James,
There is a company that sells a propane "cannon" that can be set up to fire on a timer. I'll try to find the web link for you. I haven't used it, nor do I know of anyone who has, but it might work. The Danbury fish farm south of me hires full time "guards" who drive around the lakes all day looking for water turkeys...even at that, they loose thousands of dollars in fish every year. They have told me that the water turkeys watch for the guards and return to the places they leave.
I agree with you totally that they eat bass. I can't tell you how many bass I've seen with those markings just as you describe. I also have a picture of a water turkey eating a 1.5 pound LMB...not a pretty sight.
One good thing...at least on my ponds...they get in a pattern, arriving at the same time every day within minutes. If you watch carefully and get the pattern, you can "visit" the pond at those times and have a good deal of success...until they figure out your "pattern" and adjust.
It's a bad problem, for sure, if you have them. Maybe this will be a better year with less of them.
