SEAGULL POO!

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

Now don`t laugh but i have a question for anyone who may have a sensible answer. The local water i fish has loads of gulls on it at this time of year, the flocks can number as many as 400+ birds that foat around in one big mass at night, the water is also very shallow (no more than 8ft deep anywhere). So the question is this : if the birds are all floating and i presume pooing in the same area what effect does all that highly accidic pooh have on the lake bed and my carefully spodded out bed of bait?

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

why do you think the fish dissapear in winter? they dissolve!
i wouldnt worry about it

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

Ah but i do worry about it! my fishing time is very limited Dave and i like to be sure of all the variables before i set out . I know it may sound like a dumb question to many but i ask you this would you settle down and eat your tea in a relaxed manner if it were raining pooh on you? not to mention the the localised difference in ph levels, how much vinegar on your chips?? the lake in question has very little if any under-tow and a very regular sandy bottom.

Rob Heath · Dec 3, 2003

I think the acid content in the pooh would be neutralised by the water mate !!

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

we are talking about a conentrated area on a shallow lake mate ,the way i see it is that it must make a difference but would love some proof that it doesn`t.

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

limited time? i havent been for over a month, and normally do one 10hr overnighter a week. if i'm lucky!

the only way you'll get proof is to take some litmus paper and test the acidity. put a tea spoon of vineager in a cup of water (and vineager is loads more acidic than seagull pooh!) and i bet you cant taste it, and it wouldnt change the acidity that much.

do you ph balance your baits and use amino's? if not, then its academic. carp are one of the hardiest fish there are (they can survive in brackish water) and will go where the food is. silt tends to be more acidic, do you worry about that? chalky/sandy area's are more alkali, which is just as bad as being too acidic.....

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

Thanx dave , that is exactly the kind of response i was seeking when i opened this thread ie: a well informed oppinion to counter my ill informed paranoia, in resects to amount of time people get to fish i think we would all like as much time as possible wouldn`t we?

jason fisher · Dec 3, 2003

one thing is it contains a lot of nitrates, which are bad for water quality,
that's why they used to use guano as fertiliser.
the result is that if you put a very large ammount into a depleted water volume it could reduce the oxygen levels in the water.
nitrosomnas bacteria are required to break down the nitrate, this could mean that you're in for a big algal bloom when it starts to warm up again if we don't get plenty of rain.
this could be detrimental to the health of the fish in the long run.

jason fisher · Dec 3, 2003

my recommendation would be to save the fish and keep warm on the long cold nights by running up and down the bank waving your arms in the air and shouting, thereby scaring the seagulls off of the water.
though it may increase the guano levels in the short term.

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

well jason the lake has indeed suffered badly from massive blue green algae blooms in the past and the local yacht club have reportedly killed a lot of the weed off, i dont know how they did this but due to the lack of mounds of rotting weeds i would say that a mechanical method wasn`t used.

Oscar The Grouch · Dec 3, 2003

I cant believe you just compared putting vinegar on your chips to Seagull poo! You've put me right off my lunch!!

Jasons got a good point, I would be more worried about the nutrient content rather than the ph.

The increased nutrient level, esp phosphorus would probably have a localised effect on various forms of plant-life.

Have you actually tried casting a lead around that area to see whats on the bottom compared to areas the seagulls dont frequent?

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

barley straw bales contain a bacteria that like the algae bloom. oxygen levels arent really a problem this time of year because of wind/rain. did the gulls used to visit the water?

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

it`s the same as 90%of the rest of the lake ie: flat muddy coarse sand with the odd pocket of silt that contain a fair amount of blood worm.... actually if the water quality is good enough for the blood worm then it must be ok in general . i think i just answered my own question.

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

yes dave there have always been gulls but in the last three years or so the flocks have become much bigger and more frequent in their visits also they stay for a lot longer than they used to , we are only thirty miles from south coast so the gulls must use us as a safe haven when it`s too rough at sea .

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

i used to fish a water that had a rubbish dump about a mile away...first crack of the catty or throwing stick and flocks would descend!

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

oh definatly mate the buggers almost line up and take turns at grabbing the baits just as they touch the water, even multiples out of a stick are treated the same ,the only thing to do is lob a few baits in another direction and hope you have time to get some out where you actually need to put them.

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

spod. or bait up after dark

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

yeah ,although i was reading latest t/c and saw the article about boilie balls / slingshots, which looked like it may work on our water well worth looking into i though.

Dave Rothery · Dec 3, 2003

problem is they still stop as they hit the water, giving a diving seagull time to get to the bait.....

kevin brooks · Dec 3, 2003

another good point i hadn`t considered. I suppose i will have to use the bait boat but i dont really like using it for anything less than 100 yards or when i am trying to get to island margin features.

SEAGULL POO!

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