I wrote about nesting Loons and wanted to add one more thing that I believe anglers should be aware of and that is fishing with Loons in the area. It’s true, loons mostly eat perch and I know A COUPLE of anglers that I will not name, that will see loons keep going under the water and coming up in the same area and know perch are there. These people will watch this event for a few minutes and motor over to that area and fish with them. I also know a few that have told me, a loon was swimming around their boat, and they were feeding minnows to it while others were still fishing. PLEASE NEVER DO THIS. I can’t tell you how many times I have spotted a Loon swimming around and under our boat while fishing and Monica and I will tell whoever we are fishing with at the time to please STOP FISHING and reel in their line. At this point, I will move to another spot. Why do we do this? When you see what looks like a two-foot oval torpedo, below or circling around your boat, that Loon is fishing too and the last thing you want to do is hook a loon.

Loons not only consume small perch but will eat frogs, crayfish, water insects, leeches and could mistake your lure and/or bait for food and shallow it.  Then there have been times where a loon can get hooked with lures in their bodies or feet. Trust me, this DOES HAPPEN. Loons die every year this way by ingesting fish that are on the end of our line. If this ever happened, would you try or even want to try removing your bait and hook from a loon’s bill?  Hell no, I know I couldn’t/wouldn’t want to be in that situation. When this does happen, anglers have been known to just cut the line and think the loon will be fine. I’m here to tell you, that loon will die because it won’t be able to open its bill or dive under water to find dinner. If a loon gets accidentally hooked, it might be possible to net the loon and while still in the net, the hook could be removed. Would I do this? I probably would give it a shot.

It’s also a fact that Loons have drowned, because they got entangled in old fishing line that was thrown into the water. If anything like this happens to you or you see this happen, you can call a LOON RESCUE VOLUNTEERS 715-966-5415 or 715 453-4916. They will most likely ask the name of the lake and the area or GPS in which this incident has happen. One more point I would like to add. If you catch a fish and it is gut hooked/bleeding, before releasing the fish, remove the hook because 1) that fish will most likely die anyways, 2) it will be eaten by something, and 3) you just saved a Loons or Eagles life. If your fishing line gets tangled or your reel gets bird nested, and you have to cut that piece line off, PLEASE put that portion of fishing line in your pocket and dispose of it properly when you get back on shore. The wildlife and I thank you.