Do you think a mb 550 osj trap would hold a otter or are otters feet too tapered for a off set jaw trap ? Thanks for any advise.

I caught one in that trap in a set specifically for otter when it was all I had.

my personal preference is never run offset jaws on any water traps. but with that sized trap if you get an above pad catch it would likely work if its all you have. theres many other better otter traps out there. my favorite being a duke #4 but thats my all around everything trap from fox and coyotes to otter and a few beaver sets when i run out of 5s

..or land traps either.

I usually trap yotes . No beaver in our area , so that is what I have. Reason I asked , is I had one in the trap ,he went down the slide cable into the water ,under the ice and got out of trap. First try at otters ! 5 1/2 inches of wet heavy snow , I'm thinking I pinched him by the belly ?? Thanks for the responses! Reason for offset jaws --Too many hound hunters in area don't want issues!

With 3/16th offsets like the 550s I've never lost a beaver or an otter All my 550s are 4 coiled with light helper springs.. I've trapped many beaver in 650"s with 1/4 offsets also. Front and backfoot...Offsets weren't the reason ya lost the otter IMHO.

There is a time and reason for running offset traps. Sometimes they're required in states, sometimes they're required for traps over size X. Having caught a few thousand otters, I can tell you the offset in a 550 would be ok but if I had the option, I'd reach for the closed jaw traps. They've got really small feet - front and back. And they have decent pads to grab. But a closed jaw trap beats an offset all day.

Somebody needs to get Swampwolf. I'll tell you who we need on here is Claudie Taylor. Otter Vaccuum. Otter machine!

Thanks for your input guys. I'm new at this otter stuff !