The Harasser / Loony Loon

[Jim Almquist]

While Lisa and I were walleye fishing we had this Loon that just would not leave us alone and was constantly swimming under the boat. My guess was that some baitfish liked the shade and so did the Loon but it got so bad that we reeled up and had to leave because we thought we might hook it. The first 3 pics are a little bad because i was shooting into the sun but the loon looked so funny preening himself.

Here is coming out from under our boat

[toughguy]

Cool pics. Nice to see those birds up close. More interesting with the story too. Very cool.

[finnbay]

I'm always amazed at how much color there is with these birds when you get well exposed close-ups. Well done, Jim!

[Dbl]

I've had similar experiences to that Jim. Up on Rainy Lake one year we were harassed for almost a week in one particular spot. Like you at first it was cool, but it become a pain because we were afraid of hooking the guy! Nice shots.

[Birdsong]

These are great. What fun.

[Netman]

I actually landed a loon a few years ago in an Ely area lake. It was an immature bird that must have gotten too close to my sucker minnow that I was fishing under a bobber. He was all wrapped up in the line so I hand-over-handed him in and freed him. I had to hold his beak because he kept trying to stab me. His parents were close by watching the whole thing screaming at me while my 7 year old was in tears. It wasn't a fun experiance; my little boy was so distraught we ended up heading off the lake.

Then there was the loon in the Hackensack area that wouldn't leave us alone...he had a crappie jig stuck in his beak.

[JayinMN]

Nice Series Jim!