Otters ?

Do Otters scare away fish when they frequent an area ?
a few weeks ago a place I like got real quiet fish wise and it shouldn't be that way right now .
All these large piles of do do showed up that are absolutely disgusting with fish bones and feathers in them and I cant begin to describe how ghastly they smell .
a bud with me asked what the heck eats fish and kills water birds and leaves that kind of mess all over the place .
I had no idea and said maybe some kind of really large active raccoons ?
Then yesterday a local fella said an otter showed up and was hanging around there every day . Said it was stealing his fish off his stringer as well .
So is this something otters do as far as do do and then the next question is will they run off fish ? And to be sure I will just let you imagine the piles of do do rather than taking a picture of them ….just saying rotfl
never seen a wild one in fresh water myself , only the salty versions up in Alaska in the ocean .
"Do" tell me what you might know about them and thanks in advance :Rofl
on a side note all kidding around aside "if" them older gents ketch him hanging around that fishing hole its liable to be a not good day for that there otter from what I heard as well .I heard tell the local beaver that bothered them got it a while back and saw a beaver carcass on the shore about the same time I heard they was tired of him slapping the water and running off the fish .:yikes

We lost a pond full of catfish and was told otters had cleaned us out . Very few catfish survived . The creek that leads to and from our lake is according to game and fish, is full of otters . I killed several muskrats but did not see an otter till it was to late . Things swim under the surface pushing up a trail of water like a torpedo( not sure this is always the case , only saw one ) . Walk around lake/pond looking for trails (look like beaver slides ) and walk them out to search for bones . fish bones that is . We were told the heavy stocking of mussels provide a food source for them . We had catfish mostly up to two lbs . when we noticed a decline.Will eat you out of house/home in a matter of weeks we were told .

Otters will clean out the big fish in pools in creeks and ponds. Have seen this first hand. They will hang around an area as long as there is a good food supply around, then they move on. I have also heard of them stealing fish off stringers or fish baskets. The big piles of stinky scales on the bank is a dead give away. I’m not sure what the trapping season is in Texas, but if you know any trappers, they could take care of it legally.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I see them all the time where I fish in Louisiana, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. I haven't noticed that they scare fish off particularly but they usually show up about the time the crappie are migrating so I assume they are following the fish. I've watched them several times sitting on a log or on the bank eating 10-12" crappie. I never thought about shooting them though, they haven't seemed to hurt the crappie population where I'm at, I could see that being different in a pond or small body of water though.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Yes, they will work on the fish in any sort of impounded water feature such as a small lake or a pond where the fish cannot escape. I learned a little something about this when some buddies and I were working to stock a two acre pond with bass, crappie and catfish. Once we got it stocked pretty good the land owner began to see otters more frequently and saw the same type of evidence that you are that they were working on the fish and even the smaller ducks. Since the landowner wanted them gone... I began to sit on the hillside a hundred and fifty yards or so away with my rifle to watch for them... and it wasn't long before I noticed a catfish (about a three pounder) suspended upside down out of the water and heading for the pond dam... which by the way is quite a strange sight. When I looked through the binoculars... I could see that a good size otter had a death grip on him and (otters) apparently turn these bigger fish upside down to calm the fish until it can get them to the bank to kill them. When he was dragging his prey up onto the pond dam I put a 7MM bullet between his shoulders and the catfish flopped around until it found its way back to the water. This particular otter was a big male and (guessing) weighed about 25 or 26 lbs.

Otters are very aggressive swimmers and can out maneuver and catch most fish even in the deeper water.

They will demolish the fish population in a pond...all species if left unchecked. Had a pair get in our pond, saw one with a bass, weighed what was left of it after he swam out the spillway to get away from me... over 6lbs and there was about 1/3 of it eaten.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Otters consume about 2.5 pounds of fish everyday. TWRA did a reintroduction here a number of years back and it did not set well with a whole lot of fisherman. Some of the streams they put them in have really suffered fish wise.

Regards


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

They may not scare them away but there will be far less fish there for sure..... Those things can eat some fish.....

Yes sir they do do make a huge mess! Pun intended
One of them old guys, needs to take care of that pronto!


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

I was kind to my ponds visitor, it had a 3 lb catfish for his last meal

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

They will empty out a minnow bucket tied to the dock in no time.

Used to fish some ponds in a golf course, caught 33 one morning before the groundskeepers started moving around, my cue to go. Saw an otter in there one day and within a month I had a hard time catching anything. Love to watch them but they eat like my son in law.

They don't scare fish away,they just eat em. If they find a steady food,they will stay there until it is depleted. They eat a pile of fish in a very short time. Trapping is the best way to control them.

Sent from my LML212VL using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Otters are one of the coolest animals on the planet. I’ve trapped lots of them. They definitely like fish. They will impact the bite if they are chasing a meal. Usually they move on and the fish go back to normal after a few minutes.
You can bet the fish will be tight to the cover after the otter comes through.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

I read up on otters in Texas and if it is defined as a nuisance otter its a dead critter . Because you see here in Texas we don't have no bleeding hearts for this kind of thing and WE DONT NEED NO STINKIN BADGE !:Rofl
Our state is quite the kill it if it bothers kinda ya thing ….:yikes
If you want it for its fur that's a whole different scenario though and it gets all kinds of bla bla bla international special tag bla bla bla for endangered species protection and fur trapper license so on and etc etc etc .
its my opinion them old timers that fish off that dock are gunna make short work of it if it continues to hang around and do do all over the dock and eat all the crappie they ketch there for dinner on a daily basis .
personally I think just the do do all over the place that STINKS to high heaven is just cause ….just saying :Rofl

I have actually had more problems with Loons chasing fish away. Many times I have been on a school of crappies and had a Loon scatter the school. They will follow the boat as they are quite tame due to people feeding them minnows.
They are the state bird and are protected so no preventive action can be taken.

We have otters and muskrats... Muskrats chew holes in the dock flotation . I have a permanent trap for the muskrats. I drown them in the trap. Nuisance law.

Otters are smarter than I am.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NwLa sacalait

I see them all the time where I fish in Louisiana, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. I haven't noticed that they scare fish off particularly but they usually show up about the time the crappie are migrating so I assume they are following the fish. I've watched them several times sitting on a log or on the bank eating 10-12" crappie. I never thought about shooting them though, they haven't seemed to hurt the crappie population where I'm at, I could see that being different in a pond or small body of water though.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

---

X2!

Beavers also

Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

all kidding around aside I imagine they are similar to dolphins following the party boats .
they are protected and not to be messed with .
its my opinion since I never seen a freshwater otter in my life and I am on the water constantly ,its actually probably better to live and let live .
my buds has a video of 2 he saw last week on a different water body and they appeared to be male and female and one of them was rather aggressive . he said it hissed and warned them repeatedly about being close to them in a spot that is legendary when it comes to winter crappie in this area of Texas .
I would probably be a lot like he was and marvel at the sight long before I would consider "controlling" them myself .