Lure Chasing Birds

[edleigh7]

Hey guys, I was fishing in the Nerang river on Sunday, with a frog patterned popper for Bass, I moved up to another pool, flicking away, when suddenly WHOOOSH:o , this kookaburra came out of nowhere trying to get my lure. The next cast he hovered over the lure until, I guess, he realised it wasn't a frog. I didn't fool the Bass but I temporarily fooled the kookaburra. Just wondering has anyone else had this experience with lure chasing birds.;D

Ed

[B_E_N]

well atleast your catching something! ive had a greedy kormorent (spelling?) take our live poddy not once but twice within 30min, thought i had 2 good fish to see a bird pop outta the water

[edleigh7]

OK Ben I'll bite....who is Barry Dawson:-/

Ed

[B_E_N]

haha Barry Dawson is ....THE COUGAR! here barry practices the skillfull art of speediness

Never seen the cougar ads on tv?

10772

[Little grey men]

I was fishing with my cousin when he cast his line out and hooked a seagull through the breast while it was flying. The thing was squarking and flapping all over the place, feathers everywhere. Heaps of people crowded around so I just pretended I didn't know him for ten minutes.
Not a good look.

[B_E_N]

yeh you always feel bad once you hook a bird, we have got them spinning for tuna before, but the thing that gets me was these black birds (forget what they are called) wer sitting on the water in the middle of a bait ball while large tuna tore up the water around them? so it was hard to avoid them, luckily the one wwe did hook seemed unharmed

[edleigh7]

I was fishing with my cousin when he cast his line out and hooked a seagull through the breast while it was flying. The thing was squarking and flapping all over the place, feathers everywhere. Heaps of people crowded around so I just pretended I didn't know him for ten minutes.
Not a good look.

As much as i hate seagulls a similar thing happened to me at Lake Eucumbene and of course the ranger was nearby::) and on his way over to investigate. Luckily i freed the bird but still got interrogated::) . I agree not a good look.

Thanks Ben I have seen Barry Dawson before mate, funny guy;D

Ed

[Dan5]

Yeah i had a sea eagle swoop down and snatch my gold bomber once and i hooked a goonybird on the backcast the poor bastard got reefed out of the air at high speed.Dan..........

[Dirtysanchez]

Not lures, but baits, on many occasions..
We used to fish deep with heavy snapper lead years ago, and one of the guys burleyed up, and a huge flock of mutton birds arrived.
I put a whole pilly on a gang set up and hit the lever on the overhead to send it down, and the mutton bird dove under and grabbed it, but the lead was too heavy, so it kept going :D

After a short struggle we got it to the surface and got a rag over it's head and freed the silly bludger.

More recently a seagull down Tullabudgera grabbed a strip of pike I had put on, and it went apeshit. Seagulls have very pointy beaks and should be avoided at all costs :(

[catfishkid]

At Inskip Point about a month ago we had birds chasing gold and pink slugs we were throwing at small tuna/bonito.
I have also had birds taking unweighted pillies,you have to wait for the birds to fly one way then cast in the opposite direction.

Cheers Craig

[BLOOEY]

Yep caught seagulls on a stickbait and a slug.Caught gannets and albatross on soft plastics,and a shag on a fish that i was bringing in.Also had sea eagles steal flathead and mullet that i have hooked.Not very nice but you cant do much about it most of the time.Ben

[edleigh7]

At Inskip Point about a month ago we had birds chasing gold and pink slugs we were throwing at small tuna/bonito.
I have also had birds taking unweighted pillies,you have to wait for the birds to fly one way then cast in the opposite direction.

Cheers Craig

Thats amazing Craig about the slugs...its always the way with unweighted pillies though::) Keep the stories coming...its interesting that not only do lures fool fish but the birds too;D even though it may be unpleasant for the bird and/or us :(

Ed

[bballfisho]

caught a gannet while trolling a halco off noosa once.
they are big nasty birds up close.

[flairj]

I was fishing for Flathead in the Clarence river once and cast out a deep diving hard body lure and had a Tern (?) dive out of the sky and grab the lure while it was motionless on the surface.

Such a pain to unhook too:(

Josh

[loophole]

caught an eagle on a nice dart i hooked while fishing at fraser. i had caught the dart and was bringing him in he was surfing the waves in and a big eagle spotted him;D from his nest up at the top of the dunes. came down grab the dart with his claws and started to fly away>:( i yanked back on my rod and the dart came falling down to the ground when i unhooked him he had a nice gash and some puncture wounds to his side:'( poor bugger!

