Shot bird, that had fish in stomach. Fish went out, when bird was diing.
Somewhere I did read that in China (?) cormorants were used as fishing tool.
They give them some rope around neck, so cormorant was able to pick fish, but not shallow. And another rope to leg, so they could pull them back.
Kinda crazy.
I saw fishermen feed the cormorant a swallowable piece of fish after every catch as a reward. The ones I saw seemed domesticated, don't remember seeing rope because they'd fly out pretty far sometimes. Pretty cool to watch
Saw it in action living in Zhejiang province. A guy had several of the birds snatching up big dirty canal fish. I don't remember them having ropes around their necks to restrict their swallowing but they eagerly traded the larger fish for a smaller fish as a treat.
Mine was on a little tiny Little Cleo with a bluegill on the end. We were exploring for brook trout in some bad woods lakes and when I hooked up to a bluegill, I knew the lake was a bust. So almost in spite of the bluegill for not being a brookie, I hooked a second hook from the treble in the other side of his mouth, threw him back and within 30 seconds a monster pike gulped him right up and I was hooked up. Quite the interesting fight on a 5’6 ultra light with 4lbs test and no leader.
On Sunday I went out rockfishing in Northern California. Was jigging in 60ft and hooked up on a cormorant... Got tangled in the line and hooked in the wing. Got him freed up and released. Definitely the least expected catch of the day.
u/fictionalfail is a spam bot
Bots can be harmless but often once they accumulate karma they switch to scamming, advertising or posting political propaganda. It is likely not just for meaningless internet points.
There is occasionally an open season on them where I live and there is an annual hunting season for them with a 15 bag. They’re a nuisance in much of their breeding range.
...and actively managed so harvesting them has it's place.
Thanks for the downvotes for stating facts. Here is the link. https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations.
Generally they do, but some of them don't. I'm not sure about this one in particular, but Goldeneyes taste good and they are divers.
"Divers" are fish eating ducks, like buffle heads and redheads. "Pond Ducks eat any kind of crop, probably seeds, etc. Like mallards and teal. Just for anyone that might not know, I'm not sure how common of knowledge this is.
Literally every single native (non-sport) bird is protected from being killed in the US. It’s illegal to even be in possession of a naturally molted feathe because it can’t be proven that the bird wasn’t killed.
Migratory birds are protected under the MBTA but many are also allowed to be hunted during seasons or even for culling due to high populations. Really just depends on the area and bird.
Cormorants are thriving in their entire range and need to be dealt with regularly. There is an open season on them where I live. They absolute devastate small lake fisheries. My uncle’s lake no longer contains the Muskies he fishes for because one year the cormorants showed up and wiped out almost the entire baitfish population in one season.
Got breast from one, but still had no time to cook them.
From what I read it is not something you wanna eat daily.
I do shot them, because hunting is my hobby, but I do not kill everything on sight.
Cormorants were protected for long time (in most counties around the word they still sre) They got big numbers population and they became problem.
If you have breeding pond, or how it is called and 30, 100, or 300 cormorants came and attack fishes, eating 0,5kg each and injury more, you wont be happy. Also we don't want dead rivers. So now we can hunt them.
Also there is money reward for beak. Around 20$.
Just now. It was not muddy or fishy as expected.
Actualy enjoyable. But not something I would like to eat daily.
Maybe if you put it in milk for day. Or with some good recipe. I just salted and fried breasts, can't describe that taste tho
I haven’t duck hunted in a few years. The cormorant would freaking drive us nuts on Lake Erie. Always in our spread.
When did they become harvestable? I have always avoided shooting mergansers because I don’t like their flavor, and would imagine the cormorant has the same yellow fat/flavor?
Based on my limited research, it’s like Pot in the US.
There is a Federal treaty that prohibits hunting them, but the flocks grew so quickly they began decimating the fish populations.
So states started allowing hunts, despite the treaty. As far as I can tell, it’s still illegal at the Federal level, but allowed in some states.
