Dealing with Cold fronts and Cormorants

After a major Cold Front come down and blasted my hot spots and looking across the main lake and seeing hundred's upon hundred's of Cormorants ravaging the lake the game has changed and I was sure these two factors effected my hot bite and put fish on a fierce move. So it was time to pull up my big boy pants and work too find them. I found two spots after many hours of nothing. One was in a couple of cypress tree clusters in the main lake the other was along a main lake creek channel. Nothing came easy this day and I was amazed how my hot spot turned into a dead spot. For all you Conway lovers take note when you see a mass of cormorants with a cold front just start on the lake. Fish head for different locations to take cover and now is the time to look for places you would not normally fish to catch em. I hate cormorants, especially when they move right through hunting where I was hunting. Dang Blame things.

Good job CP. Way to stay in the game.

Hey CP, Starting to have Crappie dinners from Conway!!!! Found some in the backs of a creek in 3.5 ft but also caught some in fronyt of the creek with all the shad in 6-8FOW.. tHANKS FOR YOUR HELP

Y'all need to do what we did.
South Carolina's First Cormorant Hunt Brings in over 11,000 Birds | OutdoorHub

Course the left wingers say it did not help, that more will just replace them.

SeaRay

Way to stay with it. Good job.

[emoji115]what Sea Ray said[emoji115]

Good story Russ, thx buddy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SeaRay

Y'all need to do what we did.
South Carolina's First Cormorant Hunt Brings in over 11,000 Birds | OutdoorHub

Course the left wingers say it did not help, that more will just replace them.

SeaRay

---

Yep would love to have D-10 look into doing this for us. I would be one of the first to partake. Let's get em guys. Every year more and more show up earlier and earlier. Don't take to many times seeing them slurp down a 10-12 inch crappie to make you want to blast one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrappiePro

Yep would love to have D-10 look into doing this for us. I would be one of the first to partake. Let's get em guys. Every year more and more show up earlier and earlier. Don't take to many times seeing them slurp down a 10-12 inch crappie to make you want to blast one.

---

It doesn't hurt to ask. It would be very difficult to have a cormorant shoot on Conway because of all of the houses. The only areas that it might be a possibility would be the 3 duck areas on the lake. My guess is that after a couple of days of shooting, they would avoid these areas. I will look into it though. I would be interested in a cormorant stamp myself. I wonder if the hunters were allowed to let them lay or if they had to retrieve them?

The DNR had check points for hunters to turn in the birds so they could get a headcount of numbers killed. You actually had to attend a training class to get the permit to harvest them. Of course some were probably lost or just left, but these were folks that used the area for fishing and hunting so they did not want a bunch or rotting birds stinking up the place, so most picked them up and turned them in.
One of the marinas that has rental cabins offered $1 off a nights rental for each bird turned in at their checkpoint. I thought this was cool of them to do, but I wouldn't eat any "chicken stew" in their grill for a while. Just sayin.....
Have not heard it they plan to have another hunt next year.

PS CrappiePro I did not mean to highjack your thread, and my hats off to you for a fine mess of crappie. I just saw your comment about the cormorants and thought I would share what we did. They are a nuisance and harmful to the fish if left unchecked.

PS CrappiePro I did not mean to highjack your thread, and my hats off to you for a fine mess of crappie. I just saw your comment about the cormorants and thought I would share what we did. They are a nuisance and harmful to the fish if left unchecked.



No Hi-jacking here just good communication the way I see it. These birds are a nuisance and need to be put in check. We are the Good Steward's of wild life. They have a right to eat as do all living things but it is also up to us to keep the balance. In addition to cormorants we now have a huge population of pelicans and heroin that join right in with the cormorants...How much can a fishery take before it goes to the birds??? Our winter pelicans are some bold dang birds also fishing right along side of our boats. LOL A 3 day too week long hunting season in the early fall for cormorants every year would be a good thing to keep the numbers in check and give the duck hunters some pre season practice. IMHO

Every fall the birds cover up the lakes and rivers around west-central Arkansas. Don't remember see'n many back in the 1970's?
Anyone else notice fishing being slower yesterday ? The Crappie here seemed scattered , 5 to 15' . This happens as lakes transition from summer to fall till water temps settles into cooler range. Lakes should turn over and temps straighten out then fall bite will be on. The fish will follow the Shad to the back of creeks. Can't wait for fall to truly get here not just on the calendar:biggrin

They are almost impossible to run over; almost.:biggrin DP

Maybe we can relocate them to the white and cache where they can feed on the carp.......

Good job! I'm all in on the cormorant killing!

Can see it now , first annual Crappie.com bird killing tournament. :Rofl

Yes and lets try to add Vultures season to that list. Especially the ones that tear our trucks up... while we are out fishing.

Don a coolie hat, put a ring around their neck so they can't swaller the crappie and a line tied to a 11' Ozark and let them go...... easier than spider riggin' and would suit some of us crappieless fishers well rotfl PS: stay away from those heroins.... bad news!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cache22

Don a coolie hat, put a ring around their neck so they can't swaller the crappie and a line tied to a 11' Ozark and let them go...... easier than spider riggin' and would suit some of us crappieless fishers well rotfl PS: stay away from those heroins.... bad news!!

---

See you caught that too!:Rofl