river otter on the Silver Fork

[neil]

We saw a river otter on the Silver Fork this weekend, several miles up from the South Fork. Cute little fella...came out of the water at the foot of a pool, looked at us, then jumped back in and was gone. No time for a snapshot.

My question: what impact would the presence of an otter have on fishing? I'm assuming slightly to highly negative. The fishing was noticebly slower than it was just a couple of weeks ago...I figured increased fishing pressure, but maybe the otter is a factor?

Any wildlife biologists out there?

(Obligatory fishing report: got a few fish during the day on nymphs (all bows), and evening bite on dry flies was pretty good upriver, away from campsites and the like. Got my first two browns on a fly rod, so the weekend is considered a success despite the pedestrian fish count.)

[ownfl4g]

I had a run in with a really big otter on the Truckee a couple weekends ago, almost thought it was a bear in the water. Anyways, it would be convenient to be able to use him for the excuse as to why I didn't catch anything.

[Jay]

They are a cool creature, and they belong in our waterways. That being said, I HATE those little furballs. I rate their impact as being HIGHLY negative. I have seen families of them decimate bass ponds in a matter of months. I even had one attack one of my 10" planter pattern swimbaits a few years ago.

[JayDubP]

Years ago I was floating Klamath just down river from Aikens Creek Flat with my 2 kids and saw a family of river otters playing-- had a 6ft or so long slide-- they were slide down into the river and climb up again and slide into the river. We watched them for 15 mins-- they sure did not care we were watching.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We saw the big ones in the Amazon drainage.

Looked like short legged Labrador Retrievers.

[wineslob]

I've seen first hand the devastation Otters can have on a fishery.
There is a water supply ditch that I've been fly fishing for nearly 30 years. It was full of browns up to 14"-15". In the last 4 years Otters got into the ditch and destroyed the trout population.
My best guess would be by 95%. There's nearly nothing left. :cry:

[dpentoney]

No doubt they eat quite a few fish, but I spent a ton of time watching otters on the North Fork of the Smith when I was young and what they mostly ate was a lot of crayfish.

[fishsticker78]

No doubt river otters eat fish. However, they are native in many of the state's drainages and have co-existed with fish (salmonids)for a very long time. In this situation, it is a natural predator-prey relationship. In contrast, with man-made structures (diversion ditches, reservoirs, etc.) containing both native and non-native fish species (bass, bluegill, hatchery trout) river otters can be disasterous to fish populations because they have the clear advantage.

[BS]

I've seen first hand the devastation Otters can have on a fishery.
There is a water supply ditch that I've been fly fishing for nearly 30 years. It was full of browns up to 14"-15". In the last 4 years Otters got into the ditch and destroyed the trout population.
My best guess would be by 95%. There's nearly nothing left. :cry:

And when they had migrated into the reservoir at the end of said ditch, the end result was the same.

Bob

[huntindog]

yah..they are almost as bad as stripers...

[neil]

Fishsticker78's comment regarding an otter's impact being less significant in it's natural environment (ie, a stream like Silver Fork) vs. something like a drainage canal (where fish have nowhere to hide) is interesting.

Certainly we can't fault the critter for living out it's days in it's natural habitat, and especially a place as beautiful as the Silver Fork of the AR. One hopes the system of natural balance will prevail, and that the otter(s) will not decimate the fishing. I suppose time will tell.

[Bruce Slightom]

One after noon sitting around camp on the Deschutes at the bottom end of White Horse we were watching a hen merganzer with a bunch of chicks swimming in the tail out. An otter came up from underneath and snatched one of them.

I was happy to see that.

[Tony Buzolich]

Knock it off about the stripers or they'll be gone too.
TONY

[huntindog]

Knock it off about the stripers or they'll be gone too.
TONY

you say that as if its a bad thing

[Ed Wahl]

This talk of our native River Otters being portrayed as vermin is really bothersome. Any time I've come across River Otters I freely admit that I feel blessed, and gladly give up the run to them. These animals are as much a part of these ecosystems as any native trout. They and the trout evolved together here and this is where they belong. As far as I can tell they are still in a 'perfect' balance.

The "negative impact on trout" is limited to them putting the trout down while they hunt. You can always walk to a different stretch to fish.

While they may decimate the introduced Bass in warm water ponds or trout in a man made canal I really don't think they're going to make a difference on a Sierra stream. They've alway been there, and with any luck they always will be.

And as far as warm water species go, I gotta say I've seen tons of Otters in the delta and from what I've heard the bass fishing there is nothing to sneeze at.

We're catching "their" trout, not "ours".

So there. Naah.

Ed

[huntindog]

i agree completely with Ed. I was joking when i said they were almost as bad as that other fish (they are nowhere near as bad). I love seeing otters every time i am given the chance...watched a family of them for awhile today and I am happy for it.

[TaylerW]

otters are special creatures. their social behavior is one of the most similar to that of humans present in nature. they play just like people and they have family units just like people. wherever otters fish, most likely so do people who do not know how to properly conserve a resource they enjoy. packaging otters in the same category as the bonneville seals is a vastttt oversight. otters are pretty cool. and actually they are a sign of good health in an area.

[YEM]

This talk of our native River Otters being portrayed as vermin is really bothersome.

Right on.

(messages have to be 10 characters long? why?)

[Jim Ferguson]

Fishsticker78's comment regarding an otter's impact being less significant in it's natural environment (ie, a stream like Silver Fork) vs. something like a drainage canal (where fish have nowhere to hide) is interesting.

Certainly we can't fault the critter for living out it's days in it's natural habitat, and especially a place as beautiful as the Silver Fork of the AR. One hopes the system of natural balance will prevail, and that the otter(s) will not decimate the fishing. I suppose time will tell.

They very well may decimate the fishing temporarily, but as Neil suggests, time should solve that problem. When the fish are gone or there are few enough that it isn't worth hunting them, the otters will be gone, too. That may not occur in a timeframe that's suitable for our likes or fishing schedules.

Otters may be a bit unusual in the animal world, as they seem to have few, if any, natural predators (other than us), and so the otter may have a larger impact for awhile in a specific location, but unless we're monkeying around with the ecosystem, impacting their habitat, and so on, it should balance out.

If we create a food tank (ditch), they'll probably gorge themselves until the fish are gone and won't even say thank you, but probably got there because they were pushed out somewhere else.

[GreggH]

Otter chilly and corn bread, yum yum.

[Mike O]

I love the little things...but like mergansers, they WILL put fish down. And down their gullets. I saw one on Putah eating a nice sized bow...but that was before regulations killed that "native" fishery for everyone else.

[dickwhite]

Saw a small one on the E Carson up around the Hwy 4 bridge 2 weeks ago. 1st time I've ever seen an otter there. Must be feasting on all those Alpine Co. planters.

Despite the competition I ended up with landing over a dozen fish on streamers taking Andy Burkes advice in Cal Fly Fisher. Largest was over 23", smallest 8". 90% planters. Had a blast with the strong takes. Getting more and more into streamers, except I'm going to need a bigger net.

Tight lines
Dick White
Tahoma ca