ok who has pulled several otter outa the same area year after year? After the fist big catch was there a difference in numbers the next year?

Since this thread is a otter info thread, I will post some otter observations from ice and snow country useless to those of you with year-round open water,LOL.

Harsh winters, otter often stop traveling and settle down in a beaver pond full of fish, shiners, suckers, whatever, living in a beaver bank den or old house. Might stay in one spot for weeks until settled snow,warmer weather, breeding urge push them on.

Occasionally, they freeze in and have to wait for a thaw to free them. Most of the time when I have found "wintering" otter, they maintain a way up onto the ice.

A friend of mine owns a series of shiner ponds, some with water level control pipes. Pipes all have screens to keep the shiners in their respective ponds. He decided one winter day to drain the shiners from the largest upper pond into the smaller lower ponds, so he cut a hole through the ice to remove the screen and upright water leveling pipe so the water would drain out through the bottom drainage pipe. Watching to see how many shiners came out through the lower end of the pipe into the next pond, his partner was shocked to see an otter shoot out of the pipe!

Pond was sealed up tight with over a foot of ice. We surmised the otter got in as it was freezing up, living in a beaver bank den from years before when beaver had tried to take over his pond. Weren't many shiners left of the thousands of dollars worth he thought he had in there,LOL!

More open winters, or on big rivers that never fully freeze,they continue to travel as usual.

JDW, this is exactly what I have been looking for, great thread! Well here in KS where otters are not legal yet (and to inform you ahead of time all that I have caught have been released or turned in) I think that we have an interesting twist to their normal habitat. They have small streams that run through several sections of old stripped mine ponds and lakes that eventually go on to larger rivers. Now I know that they are big time travelers, but an observation that I have made a couple of times is that when they move to a food rich area that they just stay, sometimes for weeks, is this normal? Also, not that I was trying to catch otters but the beavs come out of the pits and travel the small creeks alot and I target them with blind sets and crossovers, two sets that should pick up otter, but of the dozens of beaver caught in such sets, no otters. All of the otter that I catch are in the pits, are they staying in the pits because there is more food in them than the creeks. I really have alot of questions because alot of what I read doesn't fit with our otter. thanks for all the previus info.

i set the same places year after year, if it catches an otter once it will catch them again. i have noticed no decline in population around here i have already taken more than i did last year also.

Sandman, Ks, 155, more great knowledge. More input?

i have a pond with traps guarded on all entrances, and he has been in there for 3 WEEKS, YES 3 WEEKS! He has came out once and went back in, and has not left yet! I'm waiting for him to make a move, cause of now he wont be able to fart without getting caught! lol
I have seen where they will leave and not be back for a month! My observation!

If yuor gonna make a bucket set what type of fish should i bait it with

i would go with the type of fish that are readliy avail. in ther area you are trapping. Youmay check your local regs first to make sure that it is legal

The first year that I trapped one big coastal lake (Siltcoos) on the Oregon coast for otter I caught 24. In this particular lake they seemed easy to catch, showing very little fear of my conibears. The following year I caught 3 and then backed off because I wasn't seeing much sign. It became obvious to me that 24 had been too heavy of a harvest. I point this out as an example of how an area can be hit too hard. On the other hand, rivers with lot's of side sloughs, tributaries, swamps etc may be harder to overtrap and I have seen that too.

These days I trap the same places over and over but I tend to give an area a break for a year and then get back to it the following, giving it a chance to recooperate. This seems to work out pretty well. I also have an idea of what each area can produce and I endeavor not to over do it.

Thanks carl. That realy helps.