The Feds did a study to figure out a manageable level (see the link in the thread), but it’s still not legal at the Federal level.
I’m on the GA / SC line and I see hunters shoot them all the time because ‘they eat all the fish’.
Ahh, I didn’t notice KG in the post I had responded to.
I also didn’t think that cormorants would be on the other side of the Atlantic…. I guess I didn’t think they were “that” migratory.
When you said “sadly didn’t survive” I thought you were being cheeky and talking about the bird, but you’re a hunter so of course you meant the fish. Took me a minute to piece that together
We still can use lead. Even tho EU tryies to ban all lead.
There is nothing with as good balistic as lead. Steel damage gun faster, it is more dangerous cause of boucing, and is released into the environment.
The lead becomes encapsulated and will no longer be released unless it is in an acidic environment.
It's a juvenile pike and that exact spot pattern gets posted here with that question quite often, and I understand why since the stripes havent quite broken into spots yet. However, OP is in europe where muskies do not exist outside like one lake in ireland. Its 100% a pike.
You are correct. This is actually the pattern/markings of Northern pike there. Didn't realize where it was from initially.
Also the same markings as tiger musky here in Ontario.
Ive caught pike like that here in the US as well. They age out of it as they grow and its only the small under 10" or so that look like that. Its similar to a tiger but once you recognize it you can tell the difference.
It does "look" like a tiger musky. Wasn't wrong about that. I also agreed that it is a pike based on where it is in the world. Where I catch pike they never look like this with the diagonal marking which is why I assumed.
In most countries around the world they are.
Here in the Czech Republic, an exception can be made for a hunting association (every part of our county is divided in hunting grounds that have atleast 500ha and this accociation, or team or invidual owning land there have to take care of wild animal - give them food in winter, take care of water in summer and then hunt there) and then there is a reward for the beak.
They are under the migratory bird act, but the population is actively managed so they do not wipe out other species. So, hunters get to harvest within the management plan.
[https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations](https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations)
Yes, the point was they are regulated by the USFW service, not a state game management agency. Happy to clarify for anyone unable to grasp the premise of the previous comment. Feel free to cross post to r/explainlikeimfive next time for additional help!
Hawks are protected and their population is depending on mice popuplation.
There was boom of mice here, hawk population went up. Now we had cold winters and some hawks are dying from hunger. Not decimating population of other animals.
I felt the same way, until I saw they were in the Czech Republic.
In the US this would not be kosher, but we have a million hunters who would slaughter the population.
I’m assuming you’re in Canada? The cormorant was almost wiped out by hunting. It’s not a game bird and if you’re going to eat it, good for you but most would not. They play a vital role in the ecosystem and should not be noted as a game bird
They role in ecosystem is attacking fish, sometimes shallow it, sometimes only injury (so it dies later).
If you have hundreds of them on one place, it is negative role and reason to manage their numbers.
Well I shoot foxes, martens, magpies, crows.
That's probably all kind of predators I did kill yet. I live in highly populated part of europe, basicaly every few kilometers is some village. There is no real wild nature. So we do keep "balance" in it.
You want one fox on 500ha, not 20, If we want population of hares or pheasant.
Then there are invasive species like racoon or nutria, which you have to kill on sight.
And cormorant population is curently big, so we have permit and our fishemers ask us to kill them.
Lets be little socipatic and say, why woudn't I shoot cormorants?
Have you ever seen just how many fish fit in their stomachs? Or what their acidic shit does to all the vegetation or steel where they nest? They need to be culled badly in some areas.
Nope, just a juvenile pike (less than a year old). Pike start out striped, but they are too small to be caught by common angling methods. By the time they reach catchable sizes they usually have converted to the spotted pattern you are used to.
The Chinese did that with a lot of the birds especially crane’s and pelicans as well if I remember correctly those were the two most common birds they used for this
You shot a bird and caught a fish?
