Birds Attacking Your Topwater Lures

[Diggy]

Isn't this one of the most annoying things when it comes to fishing? I'm talking about when there seems to be a flock that wont take no for an answer. I had to take the lure off within a few casts or 'Id be flying live kites all day.  Ducks (normal ugly Florida type) usually leave me alone except for one or 2 random breeds that seem to chase lures. 

[Sam]

Never had that happen to me.

 

Have heard of birds flying down and hitting the lure and then flying away with it or the time my friend casted out and hit a goose.

 

Ducks and geese usually stay away from us fishermen unless it is on a pond where the public feeds them and they come swimming over looking for a handout.

[JeziHogg]

Bring a .410 with u next time

[BassinLou]

Sea gulls. Annoying at times. There's a park I fish close to my house and I can be doing some top water work and gulls will appear from out of no where and dive down to my bait. I literally, have to wait when they are out of sight before I can cast again or they will turn around and start over.

[Megastink]

I had a bird once try and pick up my pop-r off the surface. He was hovering over my bait and I said to myself, "Hes not gonna..." Then he dive-bombed it. And missed (thank God!).

 

It happens sometimes.

[Bass Junkie]

I've had them chase top waters, especially during the fall... Normally they veer off, but sometimes... I have landed and released a goose.

[WRB]

If birds like the lure, you are working it the right way. We have problems occasionally with Osprey's attacking trout type swimbaits when you cast just as the lure hits the water, they time it perfectly and it's hard to see them make the dive, you just need to be aware when they are around. The standard water birds like grebes, cormorants, gulls are usually not a problem.

Tom

[J Francho]

I find it's usually the younger gulls that are the biggest problem, along with the occasional kingfisher.  When that happens, I switch to a suspending jerkbait, keeping just subsurface with upward twitches.

[Stork]

Had this problem several times. It's always a sea gull and it's always after my super spook jr.

Usually with a popper its the turtles I have to watch out for.

[Loop_Dad]

Not a top water, but I had a jig chased (not eaten) by a big water bird (Pelican?) I was working my jig, and just when I was about to pick it up by my feet, I saw this huge thing following. It made a quick u-turn and I saw a bird. It look like a dinosaur bird flying under water. I jumped a couple of inches off the ground.

[PondBoss]

Had  Kingfisher dive and pick up my Sammy, luckily didn't get hooked.

[craww]

Ive caught a blue heron once that snagged my Sammy. Foul hooked a Canadian goose throwing X-walk 13's at stripers.

[TriCityBassin']

True story.  My buddy and I were fishing a tournament on Lake Gaston in Va.  A Hawk came down ever so slow like an attack Helicopter and grabbed his floating worm from just below the surface.   The bird lifted back up and gently landed on the dock.  He yanked and yanked but the bird defiantly stood on one foot holding onto the bait.  For at least 30s ~10 yds from the boat.  Wish I had a camera running!

[tomustang]

We have big hawks around here, they wouldn't go after a puny 5" bait I throw out to eat

[OkobojiEagle]

I've had to carefully bring down a gull in flight caught in my topwater line... twice.  I'm glad I had a landing net, gulls can be nasty at close range.

 

oe

[wademaster1]

I hooked a bat when it grabbed my lure when I cast it. It swam to shore so erratically on top of the water, I was expecting a MONSTER bass to kill it, but it never happened.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

No problems with birds but I almost hooked an otter once.  It swam into the middle of my line and as it kept swimming it was pulling my frog closer and closer to it.  The frog eventually bumped into him and he went under and took off.  The otter didn't get hooked though.  Im just lucky I was fishing a frog and not something with treble hooks.

[Sodus Bay Scooter]

My friend ended up hooking a seagull and flew it around like a kite before he could get it in. During that time the bird was going nuts and ALL these other birds started swarming over the boat like the movie the birds. My friend actually has the first part of the event on video on his fb page.

[tomustang]

I've had to carefully bring down a gull in flight caught in my topwater line... twice.  I'm glad I had a landing net, gulls can be nasty at close range.

 

oe

They are aggressive and do whatever they want

[NILBasser]

I had an owl come down and hit the water trying to get my Zara Spook. Luckily he missed by about 3in so didn't get hooked. Then he sat there in the water for a few seconds, lifted up and landed on a boat lift 20ft from my partner and I. I had to take a pic with my phone, and thankfully I had someone with me to verify the story. I never would have believed it if I wasn't there.

[Teal]

Not birds but fishing as night time, it was bats ! Everyting you load up to cast they were giving flybys.

[Felix77]

Had a bird chase my worm when I casted it out. It missed the worm but got the line and it nose dived into the water. I had to reel it in and clip of as much line as I could. It was the best thing I caught that day. Priceless moment.

[Maico1]

Early in the morning with a mist on the water I have had attacks on TopWater baits from both Osprey's and RedTail's . Now my biggest worry is, the Loons chasing my Swimbaits........ 

[Bluebasser86]

I had a very large owl pick up my musky jitterbug night fishing and get hooked in the foot. After a confusing fight for both of us I'm sure he crash landed in some sticker bushes and the hook pulled out when he took off again. Seagulls are a huge annoyance during the winter when I'm wiper fishing with live shad. Often times a free lined shad will make for the surface when it's being chased by a wiper and sometimes the gulls get them first. Never hooked one but never have gotten a shad back from one either.

[BassinB]

I've hooked pelicans, gulls, bats, a loon one time, 2 beavers, and a gosling whose parents were very unhappy with me, but none of them were as angry while I unhooked them as my fishin partner