How to deal with geese

By Ian

  Have you ever been fishing, or just walking by a pond or lake, enjoying the weather and minding your own business, when a goose pops out of a bush, quacking and screeching, and charges at you? As a fisherman, this has likely happened to you  before, or will pretty soon.  

​  Spring is here, and so is goose breeding season. A mated pair sets up camp around a pond, and stays there for 2-3 months. The female sits on the eggs and incubates them, while the male guards their territory, aggressively chasing off interlopers. Unfortunately for us fishermen, the time that these geese mate also happens to the time when bass fishing really starts to warm up. So how do you deal with these annoying buggers?

Above: An adult goose standing guard over his territory. There usually is only one goose pair per pond. 

  When a goose attacks you (and there is only one), it's always the male. The female is content sitting on her nest. Geese only attack when you are near their nest. When you are near a nesting goose, always keep at least fifteen feet away. That is the radius in which a male gets aggressive. The male usually warns you when you are getting in that radius. He arches his neck, hisses, and starts to spread his wings. When this happens, slowly back away. Make no sudden moves. 

  Fighting geese is not usually a good idea. Geese have powerful wings, and I have heard of instances in which bones where broken by geese. They will also try to stab you with their beaks. Trust me, fighting them is not worth it, unless a goose is already on top of you. In that case, use a pole or any hard object and try to swat them away, and run out of that fifteen feet radius. 

Above: Female goose sitting on her nest. 

  The good thing is that there is usually one goose pair per pond. Find out where the female has made her nest, stay at least fifteen feet away from it, and you should be fine.

Tight lines,

​-Ian
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