Otters in Lake Fork

I never knew we had otters here in east Texas. This was an interesting but bittersweet site to see. While it was fun to watch them play it was quite the opposite to watch them eat those bass. This was last October when this happened. I just wanted to share. Thanks~

Im glad someone finally put some pics up of them. I have told a few people about them and they look at me like I am from Mars

LOL!! I know what you mean. Ron has lived here since he was a boy and has never seen them. we debated for a while on what they actually were until we could get close enough to tell. I still thought my eyes were deceiving me so as soon as i could I downloaded my pics for a full study. I did look them up but have forgotten what it said about them traveling. They are very destructive but also a part of the wildlife some of us don't get to see very often. I enjoyed it!

I have seen a family of them at a private lake near Mineola, and a single one at Lake Waco of all places.lol They are neat critters. I don't begrudge them the fish that they harvest. Also have some close relatives (minks) at Lake Arlington.

What part of the lake did you see the otters? I think I saw some 2 weeks ago while I was out there, but I'm not sure. if it's the same area, my mystery will be solved!

We saw them in Searcy, they were also spotted over near Oak Ridge Marina. I was told they make the rounds. we only saw them that one morning. I wish I had some better pics.

Too cute!!

It have seen them for years on Tawakoni and Lavon. I though they are some kind of Mink...

Ok I just found out they are Minks.. I thought so.

I saw three swimming on Thursday evening on the East side. They were pretty cool looking. I have seen them in Welch, but this was the first I had seen on Fork.

Otters are about three times or more the size of minks. Minks are about the size of a squirrel.

I use to see then a the railroad tressels out of mallard park all the time when I had a truck and could drive down there.

My wife thought I was nuts the first time I mentioned them.

I was surprised to see them, but definite river otters.

Yes...saw several minks on Tawakoni last trip...a few along the dam, and some in the rocks by Holiday.

Sabine River and Trinity River both have lots of them. You can tell where they live by the shell piles.

Yes they are. I have not seen a Otter in Texas the picture is of a Mink.

I have seen otters,beavers,coyotes and rabbits galore at area lakes.We were vacationing at Daingerfield State Park a few years back and watched a gater swim around right after dark every night.

There are minks at navarro mills too. been there for years. I have seen the minks at Bowman springs park. They also have them at Lake Weatherford I only saw two but they were there.

I'm glad to see someone knows what these are I have been seeing them a Lake Kiowa for the past 4 years or so, and I saw one at ray roberts last year and then 2 weeks ago I saw one one the dam at lewisville. I have noticed that I always see them on the rocks.

I saw them 2 weeks ago in Little Caney. looked like a whole family of them

There is a bunch at the north end of Pine also..I've never seen a mink in Texas, like a previous poster said a mink isn't much bigger than a squirrel so it is obvious if you are looking at one or the other..

There are some power plant lakes in Greenville that have minks in them, they sure are fun to watch.

There are now otters on Pat Mayse Lake. I have seen them sevral times and yes, they are way bigger than a mink!! I have been fishing the lake for 13 years now and the first time I saw otters was last fall. They are fun to watch.

Scott

I watch them play every year while I am duck hunting at Fork. They love to play with the duck decoys. I have seen them all over the lake the last couple of years.

Minks are in Lavon at the railroad bridge too.

I saw a couple large otter in the river on Hubbard last year. I see alot of beaver and neutra up there, but these were unmistakable. I called the game warden, and he said they are starting to move back into the north Texas area. Very cool animals. I love bass fishing, so do the Otters. Im sure they dont do as much damage as we do!

there mink are all along the rocks in Ray Hubbard. i see them everytime out!

I have seen River Otters on several east Texas lake, they are fish eatin' fools, very curious & without a good zoom hard to get a nice picture of (for me anyway) they will pop their head up & look at you and groupes will sometimes make "chirping" sounds, but byu the time I grab a camera they are under water, or not, over here, over there...ah jeez...and then I put the camera away.

I saw one in Birch on Fork, way up back in March. Looked like a big seal. Not a mink. Wouldve taken a pic if I thought it was a rare sight.

I saw 2 of them mating in White Oak this past spring. Very cool to see!

Yep, Minks. They are very cool. Lavon has a few families running the dam and the train tracks. they appreciate some sandies if they accidentally get caught and released onto the rocks.

Otter! lol its a dang Mink you fools. They look nothing like an otter

That's funny, I may have to accidentally try that.

rayhubbard has the same thing, i night fish out there a lot and i always see the running around on the rocks I didn't know what they were but i guess they are minks

If you can see the pic in the post that started this thread you have better eyesight than me. There are otters in east TX.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/otter/

They used to be all over Rayburn. I haven't been in a few years though.

there is a whole family of them on the south end of lake welsh too. cute little guys. I want one for my dorm room!

I'm such a cluts that they got to now me fairly well. I would get within 15 yards.

Like jay said I want one but it probably would end up on when animals attack episode.

here is one carrying one off.

The original pic was of otters. The pic I posted was to show a mink from Lake Arlington. Never meant it to represent an otter. Sorry for any confusion.

That is otterly voyeuristic!

you can have em, they hang out at cool water pump this time of year

Here's an otter family playing on our dock.

Wow, this thread had my head spinning for a minute. Just so there is no confusion, above are definitely River Otters and the ones in the OP's sig look to be, as well. Kinda hard to tell with such a tiny photo. Yes, there are River Otters at Fork. Sandlin too as evidenced by J.P.'s photo.

There are also tons of minks around area lakes and they prefer riprap as habitat. They were released by well-meaning owners who learned the hard way that they do not make great pets. They were all the craze 15 years ago. I've never seen a mink at Fork, but there isn't much riprap, either.

I seen them at Rayburn b4

I've sighted a pair of otters on the Yegua above Lake Somerville twice last winter and got one on video in January, before that time I'd only had fleeting glimpses and blurry photos but the video is proof positive that there are otters in the creek.

Saw them over near Oak Ridge about two months ago

I don't dispute there are otters in Texas. Those pics with the critters on the dock are certainly otters. I see minks all the time along the rocks at Lavon dam and the rock along I-30 at Hubbard. I can watch them for hours.

Reggie

They are cute, but they will dicimate a fish population. My parnets have a small farm pond full of large catfish. Otters swam up the creek and ate every catfish in that pond one winter. I don't care for them too much. Oh yeah, I hate beavers as well.

thats a great photo.

Thanks JP,like Ive always said,you otter have photos to post.

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.

How do I post video here. I haig possible ve a vid from 2 days ago of what I believe to be otters in lake Tawakoni. Would like a positive ID if I could get one.

You would post the video in the video forum located at the top of the photo forum. The instructions are posted at the top of this forum (Photo-Video Forum) All videos must be embedded.