Cormorant

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AveryPC

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I got to get out and fish Old Hickory today and did not even have a nibble, even in spots that used to never disappoint. I've noticed a lot of cormorants on the lake recently and have also seen multiple blue gill with gashes down them that look to be caused by them or herons. Could cormorants be leading to a decline in fish?
 
7mm08

7mm08

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AveryPC said:
I got to get out and fish Old Hickory today and did not even have a nibble, even in spots that used to never disappoint. I've noticed a lot of cormorants on the lake recently and have also seen multiple blue gill with gashes down them that look to be caused by them or herons. Could cormorants be leading to a decline in fish?
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Adult cormorant eats on average ONE pound of fish per day. Those bastidges are a protected species for some reason.

IMHO yes they are the top two or three reasons for the decline in fish populations.
 
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Gvit

Gvit

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I was running Eco-Tours part time when it was going on - literally saw dozens floating in the marsh when I was out. I'm sure I would've seen a lot more but it was in the middle of winter & we only operated 2 days a week until Spring.
 
WTM

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adam martin said a couple of years ago in his study they mostly eat shad, some asian carp and some drum on ky lake. he said if their populations explode then it probably will affect gamefish but their hands will be tied. right now at worst some of the tree islands would be converted to grassy islands. probably doesnt bode well for cypress trees.
 
WTM

WTM

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TheLBLman said:
I take this is simply a case of the feds over-protecting a particular species to the point of greatly and negligently compromising many other species?
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i think the federal judge that stopped US fish and game wanted clear proof that they were harming game fish pooulations. they never provided it and kind of got lost in the cracks.

of the 900 birds adam martin stomach sampled only like 15 had one crappie and a half dozen had a couple of fingerling bass.

i imagine he will stay on top of it at least for north ky lake. the twra biologists seem to be pretty much useless, imo.
 
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megalomaniac

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They really helped my 7ac lake on my lease. When we got that lease 5y ago, it hadn't been fished in forever. A normal 2-3 hours fishing was 50-60 bass, all starved near death and scary skinny. I threw all the bass over the spillway, but there weren't many other members fishing, so it didn't really make a difference.

2 years ago we had a couple comorants spend the entire winter on the lake. They ate about 90% of the bass in just 4 months before moving off. Now the bass are fat as stink and getting much larger.
 

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NumberOne

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The number of cormorants on KY lake the last 6 years tells me they aren't feeding on bass primarily. No way the population could be sustained with the 78 bass in KY lake through those years haha
 

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