[akman1]

I've had water monitor lizards chase after surface lures when trying for bass,you get the lure back as quick as possible cause they have good claws and wouldnt want to tangle with one of them after seeing them fight each other!!

[LIVE_2_FiSH]

good stories

didnt happen to me
but was at caloundra one time and this other fella had a large live biddy out. bloody bird swooped for it
and flew as if nothing was wrond. dead set it travelled like 5om or so before it even realised it was hooked. even then it didnt give up its meal to easily.
when he finally got the bait free he chucked it out as a dead bait and AGAIN the bird swooped on it
happened atleast 3 times. im thinking... STUPID BIRD do you want to live
:P

L2F

[Slider]

Gannets can be painful at times hitting spinners in the surf and the lice they can leave on you after what is usually a traumatic release for both bird and angler, aren't all that pleasant either. I've found that it is mostly the juvenile birds that hit the lures as the adults have probably already learnt the lesson.

I notice in recent years that terns have become very shy of cast lines. When casting slugs at mackerel and tuna, the first sight they get of a lure or line in the air causes them to abandon that school and look for another. 10 years ago they would tend to hang around and tangles with birds were much more common.

Lindsay

[edleigh7]

I've had water monitor lizards chase after surface lures when trying for bass,you get the lure back as quick as possible cause they have good claws and wouldnt want to tangle with one of them after seeing them fight each other!!

We've even expanded to lure chasing lizards now!!;D Thats amazing...I don't think I'd like to tussle with a water monitor...maybe i should change the name to lure chasing anythings but fish!!

Hey Slider...good to hear that the terns are learning, better for all parties...dare i say it...the tide has terned!!::) ::)

Ed

[sharkymark2]

Caught a pelican when I was much younger than today.:-X:-X They should be renamed Javelin birds>:(. That beak of theirs sure inflicted some damage;D

[Slider]

Haha Ed - very good. Only prob is that when the mackerel in particular are around then so too are a lot of slug throwing rec guys. It becomes a race for the birds to get to the feeding schools before the anglers and as a result the terns are spending a lot of time flying and not so much time feeding (in more heavily populated areas). The other down side is that the terns seem to help keep the mackerel and tuna and also tailor in feeding mode when they're feeding themselves. The fish seem to spook more easily after the terns have bolted.

[bennykenny]

i had a similar experience when i was doing a bit of whiting fishing i had a couple of rods set and a kingfisher, similar to a kookaburra but smaller, kept diving down and attacking my line where it entered the water, it must have looked like an insect or a small fish or something, but he would grab my line and try to fly off with it but then drop it, but he wouldnt learn and just kept comming back for another go

[moater]

Yeah,Years ago while spinning for trout in the Macalister River here in Victoria I had a kingfisher dive on my Celta a few times..never connected but plucked at the lure a few times..damned persistent!::)

[sjp2]

slider i think you've hit the nail on the head with the last post ,its all about the fish and birds adapting to another predator,thelast couple of seasons ivenoticed the fish seem a lot more outboard shy and the birds actually lead you awayfrom the school or disperse a lot faster when i approach then before

[Slider]

You'd swear sometimes that the terns are 'throwing a dummy' by all heading to a school and then as you approach, they hoick off 500 metres away to another school leaving you with nothing to work with. As you say sjp, the fish are more outboard shy lately and I've noticed that tailor in the surf here are spooking like never before. Interesting topic - but for another thread.
Had a whistling kite dive in at Waldron Ck Weipa, take my live poddy and fly off at high speed, burning my thumb on the spool for about 100 metres before dropping it. The poddy was a bit worse for wear but he went back in and returned a nice jack. Mind you, it doesn't matter too much what you throw in that creek.

Lindsay

[barrafever]

Have had the Brahminy Kite try and take the live mullet before much to my dads amusement. The most humorous i have seen though was up at lake monduran. We were in one of the shallow bays flicking lures and i overshot a cast which left the line dangling over a branch and just above the water. while i was jiggling it trying to flick it off this water dragon (lizard) came running from the bank, climbed out along the branches and jumped onto my lure. thankfully it didnt get hooked and just dropped off into the water. was very funny to see though. most embarrassing moment goes to my mum. We were at burrum heads fishin of the beach and there was a wedding ceremony taking place not 50metres from us on the beach when mum hooked a seagull with her cast. attracted quite a crowd much to her embrassment but we all had a good ol laugh about it

[edleigh7]

looks like that 2 for the water dragons;D some interesting stories for sure

Ed