Definitely Other Species ~

[A-Jay]

Had a sea gull dive bomb my topwater this morning.

The way this weeks been going, 

it's pretty much par for the course.

Took a minute to free it but the bird and I were both no worse for wear.

Used to happen all the time in the surf. 

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

You should consider yourself lucky it wasn’t this seagull that you hooked into…………

 

 

[slonezp]

Herons love topwater in these parts. 

Wifey was in the boat one day and saw a lone seagull hovering above us. She decided to feed it a Dorito against my advice. Not 30 seconds after she threw the Dorito in the water there were 100 seagulls swarming the boat. 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Herons love topwater in these parts. 

Wifey was in the boat one day and saw a lone seagull hovering above us. She decided to feed it a Dorito against my advice. Not 30 seconds after she threw the Dorito in the water there were 100 seagulls swarming the boat. 

When a seagull makes the right noise, a whole tornado of them arrives.
 

I’ve seen many herons caught and released, and a few others dead up in a tree tangled up 

[slonezp]

@A-Jay you would have been penalized for that release.

[slonezp]

11 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

When a seagull makes the right noise, a whole tornado of them arrives.
 

I’ve seen many herons caught and released, and a few others dead up in a tree tangled up 

An heron is a big bird to even attempt to release. I've learned to reel very fast once they spot the topwater. 

I've rescued numerous birds when fishing. Not from me catching them. Most had either been tangled in fishing line or fallen out of nests. Earlier this year I had the chance to rescue a red winged blackbird, from fishing line, with the help of my grandson. I'm glad he got to see it and help. I'm trying to instill in his head that we kill nothing unless we are going to eat it...and even though papa hates red winged blackbirds, they still deserve to live...and papa hates red winged blackbirds.  

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

An heron is a big bird to even attempt to release. I've learned to reel very fast once they spot the topwater. 

I've rescued numerous birds when fishing. Not from me catching them. Most had either been tangled in fishing line or fallen out of nests. Earlier this year I had the chance to rescue a red winged blackbird, from fishing line, with the help of my grandson. I'm glad he got to see it and help. I'm trying to instill in his head that we kill nothing unless we are going to eat it...and even though papa hates red winged blackbirds, they still deserve to live...and papa hates red winged blackbirds.  

Haha! Now how does a person develop a hatred for a red winged blackbird? Just curious, my wife loves them 

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Haha! Now how does a person develop a hatred for a red winged blackbird? Just curious, my wife loves them 

When you have half a dozen or more waking you up at zero-dark-thirty with that grating metallic sounding call.

 

Make me want to load the 12 gauge.

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

When you have half a dozen or more waking you up at zero-dark-thirty with that grating metallic sounding call.

 

Make me want to load the 12 gauge.

I forgot you live on a swamp island! 
 

mockingbirds do that here. They tell you in college that almost all birds go to sleep at night, but the real world begs to differ. I’ve seen blue herons hunting all night long, with some squaking 

[slonezp]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Haha! Now how does a person develop a hatred for a red winged blackbird? Just curious, my wife loves them 

They are very aggressive during nesting season. I've been attacked more than once because I was fishing too close. 

[T-Billy]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve seen blue herons hunting all night long, with some squaking 

They like to wait until you get directly under their roost at night to take off screeching. They think it's funny to make fisherman ? their pants.

[MN Fisher]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I forgot you live on a swamp island! 
 

mockingbirds do that here. They tell you in college that almost all birds go to sleep at night, but the real world begs to differ. I’ve seen blue herons hunting all night long, with some squaking 

It's not really a swamp island...very hilly. I am in a bit of a hollow, but still about 20' above nominal water level in the lake. We do have a slough about 1/2 a block from me, but again it's well below our level.

[Drawdown]

20 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I am in a bit of a hollow, but still about 20' above nominal water level in the lake. We do have a slough about 1/2 a block from me, but again it's well below our level.

Places like that, you have to name your firstborn Skeeter to pacify the gods.

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, Drawdown said:

Places like that, you have to name your firstborn Skeeter to pacify the gods.

No kids and with me going on 63 and the wife being 57....I think we're past the child-creating years...

[Bluebasser86]

I cut a blue heron out of a limb line this past weekend. They're not friendly birds.

[TnRiver46]

On 9/13/2022 at 12:20 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I cut a blue heron out of a limb line this past weekend. They're not friendly birds.

That was brave!!

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That was brave!!

He was in a bad way, couldn't just leave it, even as much as I dislike them.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YSnVKSuH9wQ?feature=share

[Woody B]

I had an osprey dive after a devils horse a month of so ago.  I jerked it away before it got to it.  The bird turned toward my boat following the lure, but finally turned away.  

 

A muskrat got tangled up in my line once.   I had pitched a spinnerbait under a dock.  The muskrat started swimming in the direction of my line and dove under water.  Sure enough I felt it on my line.  It was really strong, but came loose after a few seconds.  It was 10 feet or so from the bait, just caught in the line, instead of being hooked.   

 

Good job freeing the bird with no injuries.  

[ironbjorn]

Y'all are paying attention to the seagull but I'm listening to A-Jay and didn't know he knew those words ?

[N Florida Mike]

My dad was casting off a pier once and hooked a sea gull flying by. At first he wasn’t sure what was going on as his line was going up instead of down. 

The bird put up a commendable fight….

Biggest thing we caught that day.

We had to hold it with a towel to stop it from pecking and slashing…. 

[slonezp]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:13 AM, N Florida Mike said:

My dad was casting off a pier once and hooked a sea gull flying by. At first he wasn’t sure what was going on as his line was going up instead of down. 

The bird put up a commendable fight….

Biggest thing we caught that day.

We had to hold it with a towel to stop it from pecking and slashing…. 

Did dad cook it up and tell the family it was chicken?

[N Florida Mike]

No. One of the few times he didn’t keep something. His idea of “ catch and release “ was catch and release into the  ice chest…?.

Older Appalachian men didn’t throw much back in those days…

[TnRiver46]

On 9/16/2022 at 6:15 AM, ironbjorn said:

Y'all are paying attention to the seagull but I'm listening to A-Jay and didn't know he knew those words ?

Ummmm, he’s from Massachusetts……….. it’s standard issue for his make and model