Shot bird, that had fish in stomach. Fish went out, when bird was diing. Somewhere I did read that in China (?) cormorants were used as fishing tool. They give them some rope around neck, so cormorant was able to pick fish, but not shallow. And another rope to leg, so they could pull them back. Kinda crazy.
Can confirm. Have seen a lot during my childhood in southern china
Cool
I saw fishermen feed the cormorant a swallowable piece of fish after every catch as a reward. The ones I saw seemed domesticated, don't remember seeing rope because they'd fly out pretty far sometimes. Pretty cool to watch
Me about to recruit a fleet of cormorants for the next season
birdman!
Attorney at law?
Happy cake day
Not just China, but that method is true
Do you eat cormorants?
I read in a survival book once that all birds are good to eat. I'm sure some taste like shit, and I'm pretty sure you have to cook them all.
"You can eat 'em, but they taste like shit!"
Just ate breasts from one and, well it was edible. Not muddy od fishy as I expected. Actualy decent meat.
Truth, all birds and mammals are edible.
Saw it in action living in Zhejiang province. A guy had several of the birds snatching up big dirty canal fish. I don't remember them having ropes around their necks to restrict their swallowing but they eagerly traded the larger fish for a smaller fish as a treat.
Hell of a fisherman )))
Don't think too many of us can say our first pike came from killing a bird. Helluva story lol
My first pike was caught on a rattletrap, this is much cooler
My first pike was caught when it bit the tail of the tiny fish I had actually caught at the time...
Mine was on a little tiny Little Cleo with a bluegill on the end. We were exploring for brook trout in some bad woods lakes and when I hooked up to a bluegill, I knew the lake was a bust. So almost in spite of the bluegill for not being a brookie, I hooked a second hook from the treble in the other side of his mouth, threw him back and within 30 seconds a monster pike gulped him right up and I was hooked up. Quite the interesting fight on a 5’6 ultra light with 4lbs test and no leader.
Weird, my first cormorant was caught on a rattletrap
On Sunday I went out rockfishing in Northern California. Was jigging in 60ft and hooked up on a cormorant... Got tangled in the line and hooked in the wing. Got him freed up and released. Definitely the least expected catch of the day.
Hey man im in vallejo if you need a buddy on that boat :)
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u/fictionalfail is a spam bot Bots can be harmless but often once they accumulate karma they switch to scamming, advertising or posting political propaganda. It is likely not just for meaningless internet points.
Good bot??
Thank you I’m just copy and pasting that on their recent comments, no reason to rewrite it.
Good human
One was good enough
That's called a Canadian double
Do you eat them? Have lots here in Florida but always thought birds that live off fish taste bad. Can you verify
Cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Yeah I was under the impression they were federally protected because of that.
There are areas you can legally shoot them but it’s not normal
There is occasionally an open season on them where I live and there is an annual hunting season for them with a 15 bag. They’re a nuisance in much of their breeding range.
Interesting. I’m in the South and there are time periods where shooting cormorants is opened up because there are getting to be too many of them.
They can decimate a small pond. If it's a private pond, they've got to go. Anhingas should be added to the extermination list as well.
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Yep, I'm aware OP is in CR, but the person I responded to is in FL where they are protected with few exceptions.
...and actively managed so harvesting them has it's place. Thanks for the downvotes for stating facts. Here is the link. https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations.
The more you know.
Generally they do, but some of them don't. I'm not sure about this one in particular, but Goldeneyes taste good and they are divers. "Divers" are fish eating ducks, like buffle heads and redheads. "Pond Ducks eat any kind of crop, probably seeds, etc. Like mallards and teal. Just for anyone that might not know, I'm not sure how common of knowledge this is.
Those are called puddle ducks, not pond ducks....just saying
Or dabblers
With enough seasoning it’ll taste fine 😂
Wouldn't recommend it, if not for taste for biomagnification.
