Is it the ducks and geese?

[Sword of the Lord]

There's a river near me that is giving me big time trouble. I rarely catch any bass here, but others report good catches and I have had some good days at different locations on this river. That part of the river that is near me looks to be bass paradise. Bridges, eddies, weeds/grass, currents and current breaks, downed and overhanging trees; just a really beautiful setting. But this area is overrun by ducks and geese and has been for decades. The area is actually nicknamed Duck Park. I'm talking a good hundred of them in about a half mile stretch. They come back year after year and people feed them. Could they be why I have no luck here? Usually I'll hit up my favorite ponds, a couple of lakes, and even a quarry, but this little strip of river is where I grew up and I'm still located near it (walking distance), so sometimes I'll venture on down. I've tried other locations too and covered about 5 miles from this spot over the course of a week without any luck, however, but it's from one dam to the next not far from the ducks and geese. The river is rated "good" for LMB and SMB and I had a 40 fish day here a few years ago. Nothing like it since. I've tried everything from soft plastics to crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and top water baits, to even inline spinners and beetle spins. There has to be SOMETHING that's up. I highly doubt it's just me because I kill it at any of my other locations just about any time I go.

[BuzzHudson19c]

The only real disturbance ducks and geese make is feces. Get enough geese in one spot and they can create a problem with the amount of poop in the water. There is a couple of big roosting areas near me that I avoid because of this. The water gets a stain on the top and the fishing isn't good.

 

Not to worry though, it's goose season and I for one am going to do my part in killing a lot of flying vermin this year.

[Oregon Native]

I have fished a couple parks with a lot of those birds too and the only real big thing to me was all the pressure that happened there.  Best lure used to be a little shad rap for me on light line.  Being a river the water should stay decent.

Good Luck

[king fisher]

Biggest rainbow trout I have ever seen in my life,(close to 20#) about 20 years ago.  Was landed by a kid on the Spokane river,   at River Front Park, which is in the middle of down town Spokane.   I didn't even know there were fish in that section of river.  There are always hundreds of ducks there eating bread crumbs, and popcorn that people throw to feed them.  This kid put a piece of popcorn on a hook and landed the monster trout.  Maybe you should try half a white Senko, and cast it into the middle of the ducks, and geese. Maybe Bass like bread crumbs and popcorn too.  If they don't I know they would love to eat any other fish, that have a taste for those snacks.

[Oregon Native]

Small fish eat crumbs...big fish eat small fish!!!!

[fishwizzard]

On 9/15/2017 at 7:51 AM, Oregon Native said:

Small fish eat crumbs...big fish eat small fish!!!!

This is a pattern I use a lot at some of the suburban ponds that I fish.  Cast just outside the duck/goose feeding frenzy to target the bass picking off the baitfish feeding under the ducks.  

 

I have yet to hook a duck, but I saw a guy do it once.  It was not a happy scene for anyone involved and I was amazed the guy's rod didn't break.  

[Paul Roberts]

Not likely. I've actually wondered the same thing. Bass notice everything and are pretty quick to sort out what's dangerous.

[WRB]

The only "ducks" that can impact a fishery are cormorants and they are not a duck. Ducks and geese are migratory water fowl and will be gone over 1/2 the year, find somewhere else to fish during duck season.

Tom

[The Bassman]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

The only "ducks" that can impact a fishery are cormorants and they are not a duck. Ducks and geese are migratory water fowl and will be gone over 1/2 the year, find somewhere else to fish during duck season.

Tom

 

Tom obviously doesn't live in my neck of the woods.  Ducks and geese are a year 'round nuisance here.

[Sword of the Lord]

I generally do fish elsewhere, Tom. It's in the original post, so I'm not going to repeat myself.

 

This thread is a week and a half old now, and I've since had some success at this river, at least this part of it. I'm a largemouth fisherman for the most part. I really don't fish rivers often. Mostly ponds and lakes for the green ones. I'm really good at plucking out the green ones, so now I'm doing more of a 50/50 so I can get accustomed to smallies and get good at catching them too.

 

OK, so, even with all of the ducks around, I've found that they're smashing topwaters. I've been killing them on the whopper plopper in still water to the side of a dam, and then fish downstream in the middle of the current. They're also hitting inline spinners fished downstream in the current. I caught my PB smallie the other day. I'm bound to do that a lot for awhile, I think, seeing as I've only targeted them for a month. 

 

That's what I've figured out though. Topwaters. No matter the time of day or the conditions. 

 

As a plus the ducks get far away from an approaching whopper plopper.

[WRB]

43 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

 

Tom obviously doesn't live in my neck of the woods.  Ducks and geese are a year 'round nuisance here.

We have a few Mallards and Canadian geese that are residents on most golf coarse ponds and lakes, otherwise the ducks and geese are migratory birds and not a nuisance.

