How many trout do these diving birds really eat?

[Gollum11]

I don't know if they are gannets or cormorants, but I saw 3 of them at Milton lake yesterday and word must spread quickly because I counted over 20 there today! That is insane. I always remember seeing a few this time of year, but never in numbers like this. Can they eat a fish a day? If so they can really put a dent on a small lake in a hurry. Was just wondering if anyone else has noticed similar numbers on other bodies of water.

[oelgnal1]

It is my understanding that an adult cormorant needs to eat about a pound every day. As for a lake with open water, there is not a lot of open water in North Jersey, so where ever there is open water, they will go.

[jimcnj]

Goose crap bothers me far more.
I don't mind sharing the fish with the birds.

[buzzbaiter]

Mergansers can put a serious hurting on any smaller stream especially when water is low and trout(or any fish) have little refuge. On larger rivers - Delaware - not such a big deal. I spooked one "pod" of Mergansers along a steeam a few years back. One of them coughed up what it had eaten and it was one wild brown trout and two white suckers. You DON'T want to see them of the smaller creeks. They can stay under for up to 2 minutes which is impressive. Their bills are also serrated like a knife to grip slippery fish.

Cormorants I've only seen on larger lakes like Merrill. They seem to sit on branches of the flooded timber areas more than in the water feeding. Lots of them though - guess around 50 or so. Judging from all the fish in Merrill, they don't seem to be hurting the fish pops...yet.

[liveitup1.75liter]

They get quite a few!!! If the opportunity is there best believe there going to capitalize on it.. eat till they cant eat any more n try n stuff 1 more dwn.. ive seen the commerants choke dwn 16..17in fish.. birds gotta eat!! wut r ya gunna do ppl take over there habitat n get upset when they eat stocked trout.. we dnt own the fish jus trying to replenish wut we take in the first place

[ScowardNJ]

cormorants=bucket brigade

[Jigman13]

Originally Posted by ScowardNJ

cormorants=bucket brigade

Thats hilarious, Scotty!

Gollum, those birds will decimate Milton. The number of birds will drop by about 75% come mid May. Still plenty of trout to be had in there and places within 10 miles of there.

[baetis]

Literature says they eat 1-2 lbs a day, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been at a pond and saw a bird eat more than that in an hour or so.

[Rickhem]

A couple of years ago I went with a friend to the park around Dahnert's Lake in Lodi. That lake is about the size of a large parking lot, all put-and-take fishing. Since my friend brought her granddaughter and they played in the park, I decided to throw some spinners for a while. In the hour or so while I watched, two Cormorants landed, and I watched one come up with a stocked trout TWICE! You could watch the fish slide down the birds throat as it swallowed it. That was in an hour! And it was long past when that lake was stocked, so I'm sure they were feeding there regularly.
We laughed about how all my ultralight equipment couldn't outfish a bird.

[jimcnj]

Originally Posted by Rickhem

A couple of years ago I went with a friend to the park around Dahnert's Lake in Lodi. That lake is about the size of a large parking lot, all put-and-take fishing. Since my friend brought her granddaughter and they played in the park, I decided to throw some spinners for a while. In the hour or so while I watched, two Cormorants landed, and I watched one come up with a stocked trout TWICE! You could watch the fish slide down the birds throat as it swallowed it. That was in an hour! And it was long past when that lake was stocked, so I'm sure they were feeding there regularly.
We laughed about how all my ultralight equipment couldn't outfish a bird.

Hard to compete with millions of years of evolution.