I wish someone would tell that to the Mergansers and Cormorants around here!

Tight lines,

Bob

Mergansers! Dude ya raise those on the farm!

Cormorants aint ducks or geese!

I have a small lake I fish, and I'm certain that the bass follow the two resident swans (Ozzie&Harriet) around when they're feeding. I always catch bass, nice fish too, right under, or directly behind them.

Someone needs to tell these ducks then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVU_wOy0zAM

 

I have fished right beside them while they were eating the baitfish.

That was cool. 

Mergansers! Dude ya raise those on the farm!

Cormorants aint ducks or geese!

 

 

Mergansers on the farm?  I don't think so!

 

No, Cormorants aren't ducks, but like the Mergansers, they chow down a lot of fish.  Same with Loons (not a duck, but looks like a duck).  

 

Tight lines,

Bob

Mergansers are diving ducks whose diet consists of vegetation and small baitfish,

mergansers cause no measurable harm to predatory game fish.

 

Cormorants are blamed for a lot of things, not the least of which is the decline of yellow perch.

Although the evidence seems powerful it is basically circumstantial rather than concrete.

In any case, cormorants are neither ducks nor geese, in fact their plumage

doesn't even shed water.

 

Roger

Mergansers are diving ducks whose diet consists of vegetation and small baitfish,

mergansers cause no measurable harm to predatory game fish.

 

I guess that depends on whether or not they're feeding in your favorite trout stream or in a pond or lake.  Do you have many trout streams in Florida?

 

How about Ospreys and Kingfishers?  You would think their aerial attacks and resulting huge splashes would spook the fish for a while, but it doesn't seem to be the case where I fish.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

Mergansers on the farm? I don't think so!

No, Cormorants aren't ducks, but like the Mergansers, they chow down a lot of fish. Same with Loons (not a duck, but looks like a duck).

Tight lines,

Bob

Ya can buy Mergansers at any feed store around here, farmers raise them with chickens.

I guess that depends on whether or not they're feeding in your favorite trout stream or in a pond or lake.  Do you have many trout streams in Florida?

Tight lines,

Bob

 

If mergansers are frequenting my favorite trout stream, I would view that as a positive sign of health.

If the mergansers abandoned my trout stream, that would be a harbinger of ill-health,

a problem invariably caused by man (not mergansers).

 

A fellow once told me that purple martens are great to have because they eat all the mosquitoes.

Then I asked him: "What do the purple martens eat?" (talk about a blank stare) 

 

Roger

Ya can buy Mergansers at any feed store around here, farmers raise them with chickens.

 

Mergansers are diving ducks and can barely walk on land.  And they are known for their disagreeable taste and are avoided by most duck hunters (which I am).  Why would anyone raise them?  Are you sure you don't mean Muscovy ducks?

 

Tight lines,

Bob

Since ammo is expensive why not hunt quackers with live minnows and a baitcaster? Lol

I like eating duck.

Mergansers are diving ducks and can barely walk on land. And they are known for their disagreeable taste and are avoided by most duck hunters (which I am). Why would anyone raise them? Are you sure you don't mean Muscovy ducks?

Tight lines,

Bob

Duck hunter?

No disrespect here Bob but I'm a Cajun & live in Southwest Louisiana the heart of arguable the best duck & goose hunting in America.

You don't know what Merganser, Muscovy, Guinea Hens are raised for?

Duck hunter?

No disrespect here Bob but I'm a Cajun & live in Southwest Louisiana the heart of arguable the best duck & goose hunting in America.

You don't know what Merganser, Muscovy, Guinea Hens are raised for?

 

 

I live at the southern end of Lake Champlain in the Atlantic Flyway... plenty of mighty fine duck hunting here, too.  And no, I don't know why someone would raise Mergansers...  I hope you aren't planning on keeping it a secret!   ;-)

 

Tight lines,

Bob

This thread has really deviated off topic. HA

In a couple months us Cajuns will start hunting ducks & geese in the morning & fishing for bass, specks, & reds in the afternoon.

All in the same marshes!

.

I second this motion. Bast and cast.

A little story relating to geese, and goose hunting, and fishing, if you will. As I was fishing a long winding cove one late fall morning, I noticed some geese hanging around in the water about 10 yards off the bank. I was alone. I have this habit of talking, sometimes singing, to myself, making up my own lyrics. Yeah I know. Anyway, just about the time I realized that those geese were decoys, I noticed a guy crouched behind the bushes on the bank with his goose gun. He had to hear me and my "singing". I threw up my hand, appologized for my intrusion, and spun my boat around, trolling motor set on max, feeling like an idiot. I am a bad, bad man. ; )

Mergansers are wild ducks of the 'diving' variety, as distinguished from puddle ducks (aka Dabblers).

Over the years, I've harvested all 3 mergansers: American, red-breasted & hooded

(the hooded merganser is stunningly beautiful).  As it happens, the 2nd duck I've ever taken

was a red-breasted merganser, I was 10 years old 

 

Roger

(the hooded merganser is stunningly beautiful).

Roger

And now y'all know why farmers raise all 3 Mergansers!

Farmers around here raise Mallards & Pintails

They're everywhere!The only thing that bothers me are the amount of feces. I'm not even talking about the ducks, but the canada geese. The ducks are fine by me.

To answer the original question I would say yes. If your scare 20 geese or ducks along a shoreline and they take off it is definitely going to spook the fish.

Well I set out to test the bass following ducks theory yesterday after noon. I hit a local pond in a public recreational park. The pond had an abundance of ducks and cover. I started working a white hollow body frog between and behind the ducks. On my third cast in between 2 feeding wood ducks a fish exploded on my frog like an episode of shark week. It was the most violent frog strike I've ever had. Rod loads and I set the hook. At this point people passing by are in awe and cheering me on.

One person even helped me land the fish by taking my rod as I lipped the fish. It was pretty cool experience.

I Googled domestic mergansers and came up empty. The article I read states that only Mallards and  Muscovy's are domesticated but anything can be hatched and raised on a farm .  

I Googled domestic mergansers and came up empty. The article I read states that only Mallards and Muscovy's are domesticated but anything can be hatched and raised on a farm .

Humm!

The post before yours Mr_Poche´ stated & showed a picture of a bass caught between 2 feeding wood ducks...that's pretty domesticated!

There are domesticated squirrels in my back yard .

I Googled domestic mergansers and came up empty. The article I read states that only Mallards and  Muscovy's are domesticated but anything can be hatched and raised on a farm .

mallards are actually wild, but you're right, pretty much any wild waterfowl can be hatched and bred in captivity quite well. Muscovys are indeed a domesticated duck, and quite common to see around city ponds and lakes. I believe there are a lot more domestic breeds than you may think -- most notable of these breeds are the peking duck -- bred to grow large and quickly for their meat -- great egg layers too.

Can't stand going to the pond and dodging goose crap...