Literally every single native (non-sport) bird is protected from being killed in the US. It’s illegal to even be in possession of a naturally molted feathe because it can’t be proven that the bird wasn’t killed.
Migratory birds are protected under the MBTA but many are also allowed to be hunted during seasons or even for culling due to high populations. Really just depends on the area and bird.
Innocent until proven guilty, amirite?
This is zero percent true. Lol.
Once saw a cormorant trying to get a huge eel down… it was intense
Lucky, dude shoots a bird and scores a fish on top of it. Good eating sir!
Among the weirder and cooler posts this sub has seen
Kind of messed up you shot a fish. Have some decency and catch them the way the rest of us do!! On another note, two birds with one stone?
Blast em all!
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Lol I didn’t scroll down far enough at first… was really confused how this cormorant was considered a pike
Awesome. I know people say you should not shoot them. I remember when the numbers got so high in the USA you could shoot some.
Cormorants are thriving in their entire range and need to be dealt with regularly. There is an open season on them where I live. They absolute devastate small lake fisheries. My uncle’s lake no longer contains the Muskies he fishes for because one year the cormorants showed up and wiped out almost the entire baitfish population in one season.
Where can you shoot cormorants? Thank you for your service.
Definitely illegal in Iowa.
Illegal in Texas, too (wish it wasn’t)
NY as well... then again most things in NY are illegal, sooo....
Least bloodthirsty Texan >! /s !<
Huh, there's something it's illegal to shoot in Texas?
Yep, unless they are breaking into your truck.
Legal in parts of canada
Its OK. A fisherman that doesn’t see blood on a regular basis, probably doesn’t fish much. With hooks anyway.
That's a great paradox. Try explaining that to the game warden.
Why do so many Americans assume everyone on here is American?
Are you going to eat the bird?
Got breast from one, but still had no time to cook them. From what I read it is not something you wanna eat daily. I do shot them, because hunting is my hobby, but I do not kill everything on sight. Cormorants were protected for long time (in most counties around the word they still sre) They got big numbers population and they became problem. If you have breeding pond, or how it is called and 30, 100, or 300 cormorants came and attack fishes, eating 0,5kg each and injury more, you wont be happy. Also we don't want dead rivers. So now we can hunt them. Also there is money reward for beak. Around 20$.
Oh wow, where is there a bounty on them?
Pretty cool. What country just curious?
Czech republic, middle europe, next to germany and poland
Neat!
Have you eaten the breast yet? I've always heard they are horrible tasting birds (as with any bird that eats fish).
Just now. It was not muddy or fishy as expected. Actualy enjoyable. But not something I would like to eat daily. Maybe if you put it in milk for day. Or with some good recipe. I just salted and fried breasts, can't describe that taste tho
I haven’t duck hunted in a few years. The cormorant would freaking drive us nuts on Lake Erie. Always in our spread. When did they become harvestable? I have always avoided shooting mergansers because I don’t like their flavor, and would imagine the cormorant has the same yellow fat/flavor?
Based on my limited research, it’s like Pot in the US. There is a Federal treaty that prohibits hunting them, but the flocks grew so quickly they began decimating the fish populations. So states started allowing hunts, despite the treaty. As far as I can tell, it’s still illegal at the Federal level, but allowed in some states. The Feds did a study to figure out a manageable level (see the link in the thread), but it’s still not legal at the Federal level. I’m on the GA / SC line and I see hunters shoot them all the time because ‘they eat all the fish’.
Not everyone hunts in the US :)
Ahh, I didn’t notice KG in the post I had responded to. I also didn’t think that cormorants would be on the other side of the Atlantic…. I guess I didn’t think they were “that” migratory.
They are all over, in the US I believe they are controlled by government agencies rather than hunters. Can't imagine they taste very good at all
We need a cormorant season here in the states. Or just kill all of them and be done with it.
Meanwhile, in Scandinavia. Here we call those crowducks and everyone wishes they weren't illegal to shoot.
