cormorants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i fish a water which has a diameter of 3.5 miles so its not the smallest of places. last summer i counted around 50 birds hunting in a pack bringing up silvers ten a penny yet on sunday i coudnt believe my eyes when the black plague moved in to my swim i gave a ruff count and got 84, i spoke to the rangers about the effect theyre having on the fish and the reply i got was " they only eat minnows and injured fish" i laughed my head off as i have seen on several occasions birds with pound roach and eels so big they cant even lift them out the water,, god ive even had them lift bait,,,, it was one of these times when i was fishing a live roach the float sunk and i hooked one haha if anyone has done this theyll know they dont fly away they dive and fight quite hard anyways i got it to the bank and got the hooks out of its leg when sum cheeky dog walker made sum comment about how people shouldnt be allowed to fish !!!!!!!!!!!!! that enraged me ill tell you!!!!!! anyway ....question do you think all these birds could be effecting the piking on this water or making it better because if theres less silvers then maybe the pike will be more inclined to pick up baits ???????????

I walk along the Trent most days to work & there are always Cormorants on the 1/2mile long section i see, regardless of weather..
Also, i fish on some Gravel Pits & other users tell me the Cormorants have ruined the fishery regards the Silverfish

shoot the buggers

greg wrote:shoot the buggers

That's illegal.

they are a total nightmare ,i live on the bank of the canal and see them constantly catching roach, dont think it will be too long till they empty the place of all fish , sure i seen an air rifle in the garage somewhere

Andy Macfarlane wrote:

greg wrote:shoot the buggers

That's illegal.

only if you get caught......... never thought a guy fae south side would say that

Theyre not on the DEFRA list.........yet!

not good they are here but, it was man that forced them here,they have no food out at sea?
we can only hope nature levels it out!

Andy Macfarlane wrote:

greg wrote:shoot the buggers

That's illegal.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, that comment isn't strictly true.

Permission can be granted to the fishery/land owner if they can be shown to be a pest.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

ive seen the damage that these birds can do, totally decimating fisheries, i could name three really good pike waters that have been totally wiped out by cormorants in the last twenty years
one water in particular(100+acre pit) in the eighties was a very prolific water it wasnt uncommon for match anglers to bag a 100lb plus of bream in a six hour match hence the pike fishing was fantastic twenties were very common thirties were caught and a couple of forty pound fish reported(but not proven) - for three years the cormorants were in residence-i can remember counting over three hundred at one point- after this many match anglers blanked and matches were abandoned on the fishery the pike fishing declined to the state where it wasnt worth even looking- only recently has the fishery shown glimpses of its former self- the general fishing is good but not excellent the carp have grown to mega sized fish ( i put this down to very little competition for food in the last two decades) the pike fishing, well its a bit of an unknown entity at the moment there are many singled figured and low doubles being reported but i have heard whispers of larger fish starting to show

i wonder if "the black death" will return to the water if it ever recovers to its former glory?

Think thats right but the landowner needs a licence if I remember rightly. Im not up on the law in Scotland so couldnt say.

Have a look on www.basc.org.uk, they should have something on there.

yes you can get permission to shoot them but your only allowed to destroy a cupple of birds i think its about 5 a season and thats usually only on trout waters. the loch i fish is a country park so they are encouraged because of bird watchers and such,, the officials down there are only interested in the boat clubs ie where most of their revenue comes from. they dont care about anglers and almost never come near you looking for a permit which is a shame because in the 80s there was a lot of matches held here and with some care and attention could be a prolific water !!!!

Lefty wrote:

Andy Macfarlane wrote:

greg wrote:shoot the buggers

That's illegal.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, that comment isn't strictly true.

Permission can be granted to the fishery/land owner if they can be shown to be a pest.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Well yes, you can apply to the EA or SEPA for a licence to shoot problematic cormorants but I mean in general, you can't just take it upon yourself to shoot cormorants, so it is illegal but permission can be granted.
You did provide the fact that they can be dealt with right enough.

.....Regards.....Andy

greg wrote:

Andy Macfarlane wrote:

greg wrote:shoot the buggers

That's illegal.

only if you get caught......... never thought a guy fae south side would say that

You'll hear it when it's a public forum with rules and regulations we have to adhere to but who know what I might get up to when I'm not writing on a forum...lol....

.....Regards.....Andy.....

It is tempting just to pop em off but when it comes to getting in the wrong with guns the magistrates dont look to kindly on ya. Id always advise getting permission first and then nowts gonna come of it if someone complains. Get emough bad press do anglers and airgunners, last thing we need is someone fishing and shooting stuff they shouldnt be at the same time

eh i'm begining to wish i'd never said what i did .