From the minnow chaser thread - An ethics lesson
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Stagger_Lee
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Lots of opinions I have read so far but I have a question ..
What is the legal size brook trout you are allowed to catch? Is there a rule or regulation I should be aware of?
WildTigerTrout
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7 inches to creel them. No minimum for C & R.
streamerguy
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That was me, unless someone else also said it. Interesting. I probably don't have nearly as much experience on brookie streams as some of the people on here, but I still think I would have seen a heron by now. I see them all the time on bigger streams and lakes, but so far never deep in the woods along a little brookie stream.
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If I had to speculate, I would say Heron make their way around and if they find easy pickins they will stick around. But if they're smart, they'll only mention the streams to other Herons if they personally feel there are enough trout to go around. 😎
pcray1231
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I've seen herons on brookie streams. In fact, I hate it. You spook one, and he flies 100 yards upstream and lands, spooking all the dang fish along the way. Then you get to him again and he does the same. You gotta try to get around him without spooking him or he can ruin a whole day.
And they usually don't hunt from the air, merely travel by air. They hunt while wading.
And they usually don't hunt from the air, merely travel by air. They hunt while wading.
The_Sasquatch
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The_Sasquatch
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haha! I certainly wasn't targeting these little guys, but I caught 2 or 3 of them that day. I also caught many over 7", so that makes it ethical.
streamerguy
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That happened to me this spring but with ducks. It drove me crazy! For a good half hour I couldn't get around them and they would spook every good hole as I worked my way upstream.
LongWader
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Small fish are much more aggressive and less picky in my opinion and it makes sense because they need to get a lot of food and grow fast so they don't end up being a easy meal for just about anything that could eat them. Fish usually start out being adventurous eaters and become more selective through a process called conditioned behavior. They learn what is good and nutritious through trial and error and learn to be more effecient in regards to the energy expended capturing food. Sort of nature's version of cost versas benefit ratios. It is one of the reasons I don't like to fish over smaller fish because they are more likely to engulf a fly; even a larger fly.
I have seen Blue herons hunting smaller water, but they seem to prefer larger streams with lots of wadible water and cover along the banks. This year I encounter a white Great Heron hunting and fishing a trout stream and it was the most aggressive bird I have ever seen. It was not afraid of my wife and I and it harassed us and followed us looking to take any fish we hooked. I also occasionally see a crested heron working a pool full of crayfish or a little green heron stalking the shore lines close to cover. King fishers are everywhere and I even see them in the late fall and early winter hunting small fry.
I have seen Blue herons hunting smaller water, but they seem to prefer larger streams with lots of wadible water and cover along the banks. This year I encounter a white Great Heron hunting and fishing a trout stream and it was the most aggressive bird I have ever seen. It was not afraid of my wife and I and it harassed us and followed us looking to take any fish we hooked. I also occasionally see a crested heron working a pool full of crayfish or a little green heron stalking the shore lines close to cover. King fishers are everywhere and I even see them in the late fall and early winter hunting small fry.
LongWader
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Jack, that was my experience with Great Herons in Florida, but I think this one has learned to extract a toll from fisherman in the way of some fish before he would leave. He got three large fall fish off of our lines before he finally gave us some peace. I have seen these same herons empty fisherman's shrimp and mullet bait buckets while they where not looking. They seemed to have learned that fisheman mean bait and an easy fish meal just like some seals and dolphins make a pest of themselves. I had a dolphin take a couple of nice snook from me one evening on a barrier island in Florida.
I have never seen a great blue heron act like that.
Great Herons are less afraid and more agressive the Great Blues and opportunistic.
Fortunately he did not get a trout.
When I tried to chase him off he would fly over our heads clacking his bill at us and threatening to bite us. My wife was not a happy camper. At first we thought he might have a nest, but when it continued to follow us and harass us we began to wonder. When we hooked a fall fish it became perfectly clear what the heron was after.
I have never seen a great blue heron act like that.
Great Herons are less afraid and more agressive the Great Blues and opportunistic.
Fortunately he did not get a trout.
When I tried to chase him off he would fly over our heads clacking his bill at us and threatening to bite us. My wife was not a happy camper. At first we thought he might have a nest, but when it continued to follow us and harass us we began to wonder. When we hooked a fall fish it became perfectly clear what the heron was after.
salmonoid
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Herons most definitely target brookie streams, and small streams at that. I've chased herons from most of the brookie streams I've fished over the past year. In fact, one stream had an entire rookery of herons' nests overhead - there were at least eight nests high in the trees, and as I walked below, the birds would alight from their perches and squawk. Their shadows would streak across the ground as the flew overhead and beat their wings. None attacked me, but its the closest I've ever felt to being around when the dinosaurs were alive.
I'm not suggesting that the exact location of the rookery was a result of the small brook trout stream below; however, I guarantee that they fed on brook trout and I chased one off the stream that very day as well.
I'm not suggesting that the exact location of the rookery was a result of the small brook trout stream below; however, I guarantee that they fed on brook trout and I chased one off the stream that very day as well.
blueheron
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Herons and mergansers love small streams and bushy water. I imagine herons fly quite a ways to eat, I get them in my pond(whence came my name) and it's a few miles to their home turf. They have amazing water finding skills, I think they could search out a bucket o'fish , especially goldfish.
