They only hurt populations in in areas such as ponds. Predation is a natural part of management, and in large bodies of water it does more good than harm. I would suggest removal for private land owners with ponds, that goes for beavers and otters. Beavers will cut the dam digging their burrows in it, and otters being warm blooded predators have enough appetite to wipe out thousands of dollars worth of fish and years of good management practices in a short amount of time, less than a year like an above poster mentioned.

I had 4 of them come by my boat on Rayburn last year.

I have seen several near highpoint at Texoma.

Very cool to see them from time to time. Nice pics itt!

sorry about the size of the pic (OP) it was originally bigger but i guess it was too big and automatically reduced the size. I have even tried to edit & enlarge from my original but it won't let me. I'm still new at this. wish I had a better pic to share. LoneStarCarper, your pic is awesome.
Thanks, Tina~

you said CUTE, LOL

They otter know what a mink looks like

LOL!!!

Saw a bunch of them out on rayburn last year. cool critters.

Yep, they will follow you down along the rip rap as you are fishing it. Seen them on the dam at Ray Hubbard althouh not as much.

I saw them too last year, couldn't believe it. I was told some one shot one of them though. I havent seen them since then either.

Saw 4 together at Fork last Sunday during Media Championship. One caught a bass that looked to be a perfact under. "We could of used that one". It was pretty cool watching them fight it out for a meal.

Lake Welsh has a bunch of otters that like to hang out near the plant and up around the dam.

I've seen them on Welsh for years, Gosh only knows how many generations have lived there. Fun to watch for sure.

There was an otter at Lake Grapevine about 10 years ago my dad and I saw. I also saw an otter at Lake Lewisville while I was fishing with Bobby when we guided with him.

guess these guys are still making the rounds. We haven't actually seen them lately but we have seen what has been left behind(asuming this is still the otters). we'll just have to watch and see.
Thanks for all the updates!

I see minks on Lake Arlington every time I fish the damn or take my grandaughter to Bowman Springs park to fish. Fun to watch.

Me and my buddy seen 3 of them off the point leading into Little Caney on the left by little boy hump last weekend.

Think I saw one up in Birch Creek this past weekend. It was resting on a tree and when we got close it went in the water and swam off. Couldn't get really close as it kept swimming away from us. Not sure if it was an otter, but from the looks of the pics I have seen in previous post, it looked the same.

Nobody seems to believe me but on one of my "deep night" forays at Bachman Lake, I came upon a single river otter! I see nutria every time i go to bachman in the late fall and winter, at night. This was no nutria, nor a beaver. I got a good look, he was smoothly cruising in the water would slink up on the shore, glide in and out of the stands of Elephant Ear plants that grow along the bank and glide back in the water. He eyed me with curiosity, swam around me a couple times, and then moved on down the shore.

Back before the Dallas Rowing Club built the docks and the housing for the Crew teams that practice on bachman, that whole lower end of the lake had a sizeable population of mink. They would scurry all up and down the rip rap at the foot of the Love Field runways. Haven't seen them since those buildings were completed.

Still see the beavers upstream above Lemmon Avenue, and Carey(aka Tarponfly) got some good pics of the nutria last year up in the creek.

Otters are rare this far in north central texas, but definitely NOT extinct.

Rudy

Sam Rayburn Otter from Media Championship 2008. We could have used that bass for our 5th keeper.

Saw 3 of them on Fork last weekend. They were on the south side, east of the dam.

I've seen them for years now on wright patman on the west end where the sulphur river feeds in. Amazing to watch and they have a unique way they "process" their catch.

I did hear a first hand account of some guys trying to get an otter off of their traught line. That wasnt a friendly encounter and ended with two shaken fisherman and some otter blood from his paw on the boat carpet. At the end of the day everyone was ok.

I always give them space and don't try to bother them and they generally have rewarded me with an amazing display of their hunting skills and grace in the water.

In early November, I witnessed seeing otters in water just east of Land's End golf course. I couldn't believe it!

billb91938

We watched two of them climb up on a brush pile on the Sabine River last spring. Both of them had a sandbass and ate them before swimming off. They are obviously better at fishing than I am.