Otter Report

[jdmidwest]

Carry a pistol and blast them out of the water!

Seriously, the price of otter fur and other fur plummeted this year due to the economy. My friend trapped several of them around here this winter. Amazing the little streams that they use, most were small ditches. They will swim up anything to get to a pond or lake. MDC opened the otter season up longer and made the takes a little more liberal this year. But most trappers trap for money in the hides and will not just trap to control the species. If I had the time, I would trap to target the elimination of Otters and Coyotes.

Otter in Mo were over trapped to the point of extinction one time, it could be done again if we tried. If they are in the Current and that visible, they are nailing the fish hard. I came across a pack at Wappapello Lake a few years back while duck hunting. One dragged a 15 pound carp up on a log in the flooded timber and started a feast. They are one of the few species that kill for fun and will waste fish if they can.

[Ham]

I like otters. I've yet to see one in MO, but I'll keep my eyes open.

I've had pretty good days (numbers wise) for smallies etc on a fair number of MO waterways so I don't think the otters have wiped the fish out just yet.

I also like fur coats for women though and I'm all for people trapping as long as they run their trap lines responsibly.

People also fall into that kill for fun and can be wasteful category.

[brownieman]

I know a few places on the current where when the smorgasboard trucks ( stocking trucks) unload fish the feast begins...I've seen it.

I also have had them chase my plugs right up till I jerk it away from em...I use 15 lb. test to fish with so I guess if I hook one the fight is on...I've had several close calls. Guess if I ever hook one I'll figure out something...hopfully I'll never have to, lol.

[jdmidwest]

People also fall into that kill for fun and can be wasteful category.

Chalk up Otters, Herons, and Man in the waste category. I have witnessed Otters kill for pleasure, herons kill what they can not eat, and humans, well we waste alot of resources.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Couple or three years ago, a buddy of mine and me were camping overnite on one of our favorite Jacks Fork holes. Sitting around the fire just before dark, had a female otter cruise by us raising a little cane. Seconds later her man came up, got on the gravel bar, and tried to charge us! We jumped up and started yelling at him and clapping our hands and he went back in the river and followed her. Heard them come back downstream around 2:00 A.M. Had caught fish from the hole before this took place. Next morning... not a bite. And to think I actually rescued one from a trap years ago from Coal Camp Creek!

[Greg]

Carry a pistol and blast them out of the water!

If I had the time, I would trap to target the elimination of Otters and Coyotes.

Otter in Mo were over trapped to the point of extinction one time, it could be done again if we tried. If they are in the Current and that visible, they are nailing the fish hard. I came across a pack at Wappapello Lake a few years back while duck hunting. One dragged a 15 pound carp up on a log in the flooded timber and started a feast. They are one of the few species that kill for fun and will waste fish if they can.

Good luck on the Coyotes. I've read several times that they are one of the few species that has actually flourished alongside of mankind in North America. I've read that attempts to exterminate them are pretty much always met with failure. They are one hardy and wiley (pun intended) species.

I kind of like otters. But I agree they need to be controlled. I've seen them on 2 of my favorite fishing areas - the Current and Taney.

[jdmidwest]

Good luck on the Coyotes. I've read several times that they are one of the few species that has actually flourished alongside of mankind in North America. I've read that attempts to exterminate them are pretty much always met with failure. They are one hardy and wiley (pun intended) species.

I kind of like otters. But I agree they need to be controlled. I've seen them on 2 of my favorite fishing areas - the Current and Taney.

They are flourishing. Years ago when there was a bounty on them they were scarce. They are pretty easy to trap, my friend kept out a dozen dry sets this year and killed 15 or more off of 2 farms. One must have wondered into another's range and when he was tied up in the trap, other coyotes killed him by attacking and disemboweling him. But the hides were low this year so they are going to tan them and sell the hides finished out to try to get more money.

Otters in lakes do not present the same problems as they do in small streams and ponds. They can clean out an area in a heartbeat. I had a friend that had the same problem on the Castor River while camping in a big hole. Awoke to the sounds of Psst Psst, which is a noise they make coming up for air, a pack was working the way upstream. The fishing was poor after that.

They are intimidating, nothing like a 5 foot snake coming up next to you while you are sitting in a yak in the lake. That is what they remind me of in the water.

[Gavin]

Otters are here to stay..like em or not, so there isnt much point in complaining about it anymore. Kinda like trying to stuff tootpaste back in the tube...

I'd trap em if I lived close enough to check my sets on a daily basis but I dont..Others folks trap down there though. Support your local trappers, and hope that they are successful. Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

Guys, there's more to this story than just, "Ugh. Otters bad." I know of a lot of streams that have thriving otter populations and also have thriving game fish populations. Some of them are even pretty small creeks. There's no doubt that otters CAN be too efficient as a predator of game fish, especially for warm water gamefish on small, confined creeks in the wintertime, and probably on cold water fish like trout if they get too sluggish in hot weather. But in my experience they are not universally wiping out fish populations on Ozark streams. I have fished a couple of streams where otters were supposedly a huge problem, and found very few fish. BUT...one of the otter's main foods other than fish are crayfish, and both these creeks had MORE crayfish, right out in the open crawling along on the bottom, than I'd ever seen before...which means that, yep, the gamefish weren't there to eat them, but neither were any other predators...like otters. Maybe the otters wiped out the game fish and moved on, I don't know. Funny how on one stream where I encountered this, I also encountered several other anglers who said they used to take a limit of smallmouth out of this creek every weekend all summer long...hmmm. All I do know is that otters can't be the only culprit when it comes to declining fish populations. And on a stream like the upper Current River...seems to me like the fishing is just fine there, even with the obvious presence of otters. I'm willing to share the fish with the otters as long as the fishing stays good.

Otters have now been common on Ozark streams for more than a decade. I suspect that they are probably reaching some kind of equilibrium with their food supply. Whenever you introduce what is, in effect, a new species, it tends to over-exploit its habitat, but eventually the population of both predator and prey stabilizes. I hope that's what will happen with otters. I suspect we'll always have localized problems on small streams with poor habitat, where the fish are squeezed into limited areas, but I'm no longer sure we have an overall otter problem...except around the fish hatcheries and in small ponds and creeks.

[Trav]

Let's forget about the fish for a moment.

Buy a boat dock with foam and tell me you like otters then. Better yet, leave a twenty thousand dollar pontoon in the water for a winter on the south shore of Lower Taney.

They are very destructive and love to steal foam. Whether it be from a dock or the seat cushions from your boat.

We won't elaborate on their appetite for plastic insulation around wiring and steering cables.

Sometimes I wonder how anything survived those terrorists before I strarted training dogs to keep them at bay.