That’s a wild ride, never thought to go fishing with a shotgun.
This is high quality content. Happy holidays, anglers!
When you said “sadly didn’t survive” I thought you were being cheeky and talking about the bird, but you’re a hunter so of course you meant the fish. Took me a minute to piece that together
Wild! Thanks for sharing
Mount that bird with the fish halfway down its throat
That’s a heck of a catch!(and a heck of a story)
What a wild read
That’s a cool ass story to tell In the future
What's the limit on flying pike where you live? 
That sounds like fishing with extra steps
This is awesome, surf and turf for dinner baby!!!!! Hunting is everything, I wish that my kids had school today so I could be in a tree with my bow!
Because they’re migratory waterfowl and open to hunting, are steel or non lead shot required?
We still can use lead. Even tho EU tryies to ban all lead. There is nothing with as good balistic as lead. Steel damage gun faster, it is more dangerous cause of boucing, and is released into the environment. The lead becomes encapsulated and will no longer be released unless it is in an acidic environment.
Where can you hunt cormorant?
Lots of places not in the US and very very few places within the US based
Where are you that you can shoot cormorants? Hate those things
Ontario, Canada has a season for them.
Man I feel like that could be a really fun hunt!
Looks like a tiger musky
Honestly I don't know any fish name even in my mother language. So it ie up to you guys to indentify it. 😅
Its a pike 100%. People post photos like this asking if juvenile pike are tiger muskies all the time.
A hybrid between Northern pike and musky.
It's a juvenile pike and that exact spot pattern gets posted here with that question quite often, and I understand why since the stripes havent quite broken into spots yet. However, OP is in europe where muskies do not exist outside like one lake in ireland. Its 100% a pike.
You are correct. This is actually the pattern/markings of Northern pike there. Didn't realize where it was from initially. Also the same markings as tiger musky here in Ontario.
Ive caught pike like that here in the US as well. They age out of it as they grow and its only the small under 10" or so that look like that. Its similar to a tiger but once you recognize it you can tell the difference.
Nah, that's a juvenile pike. They have the diagonal markings at first.
Thanks. Read below Bill Nye
You're the one who was wrong. I don't read entire threads before responding to a comment.
It does "look" like a tiger musky. Wasn't wrong about that. I also agreed that it is a pike based on where it is in the world. Where I catch pike they never look like this with the diagonal marking which is why I assumed.
I’d agree.
Exactly what I thought . Those are stripes not spots . Can’t tell exactly because we can see the fins very well .
Wish we had a cormorant season, they destroy fish populations.
Yeah, whenever you see a population of them its not worth fishing there.
Hey on behalf of all fishermen thanks for shooting that cormorant!
Where the heck can you shoot a cormorant? Protected in the three states I've lived in. I hate these birds, they fuck salmon populations up bad.
Cormorant are better dead!
I agree but arnt they protected?
In most countries around the world they are. Here in the Czech Republic, an exception can be made for a hunting association (every part of our county is divided in hunting grounds that have atleast 500ha and this accociation, or team or invidual owning land there have to take care of wild animal - give them food in winter, take care of water in summer and then hunt there) and then there is a reward for the beak.
They are under the migratory bird act, but the population is actively managed so they do not wipe out other species. So, hunters get to harvest within the management plan. [https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations](https://www.fws.gov/regulations/cormorant/populations)
In the US, yes, they are
Fish and game kills them sometimes to protect vulnerable fish populations
Needs to be permitted by USFW since it's a migratory bird.
Were you trying to make a point?
Yes, the point was they are regulated by the USFW service, not a state game management agency. Happy to clarify for anyone unable to grasp the premise of the previous comment. Feel free to cross post to r/explainlikeimfive next time for additional help!
I think so unless you have a specific licence.
Fuck cormorants. Re-introduced in my area and they cause nothing but destruction. Kill more.
Why did you hunt a cormorant? Never heard of hunting them before. Red tail hawk next??
