Couple Things...First, I am extremely envious of the dirt you get to trap in!!! Wayyyy more gooder than our PA dirt...Especially at the moment!!! Second, would ZEP work on bodygrips (may too slippery)and water traps too?

Wait till you got one live in a trap, not so cute.

I AM NOT the one to talk to about water traps and doing anything to them. I found beavers on this property last year and messaged Swamp on what to buy and do. He sent me a list and told me what to do by pics I sent him. If it wasn’t for him I’d resort to night shooting I guess, lol. I just set crossovers, which means any 5 year old that could set a conibear and stake it could catch these, lol.

We’ve caught some in the middle of the pines in cage traps on another place that were apparently traveling between creeks. The landowner didn’t want them killed so we drew straws to see who was going to keep the otter occupied at the back of the trap while the other raised the door and ran!

I do have a question…the pic I posted the otter was “suitcased” by both arms. My previous otter somehow made it through the trap somehow with the head out and under the arm and the other snapped on it.
HOW does that happen???

Position of the trigger wires, tuning of the trigger, speed of the otter entering trap, strength and fight of the otter after caught.....these are 4 reasons that could happen....

If he fought, he didn’t move the trap…still staked down. Now that sliding part my be the culprit. The water is way down so it’s a long way to the trap and I slicked it up to make it look like a real good spot vs the other crossover. Hoping they ain’t fast enough to slip through completely, lol.

Swamp Wolf has it. Otter are fast and strong and can get deep into a coni before it fires and slams shut. If not instantly incapacitated they can power out or give it a good effort at trying.

Downsizing to 280s or even 220s avoids them slipping past the trigger wires or bend your wires into a U or bell if you swap out for longer wire. Tune for minimal swing and bump the trigger for a hair trigger.

Great advice…and I have NO clue what any of it means, but guessing you do, lol.
Using Belisle 280’s. Triggers are sorta in a bell. I’m nervous enough playing with those things to even want to think about a “hair trigger” and been putting it on the closest notch that it falls on. To be honest I’m scared to death of those things and make sure my mind is clear with no distractions when dealing with them. I need my hands and fingers for work, lol!!

I have a theory on how an otter which gets suitcased, is able to pull their head out of the jaws. First of all, I hate when that happens because a stiff otter is hard to get out when they do that.
My theory is that their body is much thicker than their head/neck area, so when the trap closes, they automatically tense up their midsection on those jaws which allows them to pull their head out of the other jaws which are not closed far enough yet. It likely happens in a split second.

Tuning conis is in the archives. When tuning you want to hold the jaws or have a safety clip on them. Push the trigger until it fires, you want only a minimum degree of swing. File the dog until you get that.
Bumping the trigger is just that bump it just enough to have some slack. You're actually pushing the dog up to about the halfway point of firing if you tune it as the archives show. A little slack doesn't feel like a fixed object to the animal.

Yeah, I'm telling you how to hair trigger a trap that makes you nervous. But I'd rather have a hair triggered coni than not. Not just for clean catches but for my own mental state and safety. Kind of like the all guns are always loaded thing.

I’ll work on that…thanks.
Got this pic last night…

He was heading straight down the same slide, but no deer came by to let me know if he got caught, lol.
Get there this morning and that set is still there.
But, on the other side of the pine to the right was another trail but it was completely clean near the bank. I put the trap in the choked portion of the brush and that’s the set he hit.

Nice catch, again. You are going to turn into a water trapper.

Good job on the catching! I’ve seen in the past that otters will avoid slides with conibears in them after they see a few others get whacked. Guessing that’s the case, but could be the expression of their glands that causes others to stay away. Either way, hope you catch ‘em all.

Also, you may want to ask the guy you gave the otter to if he’ll let you have the glands in the future. They seem to be highly attractive to coyotes from what I’ve seen and cats from what I’ve read