The problem is letting people feed them, not good for the wild birds and keeps them around to become a nuisance.

I have a good roast duck and goose recipe.

Tom

[fishwizzard]

Non-migrating geese have become an issue here in MD and a few of the suburban ponds I fish have installed flashing buoys to try and deter them from overwintering. 

 

Marylanders used to be pretty good at fighting the goose menace, but we did go a little overboard in the past. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun

 

[The Bassman]

I don't know about other states but the geese here have more rights than people. If you've ever been around a pond where they congregate the smell is horrible (and hazardous for people with respiratory issues). There's even a trade that specializes in repelling them.  You're just not allowed to harm them.

[BuzzHudson19c]

15 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I don't know about other states but the geese here have more rights than people. If you've ever been around a pond where they congregate the smell is horrible (and hazardous for people with respiratory issues). There's even a trade that specializes in repelling them.  You're just not allowed to harm them.

In NY we are only allowed 3 per day during regular season for Canada geese. Snow goose is 25 per day. They need to up the limit on Canada's to at least 5. Most of the laws pertaining to waterfowl however are Federal being that they are migratory. Goose hunting is a lot of fun. Not a lot of things more satisfying than having a flock of say 10 birds come into the decoys and none of them get away. Make it rain so to speak.

 

 

[The Bassman]

Our geese would hitch hike  before they would migrate on their own. They've become domesticated. Also, just try fishing near them in early spring when they're mating. Flapping your arms and honking at them is more effective than trying to get away.  Makes for great entertainment for homeowners looking out their windows, too.

[bigbill]

My misses was going to the gym in a local mall. There's a drainage small pond that captures the runoff. She had some old bread to feed the ducks there. She told us there seems to be fish eating the bread too. We tried fishing there and caught dinks to small bass. As the years went by the bass became bigger the last trip there some were 3lbers. The ducks seem to not bother them at all. 

[IndianaFinesse]

On 9/23/2017 at 8:30 PM, The Bassman said:

Our geese would hitch hike  before they would migrate on their own. They've become domesticated. Also, just try fishing near them in early spring when they're mating. Flapping your arms and honking at them is more effective than trying to get away.  Makes for great entertainment for homeowners looking out their windows, too.

Bring a large dog, garrunteed to chase every goose out of the area.  Some companies actually pay pretty good money for someone to bring a dog to their property to chase the geese away..

[Preytorien]

On 9/23/2017 at 8:00 PM, The Bassman said:

I don't know about other states but the geese here have more rights than people. If you've ever been around a pond where they congregate the smell is horrible (and hazardous for people with respiratory issues). There's even a trade that specializes in repelling them.  You're just not allowed to harm them.

That irritates me more than any wildlife law we have. I can't figure out for the life of me why those stupid geese are still a protected species. I'm pretty sure they're not a threatened or nearly extinct animal anymore. They're everywhere. 

 

I heard a guy say that he had a problem with them on his property and used a decently strong airsoft gun against the more stubborn ones since it isn't technically a firearm and won't penetrate the skin. It got them moving pretty fast, unfortunately didn't do anything to prevent them from coming back. 

[Gundog]

7 minutes ago, Preytorien said:

That irritates me more than any wildlife law we have. I can't figure out for the life of me why those stupid geese are still a protected species. I'm pretty sure they're not a threatened or nearly extinct animal anymore. They're everywhere. 

 

I heard a guy say that he had a problem with them on his property and used a decently strong airsoft gun against the more stubborn ones since it isn't technically a firearm and won't penetrate the skin. It got them moving pretty fast, unfortunately didn't do anything to prevent them from coming back. 

Here in PA they have closed some state parks because of the amount of geese droppings in the water making it hazardous to swim in. I agree we need better management but because they migrate out of our country I think the problem isn't the state laws or even US laws but laws agreed upon between the US and Canada. I know of a landowner who has trained his german shepard to chase them off but even he says the come right back in a short time. 

[Sam]

Sword, I think the guys are lying to you and there are not bass in those waters.

[Catt]

A common practice down here is duck/goose hunting in the morning & bass/red fishing in the afternoon.

 

 

[SuperCorona]

I used to live on a golf course in the Kansas City area and there was a nice pond within 200 yds.  One mild winter there were 2 geese that stopped at the pond and stayed.  My neighbor thought it would be a good idea to start feeding them.  Every night he'd get home from work, walk down to the pond and dump out a pile of corn for them.  It didn't take long for them to be waiting for him in his backyard, which he thought was pretty cool.  Within 3 years there were 50+ geese in his backyard every afternoon and he was asking me how to get rid of them.  I laughed until they started spilling their guts in my yard and terrorizing my almost blind Sheltie.  I started shooting my pellet rifle at them as they marched up the hill from the pond.  The golf course maintenance guys would do their best to scare them off with flash bangs, wolf decoys, etc.  Nothing ever got rid of them.