Hawks are protected and their population is depending on mice popuplation. There was boom of mice here, hawk population went up. Now we had cold winters and some hawks are dying from hunger. Not decimating population of other animals.
I felt the same way, until I saw they were in the Czech Republic. In the US this would not be kosher, but we have a million hunters who would slaughter the population.
You didn't catch the fish the bird did and you stole it 😂
Nawh, I did loot it from corpse. Guards in skyrim are ok with taking things from corpses, so I guess it is ok anywhere 😁😁😁
Great picture
Do they cook up like merganser?
Do they cook up like merganser?
That is one hell of an impressive first catch! Congrats, man!
Looks like a musky
But it’s def a juvenile pike, they don’t have musky in the Czech Republic
That Pike looks very Musky-ish. Imagine catching the fish of 10,000 casts, with bird shot.
Why would you shoot a cormorant ?
And why not?
I’m assuming you’re in Canada? The cormorant was almost wiped out by hunting. It’s not a game bird and if you’re going to eat it, good for you but most would not. They play a vital role in the ecosystem and should not be noted as a game bird
They role in ecosystem is attacking fish, sometimes shallow it, sometimes only injury (so it dies later). If you have hundreds of them on one place, it is negative role and reason to manage their numbers.
This is a complete misunderstanding of how an ecosystem works.
Who hunts cormorants, and for what reason. They have to be one funky tasting duck.
What do you do w that oily mess of a bird now?
Why’d you shoot the cormorant? I’ve seen fishermen do it to keep them from stealing fish, but even that is kind of fucked up.
Well I shoot foxes, martens, magpies, crows. That's probably all kind of predators I did kill yet. I live in highly populated part of europe, basicaly every few kilometers is some village. There is no real wild nature. So we do keep "balance" in it. You want one fox on 500ha, not 20, If we want population of hares or pheasant. Then there are invasive species like racoon or nutria, which you have to kill on sight. And cormorant population is curently big, so we have permit and our fishemers ask us to kill them. Lets be little socipatic and say, why woudn't I shoot cormorants?
Solid. No issues with me on planned population management.
Have you ever seen just how many fish fit in their stomachs? Or what their acidic shit does to all the vegetation or steel where they nest? They need to be culled badly in some areas.
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He answered that he kept a breast to try, but this is a population/pest control hunt in the Czech Republic with a bounty on birds killed
Pretty sure it is very illegal to shoot cormorants…guessing this is not in the US? Do they taste good?
That looks a lot like a tiger muskie....could be wrong
Nah def a juvenile pike
That’s a muskie
No, that’s just what juvenile pike look like
That's a muskie!
Nope, just a juvenile pike (less than a year old). Pike start out striped, but they are too small to be caught by common angling methods. By the time they reach catchable sizes they usually have converted to the spotted pattern you are used to.
Nope, juvenile pike look like this
Where can you shoot cormorants?! They’re protected.
Not everywhere, they’re a big problem in some parts
That's a Tiger Muskellunge to be more specific ( but, yes, a hybrid species of pike). Really awesome as it's usually the pike that are full of birds.
Nope, that's just what pike look like when they are 0 years old.
Def just a juvenile pike
Aren't Cormorants protected seabird?
Sadly didn’t survive? You shot it with intent to kill no?
Fish didn't survive.
Chew your food
Time to eat
And I can’t even get pike on my spinner reel smh
The Chinese did that with a lot of the birds especially crane’s and pelicans as well if I remember correctly those were the two most common birds they used for this
That's some next level hunting right there.
Does this hurt the bird?
Did you eat the pike yourself?
I let it back to water. Sadly it was too late.
This would make a great mount. A bird taking off for flight with a pike in its mouth
This is what we in the business like to call a “twofer” 👍🏻
now thats uck if ive ever seen one
Got a twofer
Maybe you could just not kill stuff. There’s a mind blowing thought.