No waterfowl reports yet ??

fireram

fireram

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
Waterfowlers are tighter lipped then steelie fisherman.

Or. It’s just there’s not much to report.
We’re on day three and have one buffelhead so far. Getting desperate. .
Nothing coming into decoys.
Heard very few shots from the unit yesterday. But didn’t check the board to see how guys have been doing.

Might try for perch this afternoon. But.
They bay is pretty muddy. Big creek was flooded on Sunday, and prob is still high.
Not sure if that’s a factor for perchin ??
 
Winchestersx4 said:
North shore sounded good sunday night just blastin away!!!
Click to expand...
I've heard lost of great reports from St Clair but don't really know anyone who shoots anywhere other then fields in Chatham Kent or St Clair to offer any input. I know a few of my old lake spots and fields are producing just as well as they did when I lived out Mitchell's Bay way 10 years ago and was still a diehard waterfowler before I sold all my equipment
 
North shore Sunday nite probably got some diver action in the last hour because the perch fishermen were all in and it was clear for them to return to the Inner Bay to raft up for the night ? I've heard that the Unit's bird numbers were way down compared to last year and any action was in the last hour. Local farmers are clearing the beans and corn now so there is a lot of feeding areas opening up and the nice weather just lets them stay late to feed. Hopefully with a change in the weather we will get more Fall like temperatures/conditions and that should get them moving.
 
I have been out twice now on hot clear days, only got to fire 3 shots in total, skunked. Was out last saturday, friday had tons of ducks in the marshes down the causway, but come saturday they were all gone. Im trying my luck out tomorrow again.
 
Hello Guys,

I saw a large flock of divers (thousands of them) about mid morning on Thursday way out there stretching out between EC-10 and Bait Island all at once heading south ... they flew over Long Point (far east of the unit) probably to raft up for the day in the open lake.

Jerome

PS I heard that there are lots of birds out in the outer bay during the day.
 
Hello OCLP,

I went out layout boat hunting with my neighbour last week and we both managed to bag a few Bufleheads but the inner bay was void of ducks for the most part.

We went out again yesterday to the "head of the bay" in the early morning (skunked) and then to Little Rice Bay later in the morning (skunked) but we did see a lot of birds out in the outer bay early in the morning.

I have never seen the inner bay so void of ducks at this time of the year but there was not much wild rice growing here during the summer.

Jerome
 
The high water of the past two years plus storms probably removed most of the Wild Rice. As for other food sources ? I know in the past the Inner Bay was full of Wild Celery which is a prime food source for Canvasbacks and the little thieves (Widgeon) that will steal it right out of their mouths/bills. A study was done on Bluebills either by Dave Ankeny or Scott Petrie students and found them full of Zebra mussels. So food is an important factor but so is having a place to roost . Now ... no offence to perch fishermen but with the increase in traffic on the Inner Bay it pushes them off their normal areas which depending on the winds was towards the North Shore or Head of the Bay. We use to have great shooting on the fringe of the Unit like #33 and 34 or #25 or my favourite #17. I remember my dad taking us out to the floaters that the Unit had anchored in B Zone . Wave after wave of divers ! But times change and progress comes with a price. More people living on the Point or around the Inner Bay means more pollution not just in the water but as ambient light at night , more noise , car and boat traffic and of course climate change could be factors ?
 
Hello OCLP,

You have made some good points but I think that the lake level has been high for the past three years (summers) with last year being at its peak level.

However I think that perhaps all of that phrag spraying may have contributed to the loss of the wild rice throught the Inner Bay ... the LPWMU (Zone A and Zone B), the Head of the Bay as well as along the North Shore ... just thinking.

A representative for Delta Waterfowl told me that the removal of the phrag will benefit the entire ecosystem in the long term ... time will tell.

Jerome
 
Old Cut Long pointer, floaters in B zone,, You mean those floating 2x6 frames with reeds stuck in them that you pulled your boat into ??
I hunted those a few times, never did very well. How long have those been gone?
Actually dont answer that, I dont need another age reminder.

Work has interfered for a few days, but hoping the first week of december will bring cooler temps, and fresh Cans...

Its incredible how much the combination of multiple years of high water, and De-Phrag initiative has opened up standing water throughout the marsh. I hope that will allow the wild celery, rice, milfoils, and pond weeds a chance to re populate and begin to attract waterfowl again. I hope...
 
Hello Firearm,

I cannot resist ... I started waterfowl hunting in 1978 at the LPWMU in "walk in" blind 42 and bagged a hen pintail.

There were two (2) of those "floaters" on the marsh map that they handed out at the time (as I recall ... maybe one) but that was the end of that.

I do not think that they ever put those floaters out again.

Jerome

PS You could not shoot a Canada Goose back then either ... the very limited open season for the Canada Goose in southern Ontario did not start until 1982 and only in the WMU around Cambridge for a two (2) week period with a bag limit of only one (1) bird per day.
 
Bag limits on Canada geese.
Tell that to the golf course owners now.
You’d have to be darn committed to the sport to scout the farm for a good spot, set up in a field in the dark and wait for that one shot at a goose that morning.
Then pack up and try again tomorrow.
 
I think the rise in Canada Goose population is linked to the increase in golf courses but that's my theory. Not to mention our daily bag and possession limits are set way to low.
 
I hunted the floaters between Port Rowan and Big Creek a couple of times. We got a few birds. Not sure what happened to those either as I was guest of another person.
 
Hello Scribe,

The floaters that you referred to are not (were not) part of the LPWMU but may belong to the guide who has clients hunting there ... out past the mouth of Big Creek but north of Zone B of the unit.

Jerome
 
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