Waterfowl disturbance

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

My experiences yesterday with grebes diving through the swim all day has prompted this.

Waterfowl antics dont usually bother me though the incessant flippin squawking can get very tedious.My logic says the fish are used to them so are unlikely to be spooked. In fact the odd suicide coot taking on half a dozen Canada geese can be quite entertaining when sport is slow. For the most part birds dont stay around long anyway but those damned grebes simply would not move yesterday. Clearly the wind on a fairly shallow lake had pushed the baitfish down to where we were.

I'd rather birds weren't there but until yesterday I cant honestly say that I have ever thought they had significantly affected my fishing other than maybe for a few minutes at a time. Yesterday I am convinced those bloody grebes and their refusal to buqqer off did.....and how many roach can a grebe eat anyway ? They are not big birds and the numbers they scoffed yesterday I am surprised they didnt sink !

Any thoughts ?

mikench · Aug 16, 2018

I like birds generally but my liking for water fowl has been tempered somewhat since I started fishing! I have been plagued by Canada geese, greylag geese, ducks, and gulls! On one water there were upwards of 50 geese making a racket, flapping their wings and swimming up close! Needless to say I caught nothing! So far I have seen other anglers hook all of the above and have a real job in setting them free!

I have also jumped out of my skin ,when dozing slightly, and a pair of coots have started up by my side! My fishing was only spoilt once by swans on a shallow Mere and which got quite shirty when I politely asked them to leave! They liked 8mm pellets but not via a catapult!:wh

flightliner · Aug 16, 2018

I like birds, lovely things but when fishing they are often a niuscence , more so than they are advantageous.
Coots can be really aggressive at times, I remember early on this season when a swan was resting on a coots nest , the coot just wouldn't stop badgering the intruder by fronting up to it and sticking its chest against the swan until it gave in and swam off beaten, they're also amongst the best boilly thieves swimming.
That said it's got to be the dreaded tufties that must surely make them the most annoying of waterbirds. I live in constant fear of them at the moment as there must be around a hundred and fifty of them on the water I'm fishing just now, as soon as one finds your baited area they often all go down and eat the lot despite any attempts to scare them away. I've had several occasions when I have fish in front of me feeding well only for them to leave once these greediest of waterfowl descend on an expensive carpet of free offerings!!!
My only ever time that a grebe did me any good was a pike session a few years ago-- nothing all day when to my left I noticed several grebes feeding and moving towards me at the same time.
Thinking their prey were in front of them and moving in my direction I figured a pike or two may be in on the act subsurface so I cast a big sardine towards the grebes but still well in front.
About five minutes went by when my indicator dropped off and on striking found myself playing a big pike that went over twenty lbs on the scales.
Result!

tigger · Aug 16, 2018

I often get annoyed by birds but at the end of the day if they weren't there my fishing wouldn't be the same. The birds and other wildlife are all part of fishing for me....angling isn't just about catching fish for me and I like wildlife. Only the other day I was annoyed by a pair of peregrine falcons constantly baying at one another but i'd much prefer to hear them than some pratt of an anglers radio or similar.
I have had ducks hasstle me but then again i've had sheep and cattle hasstle me also....again, i'd prefer to have those problems than idiot people!

O.C.F.Disorder · Aug 16, 2018

Birds can be a pain but they are entertaining.

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

I like birds too and the sqauwking can be mighty irritating but not, I think, to the fish. Even those damned egyptian geese are preferable to the sound of anglers shouting and swearing at each other and constantly fiddling with their alarms.

Just wondered if anybody thinks the antics of birds actually disturb the fish ? Im sure those grebes did and I'd heard tufties can be a pain but I dont fish anywhere that has more than a couple. Seagulls can be a nuisance if you're baiting up but on the whole I dont think ordinary duck,coot,swan etc affect the fish in any way.

Now if someone brought out a shotgun that fired cartridges loaded with carp pellets you could bait up at the same time as clearing the ducks out of your swim !

chrissh · Aug 16, 2018

I was plagued with 20 or more young duck the other day every cast they were their swimming into the line & pecking at my float, if I pinged some maggot out around the float it tuned into a riot

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tigger · Aug 16, 2018

S-Kippy said:
I like birds too and the sqauwking can be mighty irritating but not, I think, to the fish. Even those damned egyptian geese are preferable to the sound of anglers shouting and swearing at each other and constantly fiddling with their alarms.

Just wondered if anybody thinks the antics of birds actually disturb the fish ? Im sure those grebes did and I'd heard tufties can be a pain but I dont fish anywhere that has more than a couple. Seagulls can be a nuisance if you're baiting up but on the whole I dont think ordinary duck,coot,swan etc affect the fish in any way.

Now if someone brought out a shotgun that fired cartridges loaded with carp pellets you could bait up at the same time as clearing the ducks out of your swim !

In all honesty Skippy I don't think the birds will cause the fish to fire off elsewhere, even otters don't! I've had greabes feeding rifht infront of me and been catching a rudd or perch a chuck. Greabes only eat small stuff. The biggest swim killer is pike.
At the end of the day the fish will only return if they bolt away anyhow. If there's a load of geese infront of ypu the ammount of shyte they squeeze out will most likely attract fish, same as cattle in a cattle drink, if you get my meaning.

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

chrissh said:
I was plagued with 20 or more young duck the other day every cast they were their swimming into the line & pecking at my float, if I pinged some maggot out around the float it tuned into a riot

Yes....they can be a pain but in my experience they spook much more easily than their parents and if you stop feeding for a bit they soon hoy off to annoy somebody else. That's what I meant by birds affecting my fishing for 10 minutes or so. I dont think I've ever had birds plotted up on me all day long like those soddin grebes were yesterday.

