The Birdwatchers by Tom Keer originally printed in Northeast Boating

Page 1

TCHING FISH

ers TheBirdwatch aquaticbirdsand learninghow to read Topanglersbecomeadeptat identifying lt's timeyou followedtheirlead. theirbehavior. by Tom Keer

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but birdscanffir A raucousflockof gullsworkingthe surflineis an obvioussign thatpredatorsareforcingbaitJishinto the shallows, of gamefishif you knowwhat to lookfor. subtlercluesto thepresence I

I t doesn't reouire a degreein omitholT^ I oev to 1isure out that a bunch of tems t"I or gulls dive-bombing the water means that predatory fish are driving bait to

chusetts. Dive-bombing terns sometimes put him on fish, while other times they just drive him crazy. "I'm always cau-

gun method,"he says."Racingaround spooksthe fish."

tious when I seedive-bombing birds," he

Sit and Win

says. "Unless I see a sign that shows me

Birds that are simply sitting on the

scream "get there now!" you might want

there are fish under them, such as the

to take a refreshercourse in Fishing 101.

heads, backs or tails oflish breaking the water or lots of splashing, I'll pull out my binoculars and watch for a while. I

don't usuallysparkthe interestof men, but they do deserveyour I rememberfishing in BostonHarbor a calm Augustmorning,whenI spot-

Iook to see if the birds are concentrated

ted a few hundred gulls and

apparentlyrestingon the waternear

master Iisherman, so we asked several

or spread out. If spread out, they're usually feeding on scattered bait, particu-

such experts to list some examplesof how

Iarly if the water is shallow. However, if

seem to be doing anything special,I

birds and bird activity can help improve

the birds are concentrated there's usu-

moved in for a closer look. In the open

your successand even save the day.

ally a school of game fish below that has

water between the sitting birds, I

pushed the bait into a ball."

the subtle swirls of feeding fish. A

the surface.Ifthat sort of activity doesn't

Yet there are many less-obvioustypes ofbird behavior that can point the way to fish-or

lead you astray. The ability

to "read the birds" is part of becoming a

DifferentDive-Bombers in Outfitters ofConcord AndyBonzagni fishesthecoast Massachusetts, Concord,

upcurrent or upwind of the activity

of New Hampshire and northern Massa-

over the fish. "I avoid the run-and-

BoatingMagazine 36 Northeast I October2007

At this point Bonzagni moves slowly to get a closer look, so as not to run

GeorgesIsland. Even though they

of stripershad pusheda hugeschool to the surfaceandwere silversides ing just belowthem.Therewasso bait that the gulls could simplydip


E^tcHrNG FrsH beaks into the r,r,aterto grab a mcal, and

360 330 290 270 252 232 210

COASTAL

.W

the cormorants didn't nccd to dive. Some

they'll sink like a rock if they don't dry off," Abrames adds. "If they're sitting

signs are easyto miss,but taking a few

on a beach or a jetty with their rvings

moments to check out those sitting birds

stretched out, they're drying offfrom a swim and probabiy just finished I'eed-

paid big dividends. Boston-basedCapt.Mike Bartlett a l s on ' a t c h c sb i r d sa l o t . b u t i s l e c r y of those flying high in the sky. "High-

ing. You'd be wise to fish that area earlier in the tide the next day." Abranes also notes that different

flying birds are looking for bait, not

speciesof sea ducl<sshow a preference

actively feeding," he says. "When they

for certain types of prey, which can

locate bait, they drop towards the surface to position themselvesto feed.The

h e l py o u c h o o s ct h e r i g h t f l y o r l u r e . "Mergansers lil<eto feed on silversides,

lower the bird is to the water, the closer

sand eels and shrimp, king eidersfol-

it is to the baitfish."

low squid and surf scoterstarget crabs.

