Ive never trapped otter,

Now living in Idaho and the otter numbers are up,,, and harvest quotas have not been met, Im going to "get me some"

Here is my situation. I want to set along a big reservoir: Big open sandy beaches, lined with willows. milers and miles long But also the place a few ( very few actually ) hunters with dogs, horseman with dogs will ride the beach or edge. I do not want any traps on or near the beach or bank

I want to make some sort of float set: either cage or 220 set,30 yards out from the beach 20-30 inches of water which just looks like floating stuff. Yeah I know they are otter ,,, but I would like a checking indication system so I dont need to walk out to check each day
Beaver dont live on this 55,000 acre reservoir, but there is always some beaver travelers too

Any ideas or experience please

Anyone?

The otters Im after are here today gone tomorrow and when they are back they are supper tricky to get in a trap. Ive only ever got them in the water in conis blind setting. All the baiting and lure techniques Ive tried turned up nothing. I think beaverpeeler said something like he wished he hadn’t wasted all his time trying to lure otters. I feel like im at that spot. I thought the submerged bucket with a fish would be great but they always sit empty. There is a floating pipe set that someone developed down south maybe someone can link.

All that said, I’ve been wanting to try a floating set. My thought was if you got a sheet 3’x3’ or so and put a hole in the middle it might be interesting to them in the right local. You would have to add the right floatation. Might sweetin it up with some scat? Ive been spitballing how to set the coni so it would fire without being obstructed.

Ive goose hunted that beach maybe 30 times,, Saw otters in the decoys 3 of those times

a beaver float will work just change up the scent, as far as checking rig up a flag that goes up when trap fires, kind of like tip up ice fishing

Get permission, if available and use cages on the docks. Easiest way to trap a otter on a lake.

on the FHA website there is a design for floating mink boxes i think if you changed up the design to accept a 220 or larger trap it would work
https://www.furharvesters.com/publications.html

About a decade ago there was a long thread on this. I believe it also appeared in one of the magazines. Essentially it was a black tile pipe that would take a 160 trap which floated on a wood frame put on each end. If I remember correctly the two frames were then connected by one board to tighten it all together. Guys had luck with it but most people felt that it was better to blind set their area.

There’s been several otters in Kentucky that fell to the above float.Mainly use 220’s in it but 160’s will work. It’s for places that fluctuate mainly like below dams or barren ponds, plus around boat docks. Of course it’s much easier if you can find narrow pinch points but the floats do work. I wrote that article. I can’t remember which issue of Trappers Post it’s in. The man that came up with it turned 90 yesterday and is still trapping.

I've never had luck with artifical ones.

What Vinke said.