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

tigger said:
In all honesty Skippy I don't think the birds will cause the fish to fire off elsewhere, even otters don't! I've had greabes feeding rifht infront of me and been catching a rudd or perch a chuck. Greabes only eat small stuff. The biggest swim killer is pike.
At the end of the day the fish will only return if they bolt away anyhow. If there's a load of geese infront of ypu the ammount of shyte they squeeze out will most likely attract fish, same as cattle in a cattle drink, if you get my meaning.

TBH yesterday was s tough day anyway and everybody struggled...even those not pestered by grebes. You may be right but its a shallow lake and these things zooming about cannot have helped. Got fed up with grebe liners and when my rh rod finally did roar off it was a bloody grebe. Nexf time I'm there I shall have a looksee where they are working before I decide where to fish. Never had this problem there before or anywhere else either.

I did have a random grebe on a roach deadbait once. What s scrap that was !

barbelboi · Aug 16, 2018

The estate lake at SP used to be the one Skip when I was was daft enough to get there before 9am. The advance party of Canada Geese from Black Park arriving first, about 7 or 8 of the bu99ers, then you knew that 10 minutes later the whole mouthy (beaky?) squadron would arrive aquaplaning in front of the islands to the backing of the 1812......................

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

barbelboi said:
The estate lake at SP used to be the one Skip when I was was daft enough to get there before 9am. The advance party of Canada Geese from Black Park arriving first, about 7 or 8 of the bu99ers, then you knew that 10 minutes later the whole mouthy (beaky?) squadron would arrive aquaplaning in front of the islands to the backing of the 1812......................

Yes....but the SP coots were ( are ?) probably the most aggressive coots I've ever seen. They would fight anything including those geese and usually see them off. Never affected the fishing though...when you could get a bait in the water that is before the pondweed exploded. Lovely place to fish before the weed and the carp took over. Cheers Mick !

tigger · Aug 16, 2018

S-Kippy said:
TBH yesterday was s tough day anyway and everybody struggled...even those not pestered by grebes. You may be right but its a shallow lake and these things zooming about cannot have helped. Got fed up with grebe liners and when my rh rod finally did roar off it was a bloody grebe. Nexf time I'm there I shall have a looksee where they are working before I decide where to fish. Never had this problem there before or anywhere else either.

I did have a random grebe on a roach deadbait once. What s scrap that was !

At least it put a bend in your rod, it might have been a blank otherwise

.

steve2 · Aug 16, 2018

Have hooked and landed many birds over the years have found that geese put up a good fight especially when they take to the air.
In one day last year I hooked and lost 4 cormorants on dead bait fished in 20ft of water. Pity I lost them we have a policy of not returning cormorants to the water.
Canada Geese are now considered a pest in this country and can be shot.

Jelster · Aug 16, 2018

One of my other interests is wildlife photography, and I spend a lot of time on my local lake, with the wife and our bins. It's been a real revelation in recent years, as it's now an important Heronry with over 20 nests. This year we have had Tufted Ducks, Shelducks and Mandarin's all have families as well as the regular Coot's Moorhens & Mallards. Also had a pair of Grebes this year too.

However, yesterday my float slid away and I stuck into something that turned out to be a young Tufty. Luckily the hook pulled out quickly but it gave me a bit of a shock. It must of dived behind the cover of the reeds on my left as I never saw it. He and his siblings soon shot off and didn't come back.

We also have Kites taking fish/food off of the surface as well, that's a sight to see.

S-Kippy · Aug 16, 2018

tigger said:
At least it put a bend in your rod, it might have been a blank otherwise .

I didnt land it...which was definately a Brucie Bonus.

maggot_dangler · Aug 16, 2018

Water foul ...

My all time pet hate are Canada Geese i have hooked 3 of them now all mouth and squark no bite but you hook one and the entire flock decends on you making enough noise to drown a Vulcan at full throttle out . Next hate those dang coot several times now fishing bread on the bottom to have a coot dive down grab my bait and hook then try to make off with it to find one hooked coot now they are a real pain to get off the line their claw are DANG! sharp the Stink and when the swallow your bait and hook cut and run is the best bet .

Duck can be a bit of a pain but i have found a few pouches of bread as far as possible away from your location keeps them away for a good while not met any grebes yet . Gulls they got eyes that are way too good for their own good they can see a stone or boilie out the catty heading for their backsides way too well .

PG ...

markcw · Aug 16, 2018

Buy a kids cap gun, and when they decide to come near your swim let the gun off, that usually works,
keep the gun down at the side of you and don't point it at the birds in case other anglers get the wrong idea,
and you get a visit from the local armed police,

mg:

Jeff Woodhouse · Aug 17, 2018

S-Kippy said:
Lovely place to fish before the weed and the carp took over. Cheers Mick !

Don't you mean "Lovely place to fish before the weed and the carp BOYS took over."? The weed was largely dealt with, sadly not the carp boys. Everything is bl00dy carp these days!

S-Kippy · Aug 17, 2018

Jeff Woodhouse said:
Don't you mean "Lovely place to fish before the weed and the carp BOYS took over."? The weed was largely dealt with, sadly not the carp boys. Everything is bl00dy carp these days!

I didn't Jeff. The last two seasons I fished there I struggled to catch any tench at all which was a bit disturbing given that SP was predominantly a tench water and 8-10 decent tench of a morning was eminently doable. There were always a few carp but they were usually avoidable...suddenly there seemed to be 3 times as many and it was all I could catch. Then the weed got so bad you couldnt get a bait in the water and that was enough for me.

It was a lovely place to fish and I do miss it as its just down the road for me but I've no desire to fish it for carp.

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