What bothers you most?

[BFFG]

I do a lot of surf fishing and pier fishing and I was wondering what bothers you most when your doing one of these. I hate those blasted seagulls. Thier always stealing my bait when Im not looking, and flying into my lines.[mad] Its too bad seagulls are a protected bird.[:|] I think their no better than pigeons and there are too many of them. What bothers you most?
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[tubeN2]

Hey there BFFG, I have to admit when I do saltwater fishing from a pier there is nothing more bothersome than the salty pigeons (gulls). Did you know that the gulls have no swimming ability??? That is true. There is no sure fire way to get rid of all of them but there is a way to get rid of one at a time.

Simply tie a 1 or 2 lb weight to a 6 foot leader. Tie that leader to a #2 treble hook. Attatch some bait to the treble hook. Salty pigeon will take the bait and do a performance dive once he reaches the end of the line. Shazzzzzzam!!!! You have instant diving gulls.
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[fishfather]

[size 2]That was weird you mentioned that. I had two experiences with sea gulls and 1 with a pelican.[/size]

[size 2]I was tossing plastics off my boat and a gull went by and I caught him in the foot while he was trying to catch my plastic.
( I was able to get the hook out. But not before he tried to peck me to death!![laugh])[/size]

[size 2]Another on Seal Beach Pier. I was casting out and a seagull went by and it was like a bollo effect. Line went by, wrapped around bird and down he went. SPLASH!!!![/size]

[size 2]I immediatley cut line so I wouldn't hook him. I looked down and I saw him paddling towards shore. I don't think he drowned.[sly][/size]

[size 2] And the pesky Pelican!! My friend caught a barracuda off the bow of my boat and I was helping him land it and I left the bait tank open on the stern and this pelican sat on top and was eating our bait!![shocked][/size]

[size 2] So I charged him yelling and I threw my half eaten sandwich. he flew away but not before he ate some of the sandwich I threw at him[sly][laugh][shocked][/size]

[size 2][/size]
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[tubeN2]

[cool] I had a Pelican follow me into Marina Del Rey after scoring on a large school of Mackeral. I was flipping them the smaller ones at first and thought it was funny how they gulped them down.

The trail of pelicans were growing in numbers as we were taching in the harbor. So we were throwing more and more mackerals. I was totally amused at how they swallow them whole and some time get stuck in their throats. We only ended up with about 30 mackerals to take home after chucking out around 40 or so.

The pelicans are just a larger version of the salty pigeon. They will scavange but are always willing to take free handouts.
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[fishfather]

[size 2]I love Pelicans. I think there cool. When I fish out near the wall there always hanging around. [/size]

[size 2]I release everything I catch there personaly but once in awhile a fish swallows a hook or gets hooked bad, etc so it will die.[unsure][/size]

[size 2]Straight to Mr Pelican they go![sly][/size]

[size 2]Hell I don't want a ticket for keeping something to small. I caught three in a row which swallowed the hook once all to Mr Pelican[shocked][sly][/size]

[size 2]Then I put a larger hook on.[][/size]
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[tubeN2]

[cool] Conservation is good when it has its place. You can do good without haveing to be a PETA fanatic. My basic rule of thumb is that if the fish is too small, give him a chance to grow up and come back for him later when he can fill your plate properly. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurp!!! aaaahhhhhhhh.
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[fishfather]

[size 2]Me personally I believe in if your not going to eat it let it go. So many people I know catch a bunch of fish, then clean them and freeze them only to toss them several months later.[/size]

[size 2] I do eat fresh caught fish from 3/4 day Charters or overnighters. [/size]

[size 2] I have found alot of the fish caught out farther have less toxins and look healthier[sly] Anything off the wall or 1/2 days go back or I give them to someone else. [/size]
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[JapanRon]

Hey there BFFG,

When going to catch bait or fishing along seawalls, piers and beaches I very much dislike seeing all the trash left around.

What's really a bummer is that if people fishing leave some line, bait, containers, or fish parts around, and all the other trash is automatically assigned to the fault of the angler by those looking at the mess.

Leaving an area like no one had fished there is the only protection we have against the 'guilt by association' mind-set. That is part of the problem resulting in our having fishing access lost or restricted.

Let's all try to be nice and tidy shall we? I know some of you guys even police up stuff that's not your's. Bravo.

JapanRon
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[gvanzant]

Just a positive note about Gulls. The bill fishermen depend heavily on the antics of the gulls. Experienced anglers can read the circling movements of Gulls from a long distance, which indicates a large fish being observed by the bird. Where ever you find Gulls in deeper waters you find schooling fish, especially diving gulls. The firecracker yellowtail schools of a few years past were always supported by hundreds of diving gulls. I know they can be irritating grabbing every bait that is flylined into the water, but the only reason the gull got to them is because something large was chasing the bait up to the surface. Yesterday on the Horseshoe every sinle sardine I cast was grabbed by a gull-- but if the gull did not get it, or dropped it, a 6 pound bonita got it. Finally all good skippers on party boats pay lots of attention to the birds. Now those #$%^&* seals, that's a different story. [reply]
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[JapanRon]

Hi there gvanzant,

I love it when a flock of gulls appears and comes right down the pipe just a short cast from the boat.

I don't know much about the birdies but I read an article by a captain on the East Coast talking about some of his fellow captains being able to tell not only what kind of fish was being hovered over but what the fish were doing. He named four or five different birds and the most common bait they went after and what sportfish was most likely to be under that bait. He said sometimes you can even tell a bait by the smell (his example was manhaden) of the carnage.

JapanRon
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[DrownedDesertRat]

I am learning to use the gulls here in Minnesota where we don't have salt water. They've actually helped me locate fish when nobody else was catching anything.

LOL. It was fun struggling with one when he grabbed my Charlie swimbait in mid-cast!
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