Westernbass Magazine October 2011, Page 9

Westernbass Magazine October 2011, Page 9

The big birds can also alert you about fishing

pressure. Because the blue herons are the most

skittish, if you come around a corner and some of

them are stationed on the water’s edge, it’s a good

bet no one has fished

Guy Williams chased down

that zone recently.

Gulls and

this Diamond

terns, of course,

valley bass from a bird school.

are usually associated

with surface

feeding

activity,

but they can

even signal

action before it

happens. This

can be

Issue 4  October 2011

especially helpful when pre-fishing. even when the gulls are gathered up on the shore doing very little, some members of the flock are always out patrolling. if you ever hear the quiet suddenly broken by shrieking or squabbling, it may signal that some of the birds on patrol are reporting back.

i have observed this many, many times and if you are watchful, you’ll actually see those scouts head out across the lake to a specific area of activity. and if you’re lucky enough to be there when the whole flock lifts off—you might want to follow. There’s a good chance predators have pushed shad to the surface in a big way.

terns, however, will also settle for just an occasional mouthful at the surface, and from their overhead vantage point, they know when fish are pushing bait below. When the terns dip, or “look over their shoulder,” they see something is going on, however, it may require a jerkbait, rather than a straight topwater.

FEEDING IS BELIEVING

Shad are the primary forage base in western

reservoirs and due to the behavior of those

members of the herring family, many bird

species work the banks early. in this case,

or throughout the day, the more birds

present, the better the food supply must

be. While cormorants are problematic

all around the world, they are a

good news/bad news creature.

The bad news is, they eat

everything. The good news,

they only show up where there

is something to eat.

But the “cormies” are

especially hard on sunfish—

especially bluegill. For that reason,

if you find them in an area where

shad are not apparent, it’s likely one

where sunfish and crappie also

reside and that might affect your

lure choices for bass. Pelicans

are another problem bird,

especially during the spring

when the bass spawners are

shallow. if you see pelicans

in a cove, they are not

dieting.

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