Lots Of Fish

[snap]

I wrote a fishing report on the 28th of December trip we took but left out a part. We ran into a trapper that runs the Current and 11 point and who lives in Van Buren. He had put in at Riverton and had ran his traps all the way up to Greer. We talked for a while because some in our group of three were fishing and he did not want to mess it up for us by jetting by. (and that is what he would have had to do!) He said he had seen fish below Whiten to Riverton and above Whiten to Turner, but had seen a lot of fish from Greer to Turner. Thought that was a good sign! On the negative side, he mentioned that otters were getting our fish. Trappers are only getting around $11 for one, down from $100 or so from years past, and that no one hardly traps otters nowadays. Should otters be much of a concern on the 11 point river to the fishing? I am hoping not!

[Phil Lilley]

I would think so. They are a problem on other streams I understand.

I'm surprised at the price for an otter. Other fur prices are way up this winter.

[Brian Sloss]

In a word, yes. There are too many otters on this river and I'm sure the same is true on others. They really have no predators except people and not many of us trap these days. Shake a trappers hand if you see him on the river, because we need them to help limit the otter population, because they do hurt fish populations from what I have noticed (unscientifically I might add).