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Thread: Otters

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Morgan Hill, CA
    Posts
    275

    Default Otters

    What's the general consensus when you run into a couple of healthy otters in the run/pool you are fishing? Half way through a run yesterday and I see two big otters on the opposite bank staring at me for a few then they slipped into the water and were gone....

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    O'vale Ca., Estes Park Co.
    Posts
    131

    Default

    As long as the food is there they will stay.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Santa Rosa
    Posts
    338

    Default

    They're on most CA streams. Lots on the Pit. I'm sure they cause a little panic for trout while feeding or moving around. But in my experience, once they're gone, the fish go back to their normal lies and start doing what they do.

    Not sure how much trout they actually eat. I believe they eat far more crawdads than trout simply because they're easier to catch. I have seen otters on the American munching on half-pounders though.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    23,837

    Default

    If you see lots of predators on a stream or river or lake it means there is plenty to eat.



    With the higher flows, the Pit river has a larger population of Pit River Rainbow trout according to yearly surveys.



    Up north (BC, Canada) on the lakes they count the pair of Loons to get an idea of how many fish are in there.



    Once a fishery is down 90% then predators are a problem.



    We drove along a large canal heading West from Fort Lauderdale where the banks were lined with fish-eating birds of many species.

    Flocks of swimming fish-eating birds were there too......cormorants, Anhingas?



    On lakes, the Delta and the ocean, anglers look for lots of birds concentrated over schools of bait with predictor fish below.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    McKinleyville
    Posts
    35

    Default

    In 50+ years of steelhead fishing I've seen otters countless times. I've caught a fish in the hole they were in twice. IMHO they definitely disturb the fish when they are working a hole. If low and clear I leave. If higher and murky I might wait for the fish to settle down. I always hope the otters go the opposite direction.

    FYI - otters seem to prefer salmon and often target females for their eggs. I've encountered plenty of dead salmon surrounded by otter tracks with only their eggs eaten and the rest of the carcass intact. Bears also prefer the eggs but will eat anything. Birds prefer the eyes but will also pick at the flesh. I don't hold it against any of them. It's the circle of life (and death).
    Last edited by cutthroat22; 02-14-2023 at 03:45 PM.

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