Have you ever noticed..

[Whaler]

that your catch rate is down when them long legged herron's are perched away from the water. May be just my poor fishing tactics, don't know. But I have been watching this situation and it seems like we do better when the herrons are wadin and eatin too. Have noted there are not as many minnows at the waters edge when they are away. Any thing to this?

[KWB]

You probably already figured it out. When they are in the water, there is bait around, if they aren't there probably isn't any bait right around that area to attract Crappies. I have tons of Great Blue Herons around my area, I will have to start watching for this and see if I notice it too.

[hair jig]

I've noticed it to and alot of days they out fish me .

[thankfull]

Never thought of but will pay attention next time out.

[skeeter]

I always look for water birds... they know alot more about fishing than i do...and if they are there..so are the fish!

[Yodibuzz]

track it

the times you see birds feeding usually are the same as the solunar feeding times.

[skeetbum]

Fished in FL for Bass a lot when I lived there and we always looked for the Red Wing Blackbird around the bullrushes. Fish bumped and banged thru the bullrushes, which knocked off the insects on them, and the birds capitalized on this. Worked pretty good in the hot months, all 10 of them.

[KWB]

I worked as a first mate on Lake Michigan for a few years on a Charter boat. If we ever seen a large adult Gull on the water near working water, it was a sure sign Salmon were feeding on Alewives down below him. They would sit there waiting for scraps to float up.

That's interesting about the moon phase, I will have to pay attention to that from here on out...

[slabsrus]

Been watching them birds myself for many years. They can definintely be an indicator of what is going on. I also watch the local farm animals, ( cows, horses, etc.) and other wildlife. I have often noticed that when the cattle are up feeding and the deer are moving about, the fish are active as well. Maybe it is just me, but I have been keeping records of all my fishing/hunting outings since the mid 70s and have noted such things along the way. When I look back on my records this has been a common experience on many of my good fishing days. Often when the cattle are just laying around so are the fish.