I’ve searched all last year for crossover sets and blond sets and couldn’t find many places to set and also trying to keep my traps from being stolen
My question is has anybody ever tried dirt hole sets in water or in land , bucket sets , dive sets , etc other baited sets
And I heard otters like bobcat gland was curious if anybody could back this up
I’m going for my second year trying for otter and mink any help is appreciated

most of your trapping will be under ice i suppose. we dont get that down here. bottle necks in creeks, big flashy dirt holes near toilets. I have caught tons of them in bottom edge sets, beaver runs in dammed up beaver ponds, dam crossovers. dive sets in those runs.

Wait for fresh snow find the travel slides in the narrow creeks set an 220 trigger on the bottom anchor it well it’s a deadly set!

I caught a nice Otter in a mink pocket set this year. I guess it was an otter pocket set.

I don't know if otters like the smell of cats, but cats sure love otter musk.

I don't have a clue about trapping otters up north, but I catch a lot of otters down here. I spent an entire year studying them trying everything there was to try on them. Bobcat glad lure works pretty good on them. So does mink glad. They are naturally curious and will stick their head in a bucket. I like to use buckets in shallow water, put some feathers around it for eye appeal and then put some bait in the back of it. Heck, I've caught otters in a bucket without using bait. Dirt hole sets on the banks they are hunting and on their runs work pretty good. Big thing is DO NOT disturb their run. When setting on runs make sure to keep it the way you found it. Otters will come to the disturbance and go around.

Like I said, I don't have a clue about trapping them up north, but I have noticed that when they are on a run going from point A to point B they are on a mission. Many times they will ignore bait sets as they move on a run. Bait sets work good where the run opens to their hunting grounds and along edges that they are hunting.

Pocket sets work pretty good down here as well as fish stick sets. Bait has to be fresh as down there they have a year round buffet and will refuse rancid bait. Remember they are hunters, not scavengers. The only time I see them scavenging is around duck blinds. They will steal a duck quicker than you can blink your eye.

Another consideration for trapping otters is you need to be in front of them, not behind them. You might have fresh sign, but if that bevy decides to leave, it might be months before they return. Last year I set some 220's and 280's on very defined ancestorial runs, runs that look like they were dug out. I set them in November, I didn't start catching otters in them until February, and they it was more otters than I wanted. Then they were gone.

Keep blocking on bodygrips very simple. If you put too much they will bust them to clear the path. Less is better. Also, dive sticks make them go over the top of the bodygrip. I found sticks angled and crossed at the top makes them duck into your trap. Why? I don't have a clue. I teach otter trapping and get called to do clinics on it and I can tell you everything you want to know about otters, but I never figured out why they climb over a level dive stick and duck under angled sticks.

I catch old mature otters using these tactics. But like I always say, what do I know?

excellent advice from above

An otter hates a mink

And a mink hates a weasel.

So lure accordingly