what is a good bait for like a food type set? is that even a thing for otter?

To catch an otter....find a beaver dam and set the cross over...or

Some call it a spillway. Thats

where all the beaver and otter ,slide

Out of the pond ..and down the dam...into a smaller stream.

If you look closely....you'll see a worn down path.

Set a 330 / 280 at the base..on the shallow side of the dam.

Then set 2 more traps 10 feet apart...from your first trap ( down stream,).

Also set where the water is rippling...not in the dead water.

Take some big logs or good size boulders and try to make a pinch point..

And set a 330 in that choked down area....if you can't find a natural pinch point.

Where I set... the water is no deeper than 18 inches at best.

Your just trying to cover their travel points.

A small stream between 2-3 ponds is ideal !!!

My first experience with otter started when I moved to Kentucky 12 or so years ago. Indiana didnt have a season yet when I lived there. When I first moved down, I worked on a towboat I would spend at least 3 weeks trapping full time and set for everything that had fur. Pockets, blind sets etc. We have a lot of otters.Of all the baited pockets I ran, I only ever caught one otter in a baited set. Now, I'm lucky to get to run any sort of a line for more than a week. I can usually pick up 3-4 otters without much trouble in that time in blind sets. Other places seem to have better luck with bait but thats been my experience. Have had some luck with with dirtholes under bridges using lure made for k9's. Almost always in sand which i think has a lot to do with it. Otters seem to love sand.

Find a toilet and set it hard any possible spot on a cross over with a toilet they normally run in groups I have never used bait for otter just sign

Baited pockets are great otter sets if you don't have crossovers, trails or toilets. I catch lots of otters in creeks as they travel through. Most times there isn't much if any otter sign.

Any type of fish will work. I use a lot of blue gills, shad, and crappie heads. A chunk of muskrat works also. I'm setting for mink with the trap tight to the hole and I see where I miss some otter on occasion which is fine because they aren't any fun to release. If you want to target otter with pocket sets move the trap back away from the hole an inch or two.

A whole mink carcass ( with glands ) works good in a pocket. Otters will kill every mink they encounter. The smell of the mink will pull them in to take a look.

In my experience I would steer you towards blind setting for them. Baits and lures have always been such low percentage for me to the point I gave up on it long long ago.

Some others have already pointed out good blind set locations.

thanks everybody for the great advice! this is my second season trapping, I caught one otter last season in a beaver set and I absolutely love putting it up. it was so easy and the fur was so soft much more than beaver, which is all I've trapped for this season. I want to add some otters to my beavers this season and see if I can't get some more money out of them.
I can't find much otter sign. there have been a couple piles of scat but nothing like a used toilet that I've seen other places. I will look more carefully for the crossovers yall have mention and I'll try a few pocket sets and definitely the blind sets that was my plan already. I had never head of "making a pinch point" but I guess that does make sense

thanks again yall!

There's some great information on all the above posts. Most inportment thing is to make sure you have plenty of swivels on any foot hold trap you use. Even 1 or 2 on a coni wouldn't hurt either.

oh I know all about that lol had multiple coyotes pull out and the trap was all twisted up when I got there. that was last season tho I didn't trap any coyotes this season bc the dog deer hunters run them all of

Like others said most of my otter were in blind sets in pinch points, but if you are set on bait, I have caught them on a submerged milk crate with a muskrat carcass wired in the back and a 330 in the opening. Or the same setup but with a large 4" - 6" realistic rubber/plastic fish lure with hooks removed. Wired so it looks like it is alive, hanging out inside the milk crate.

And put you triggers on the bottom.

Doesn't that trap looking inviting...no triggers in the critters face.

Just bend those trigger wires

Here's a story for you. I was trapping otter toilets on a lake with a good population. Biologists from DEQ wanted to live catch a few otters and had three expensive set ups. They were floating cages filled with live trout and accessible to otters from the top. After an otter would go in the trap a sensor would slam lid over it and there was a ledge so otters would not drown. A signal was sent from the trap when the lid was fired.

In the two weeks I was trapping simultaneously with them I caught about 10 otters blind setting....and they caught zero. Otters were too wary of the set up.

thanks nessmuck I hadn't thought of that.

I agree with the otters beaverpeeler!

You never know about otters. Blind sets are the way I've caught most otters. A few in pocket sets. But, I've caught some in a beaver bait set with poplar. Once in a while it seems they blunder into a set as though they were curious as to what it is.

This works. Or try Mink gland lure.

I catch them in pipe sets

Should explain.. the pipe sets are set underwater.. they swim into them looking for my catfish.. they get a 220 necklace

do you set them parallel to the bank?
also do you bait with catfish or they js swim in looking for cats naturally?

I have one set parallel and one not.. they don’t care.. they just swim inside to see what’s lurking.. I don’t bait them..