and make a trip to the river every morning.

Aint no better catfishing than under a roosting cormorant,have been
doing it for years. They do catch or injure a lot of game fish though.
If you catfish take a jig pole and at least 20# line, no sinker ,good
hook and get there early throw chicken liver next the tree and hold
on as the blue cat hit hard.

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Originally Posted by efdavis

Aint no better catfishing than under a roosting cormorant,have been
doing it for years. They do catch or injure a lot of game fish though.
If you catfish take a jig pole and at least 20# line, no sinker ,good
hook and get there early throw chicken liver next the tree and hold
on as the blue cat hit hard.

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Better wear a rain suit.

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Originally Posted by efdavis

Aint no better catfishing than under a roosting cormorant,have been
doing it for years. They do catch or injure a lot of game fish though.
If you catfish take a jig pole and at least 20# line, no sinker ,good
hook and get there early throw chicken liver next the tree and hold
on as the blue cat hit hard.

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I saw a video or read something about someone doing this. They caught a buncha cats.