Fish preditors

[duffy4]

I was out at a trout stocked lake the other day. It has been stocked recently and I could see small trout jumping about here and there.

Saw a number of "fish preditors"

1. Loons
2. Am Otter (saw it eating a fish)
3. Great blue heron
4. A cormorant
5. An Osprey which I saw dive into the water but apparently missed this time.

6. I saw terns flying around and didn't think they would be bothering trout, till I saw one dive and catch a fish too big to swallow right off. It flew and another tern tryed to steal the fish from it and the fish dropped to the water and escaped.

7. Also saw kingfishers and again do not think they would bother trout but I could be wrong if the stocked fingerlings are small enough.

8. Then there are the BIGGER trout down in the lake when the fingerlings are stocked. I wonder how many of the new trout get eaten by the big residents.

9. There may well be mink in the area but I didn't see any or any tracks.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by duffy4

I was out at a trout stocked lake the other day. It has been stocked recently and I could see small trout jumping about here and there. Be careful about the observation. Small fish jumping could be any number of different kinds of minnows. You have to see the parr marks to be absolutely sure.

Saw a number of "fish preditors"

1. Loons (will eat trout to 18 inches but they have to be weakened to catch...I am sure anything under 12 inches is good prey. Loons also eat minnows, suckers etc.)
2. Am Otter (saw it eating a fish) An otter can not catch a healthy fish in the open lake. They have to trap it along the shore or in a creek. It could be a sucker this time of year as they congregated for spawning recently)
3. Great blue heron (any small fish, frogs, amphibians etc. coming within reach will be eaten. Hard for them to catch trout as they tend to stay out deeper and the bigger ones are hard to eat.)4. A cormorant (will eat anything they can catch. I worked on a stomach sampling of cormorants from Newell... They ate a lot of fish but not really big.
5. An Osprey which I saw dive into the water but apparently missed this time. They can only catch fish to a certain size. To big and they will go under.

6. I saw terns flying around and didn't think they would be bothering trout, till I saw one dive and catch a fish too big to swallow right off. It flew and another tern tryed to steal the fish from it and the fish dropped to the water and escaped. Maybe very small fish but most likely eating bugs.

7. Also saw kingfishers and again do not think they would bother trout but I could be wrong if the stocked fingerlings are small enough. Only small fish...fingerlings are small enough
8. Then there are the BIGGER trout down in the lake when the fingerlings are stocked. I wonder how many of the new trout get eaten by the big residents. Big trout and little trout usually inhabit different niches and therefore do not interact a ton. Predation can happen but not in a severe way.
9. There may well be mink in the area but I didn't see any or any tracks.

... Mink will only catch small fish along the shoreline under rocks etc. So will grebes and merganzers and some diving ducks. Not a huge predator of trout with the exception of some predation on fingerlings.

F&W usually take that into account when stocking fingerlings and larger trout. The biggest predator of larger trout in a smaller put and take lake is people. Mount Laurette ponds is a prime example. Within 2 weeks of stocking the lake is devoid of trout.

Cheers

Sun

[Sartorius]

Don't forget seagulls! When I watched Spring Lake being stocked, the seagulls flocked and tried to catch them, since the trout were all swimming around at the surface. I saw two trout get captured. Luckily, seagulls aren't great fishermen....er, fisherbirds!

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Sartorius

Don't forget seagulls! When I watched Spring Lake being stocked, the seagulls flocked and tried to catch them, since the trout were all swimming around at the surface. I saw two trout get captured. Luckily, seagulls aren't great fishermen....er, fisherbirds!

The only time I have seen seagulls eating trout is when you have them on the line and tired and laying on the surface. One of my kids had a fish on when he was 6. I was just waiting for him to crank the 12 inch rainbow in and turned to watch a fish rising... Upon looking back to see where the fish was I followed the line from the rod up into the air... A gull has snatched the trout. A little tug and the trout was back in the water.

Smart gull though...

[italk2u]

...and don't forget that most prolific fisherman of them all the pesky pelican purloining those poor pescadors at Hermitage park...right keeks?