, n r i I T T U . F I S H E R M A NBartlett makes a mental note of bird i l i g h t p a t h s .t o o . " B i r d st h a l a r c f l y -

Watch the ducks, and you'll know what bait or pattern to use."

ing high in the sky may be traveling

220 180

SPORISMAN

357

32r

-*

STARAB

307 277

Y[ilAHA

b e t w e e nr o o s t i n ga n d f e e d i n gs i t c s ,I

Ternsfor the Best

note which direction the birds are com-

Capt.Dan Wood of ConnecticutWoods

ing [rom. as well as wherc they irre

and Waters, a {ishing outfitter, frequently

going. This gives me an idca of where I

encounters birds in the rips and around

might fish earlier the next day."

the coastalislands."I watch terns the most," Wood says."Tern behavior tells

LuckyDucks

me how much bait is in the water and

Long-time Rhode Island guide and

what speciesare around. When the birds

author I(en Abrames watches all birds

hover close to the water and keep pick-

on the water, but he pays careful atten-

ing, they're on a schoolof small, tightly

tion to sea ducks, including cormo-

pachedbait, such as bay anchoviesor

rants. "I watch cormorants a lot," said

silversides.When they drop every 30 sec-

Abrames. "When they make quick,

onds or so, there's somebait around, but

repeateddives,I know they're feeding

it's not concentrated."

on a concentrated school ofbaitfish, and

Wood also looks at how much water

a tight pod of bait usually means that

a tern coversbetween dives."Terns

bigger fish are in the area. However,

moving quickly, as if they're in a race,

when 30 or 40 secondspassbetween

often means there are fast fish under-

l h e b i r d s ' d e s c e nat n d t h e t i m e t h e y

neath them. Thosefast fish could be

resurface,they're looking hard to {ind a

schoolbluefin tuna, bonito, falsealba-

meal, and so I move on.

core or skipjacks,so I'll position my boat

"Cormorants don't have oil glands like other speciesofsea ducks,and

far ahead oftheir flight path in order to intercept them. Slow-moving terns that

Cormorantsare oJtenignoredby Jishern'Lcn, Itut thepros know to kcepa t:loseeyeon thent,

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TernStlarborMarina 275 RivetSlrcet Weymouth,Mossachusells02 I 9 I Phone:781337-1964 email: knoonqn@lemhotbo'mofina.com

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are hugging the watcr are usually ovcr

the bird can lead you

stripedbassor blucfish, and I can worl<

to baitfish for the

them morc ckrsely."

d a y ' so u t i n g .

Capt.John Pirie fishcsthc watcrs off for blucfin CapeAnn. Massachusctts.

'lom

1una.He points out that the prescnceof gulls me:rnsthat the bluefinhavc been

N

Keer v,ritesabout f'ish antl.lislringJr onr his horrrcht WellJleet, Mnssaclrusclls.

kceping the baitfish ballcd up near the surfacefor long periods,n'hich is good

At rigltt:Mnster

ncws for anglcrs who lilie to cast ftrr

.l islt-spottcrs, osprey t:anpoirrt tlrc way to s L'ltools oI rtrcnhaden.

tun:r. It's a good idca 1ostick arouncl if you scegulls sitting on the r,r''ater in a

: f 6

tight group, as anothcr blitz may crupt oncethe tuna corral thc bait again and drive thern to the surl'ace. lfPirie only seestcrns in thc area, hc knows the tuna are fecdingsporaclically on small bait and may be on the rnorrc. A group oftcrns flying in a straight line may be shadom'inga schoolof tuna bclow 'Ib the surfacc. fish thcm. Pirie will posi-

;i

tion his boat n eil aheaclof the lead tcrn and cast a lirst-silrhingjig or spoon in its pa1h,The trick is to timc the cast so the lure sinlis anyn'here frorn 10 to 20 f'eet bclorethe terns-and tl'rctuna-rcach the spotnilrcrethe lurc cntcred thc water. Otf South County, l{hocieIsland, charter shippcrMitch Chagnon looks lirr gannetsto lcad him to big stripersin the latc lall, n'hen thcse large graceful seabirds oftenprey on migrating seaherring. (lannetsI'ecdon big bails by dive-bombing on then.r,and the hcight of their dives indicatesthc dcpth ol thc bait. lfthc gannctsare diving closeto thc water, the herring anclbassare closeto the surface anclcan be takcn on lopwater plugs and shallow-swimming lures. On thc other hand, il'thc gannets arc diving lrom tr hcight o11(X)feetor more, trolling deep with wire line or verlicaljigging will probablybc more procluctive. Anothcr large bird that can provc hclpful in locating big stripers and blucfishis thc osprey.Ospreylovc big baitfish.cspeciallyadult menhadcrr. If you seean ospreyhovcring, wzrtch it closcly,as thc bird may be pointing the n'ay to a school o[pogies, anclthal o[1enmeans big stripcrs and blucfish arein thc vicinity. Al the very lcast. N o r t h e a s tB o a t i n gl l 4 a g a z i n e| 0 c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 3 9


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