# Huron Steelie Stocking



## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

Well, I was curious, so I checked with the DNR. They stocked the Steelies last week. They stocked them much further down the river than the boat ramp this time. They didn't want them moving up toward the park and getting caught by all the fishermen up there. I know where they are but I'm not telling. This year we got a few extra, about 68,000. I asked them awhile ago to protect them from being caught, if possible. Maybe they listened to me. That would be a first. :lol:

I was just wondering if anyone else noticed how big and healthy the Steelies were this year in the Huron. I caught and saw caught, some dandies. Many of the males looked like females till they were landed. Just some fat happy fish. They must be eating good.


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

This yr they have something else to face other then fisherman.Commerants are all over the place.We never seen so many on the Huron before.Going to contact the DNR to see what we can do other then shooting them.Mich


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## streamertosser (May 20, 2008)

huron river cormerant harrassment project anyone? im down


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

They should have a Commorant Season. They have one for Crows. Shooting them would be fine with me.


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

Steelmon said:


> They should have a Commorant Season. They have one for Crows. Shooting them would be fine with me.


 We could very easy kill a ton of them in a day from the launch to the mouth.Made a few calls.Thing is i heard they are hard to kill.Maybe pellet gun to the head ?


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

Neighbor juat called me.He fished from the mouth up and counted over 200 plus birds.He said they are tearing up the fresh plant :rant:.He said he was watching the smolts jumping out of the water trying to get away


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

No hope for those little planters. The birds can outswim them, and outmaneuver them underwater; and can fly around to find them, once they exterminate a particular stretch of water. Sad, but true.


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## kype138 (Jul 13, 2006)

A pellet gun wouldn't work nearly as well as a 12 gauge...
Maybe flash-bangs would work, like what they use below Foote Dam?


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## workingman (Aug 16, 2007)

The only good Commorant is a dead Commorant. I've heard that these flying rodents have no value other than eating gamefish. Last summer is was fishing Kent Lake and there were about 30 or 40 in a few dead trees. In the 2 or 3 hours that I fished I saw them eat constantly and it appeared to me that they caught quite a few fish that appeared to be smallmouth some quite large. When they weren't eating they were sitting in the tree over the water filling the water with excrement.

What a nasty, ugly creature they are.


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

A 22, loaded with shorts, and fired from inside a car or building will do the trick, with very little noise. It would be pretty risky though. I gotta do something, This can't stand. I wonder if they will eat a freshly dead fish. I would by a bunch of Goldfish, fill them with rat poison [appropiate], and throw them to the birds. I would be worried that a Muskie or Bass might grab it first though. Innocents sometimes die in war though, and after the post about them tearing up the plant, I"m going to war. AAARRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!! I am so Teed off right now:rant:.

I'm going to write or/and call the DNR too Mich. anybody that cares about our fishery should do likewise. Lets see if we can get a Cormorant Season. I don't see any other legal way to deal with them. Flash bangs are temporary. It has to poison, or bullets [IMO].:help: Write to [email protected] or call 517-373-3375. Those are the contacts for the head of fisheries. I"m sure the state isn't too crazy about these birds messing up our fishery either, since the have recently started a program to revive it. I think they would be open to any ideas on dealing with this theat. You can find a Cormorant Complaint Form on the DNR website also. There is also a lot of info. on Cormorants on the site. Just enter "Cormorant" in the search space at the top of the DNR home page. There is an article in there with a picture of these things tearing up a frash Brown Trout Plant at Alpena, as well as data on the damage they are causing.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Since Cormorants migrate, they are federally protected. There is no open season to hunt them, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service have worked to shoot many thousands of them, where they nest, in northern lake Huron. They really have reduced the numbers. Call the local DNR office, and ask which Federal agency in this area you should contact, to have them check it out. They won't do anything to the birds this year, though. I highly doubt that they would hunt them around here, but they have a guy who shoots some on the Ausable River, in Oscoda. Not right in town, though.


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

post


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

Steelmon said:


> A 22, loaded with shorts, and fired from inside a car or building will do the trick, with very little noise. It would be pretty risky though. I gotta do something, This can't stand. I wonder if they will eat a freshly dead fish. I would by a bunch of Goldfish, fill them with rat poison [appropiate], and throw them to the birds. I would be worried that a Muskie or Bass might grab it first though. Innocents sometimes die in war though, and after the post about them tearing up the plant, I"m going to war. AAARRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!! I am so Teed off right now:rant:.
> 
> I'm going to write or/and call the DNR too Mich. anybody that cares about our fishery should do likewise. Lets see if we can get a Cormorant Season. I don't see any other legal way to deal with them. Flash bangs are temporary. It has to poison, or bullets [IMO].:help: Write to [email protected] or call 517-373-3375. Those are the contacts for the head of fisheries. I"m sure the state isn't too crazy about these birds messing up our fishery either, since the have recently started a program to revive it. I think they would be open to any ideas on dealing with this theat. You can find a Cormorant Complaint Form on the DNR website also. There is also a lot of info. on Cormorants on the site. Just enter "Cormorant" in the search space at the top of the DNR home page. There is an article in there with a picture of these things tearing up a frash Brown Trout Plant at Alpena, as well as data on the damage they are causing.


 Ya the hard thing for me is killing anything i dont eat.But good old CB 22 rounds would do it i bet,Mich


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm with you here Mich, but this is a pretty extreme problem and we may need to put aside our values for it.


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

Okay, I've got my 15 posts, so now I can put up links. It's not just the fish that are a concern, but the river itself. Here is an excerpt from an article on Cormorants:

There is also concern about the effect of cormorants on the vegetation in their nesting grounds. Cormorants can damage vegetation by stripping leaves from trees. The combined weight of the birds and their nests can even break branches. But perhaps most importantly, their excrement, which rains down to the ground from their nests, kills the ground vegetation and eventually kills the nest tree. In some cases, the loss of these trees can lead to increased erosion. This is of particular concern on sandspits and barrier beaches which protect interior wetlands. In other areas, the vegetation may be of unusual natural significance, such as the islands in western Lake Erie which are forested by rare stands of Carolinian woodlands. The large cormorant colonies there could seriously impact or even destroy this vegetation.


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

Went for a ride yesterday.Alot of locals are taking care of them.You should have seen one guys face at the launch fishing.All you seen was eyes and they was gone.410 is a nice little gun​


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## Steelmon (Mar 30, 2009)

That's great Mich., although I think we need to ride the DNR till we get a legal solution to this problem. Tell you friends to keep up the good work.


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## quest32a (Sep 25, 2001)

This website does not condone illegal activities.


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