Making a bird of it

Hi Ya,

Much has been written about the use of birds in finding fish, in particularly feeding fish on the surface. Many a great skipper can tell the different characteristics of birds and which birds are likely to lead them to fish. Others tend not to be as useful. Then the mannerisms of the birds can tell us when the fish are frenzied, the obvious signpost is when they are diving head first into the water, picking up scraps as they go.

Unlike offshore, in the estuaries bird activity seems to be ingnored somewhat. The predominant species are seagulls and pelicans. They are literally everywhere you look in inshore and enclosed waters and most fishos seem to idle past them, unless the birds are actively feeding on the surface, then most will stop for a quick investigation. But like many birds, the subtlety of thier behaviour can lead you to better fishing more often.

I was fishing Botany Bay recently, an area where seagulls do in fact feed actively on the surface, primarity due to tailor. I could see a flock of birds actively working the surface and at a distance made the prognosis that it was tailor underneath. Dad and i watched the activity for more than an hour till it died down. We were after shallow water kings so we didn't want to miss the prime time dawn bite we get in 3 meters of water just to catch tailor.

No kings came up so a move was in order. Dad made the comment to suss out the now dormant birds sitting on the water, seemingly motionless. We dedided to have a quick flick to see if any predators were still in the area but i wasn't too convinced. To cut a long story short, the ensuing hour saw one of the hottest flatty bites we have had in quite a while. Now this might not sound too interesting but upon thought a few factors were highlighted that drove home a very important point, it's not always the working birds that can lead you to fish.

First off, we found the flatties as far away from any discernable structure as possible. We found them smack bang in the middle of the bay, pretty much a barren wasteland of sand and stuff all else. Secondly, the tide was contradictory to prime flatty time. The fish were aggresive and ready to play ball.

This got me pondering. There have been countless times upon reflection that we have pulled good fish from underneath sedentary seagulls, as well as foraging pelicans. I know in Tuggerah Lakes the precense of pelicans means the presence of prawns, and the presence of prawns...well i'm sure you can guess the rest.

I guess the key here is give birds more attention. Not just working birds but birds stationary and waiting to feed. Don't think they are there just for a good rest. Birds can see and sense more than we hope to ever understand about our fishery. Use them...even if nothing obvious stands out.