Anyone have any experience with river otters? The wildlife dept. in OK introduced them to a number lakes, and now some of the locals are claiming they are decimating the fish population.

I have only seen a few over the past five years. Lake Bastrop, Colorado River near Columbus TX, and Inks Lake.

They are in lake Fairfield. They actually helped that lake by culling some of the small bass.

It's been quite a few years since I fished Conroe, but the dam used to be alive with them. You could pull up in front of it, kill the outboard, and sit still. After a few minutes you'd see them popping out everywhere. They were a hoot to watch. Neither I, or anyone I knew, ever got the impression that they were decimating the fish population.

I wonder if they are still there. We used to see them there just about every trip.

The only thing decimating the fish population in Lake Conroe is the "Friends of Lake Conroe."

They may be ok in lakes but they will wipe out a pond in no time!

Most every lake here in East Texas have them.

What keeps them from getting caught on jugs and trot lines?

They're awesome. See their tracks on the banks and bars of the lower Colorado River a lot. They eat lots of small fish as others have mentioned and also invasives like tilapia and carp. Not enough to dent the population though. They're all over the Rockies and trout populations never have any problems. They're a scapegoat for poor management practices unfortunately.

They are in Lewisville, one night we were crappie fishing in the boat slip. We were throwing our crappie into a laundry basket with pool noodles all around it and rope to pull it out to make it easy to clean em.

We heard splashing, turned on the light to see what was going on and there was an otter sitting on the happily eating a crappie on the boat lift. He plopped in the water and was gone, fish in his mouth. He came back again 15 minutes later. We made a top for our fish basket.

Environments are based on predator prey relationships. Typically there is plenty of fish production to support an otter population. And they are really fun to watch.

I have a video of one on my phone at lake Bridgeport a couple years ago. I don’t know how to post it on here or I would to show. Pretty cool

Seen them several times at Squaw creek.

Have seen them on Martin Lake, back under one of the bridges. They sure were fun to watch.

Seen them on Limestone, Stillhouse Hollow and Belton.

I have lots of experience with River Otters. We lease more than 100 private ponds and lakes in Texas and Oklahoma. They can be devasting to a small body of water. For those who think they target small bass, you would be incorrect. They target big bass. They can toy with a 8 lb bass like it is nothing. We have had to close 3 of our most popular lakes as they nearly wiped out the entire lake. Some of the lake management companies have hired on staff trappers to help combat the issue. We had one of our landowners that trapped/shot 21 of them in 2022 in a 50 acre lake.

National geographic/social media/documentaries have done a great job making them look playful and cute, but they are fish killing machines. The good news and bad news is that they are very transient. They are here today and gone tomorrow if the fish population is not to their liking. However, if they fishing is good for them, they will stay awhile. If you have a female who likes to stay, it will not be long before the males show up.

For Private Water Fishing it’s a real issue. I did a recent video for social media and I called them public enemy #1 for private lakes.

FYI, their numbers have exploded in the last few years. Yes, EXPLODED. There use to be a market for their fur. However, the pelts in Texas are worth almost nothing.

TRUTH!

The OK Dept. of Wildlife turned reintroduced them for some reason:

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/new...urns-otters-to-natural-home/62768720007/

No only do they hurt the fish population, they have been known to attack people:

https://www.outdoorlife.com/survival/otter-attack-victim-photos/

I wonder if otter attacks are as prevalent as rabbit attacks...........

Do Otters "chirp" ? I have been seeing these swimming creatures for about a month now & thought they were nutria...but I have seen hundreds of nutria & never herd one "chirp" like this. About a month ago I thought it was a bird, but finally figured when I got too close to its nest it charted chirping like crazy...

Otters chirp, squeal, make bird noises, and lots of other noises. Babies are especially vocal.

I can tell you that if you are fishing with a guide on the White River and an otter shows up, the guide will waste no time picking up and moving at least a half mile away before he attempts fishing again. An otter in the water sends trout away as fast as they can swim.

fact

All I know is the river where I grew up was infested with them and you can't catch [censored] if they're around. We we're always running juglines and they seem to be curious about them and couldn't stay away.

Saw a family of otters on FCL today. I just found out that a group of otters is called a bevy.

Have seen them on PK at the back of Caddo with a small crappie in its mouth. I had just released several , the otter grabbed one . Also noticed that particular dock which had been stacked with crappie was down to only a few. I have livescope which allows me to circle entire dock(s) to find hiding fish !!

I have seen 3 on Fork in the last 4 or 5 years. One this spring.

Seen em on Lavon, Crockett, Pat Mayse and The Lower Mountain Fork. They are all over.

Saw that video, pretty neat. They didn't seem to be too concerned about boat traffic whizzing by.

One very interesting fact about an otter is nothing will touch or eat a dead one! No, not even buzzards!

TRUTH!

They are most certainly still here. Go from dock to dock at night stealing your stringers and breaking into fish cages. Little creatures will get under the dock and hiss at you while you stand there fishing.

despite the voracious appetite I still think they are a great animal , hate to hear people are shooting them over bass

We got em! Smart and endless appetite. Every carcass and rib cage we give em is a fish that lives another day!

Saw one early this morning at Fayette County lake...Tried to get a picture but those dudes are fast...up & down...gone in a flash...

We've had them on Cooper Lake for as long as I can remember and they may have been here even before there was a lake. When I duck hunt I even have one that comes and visits me. They do eat a lot of fish and some of them have discovered that when the open the flood gate and close it @ high water fish get trapped below the flood gate in the canal and they have a field day with that. It's mostly carp they get, they'll catch them and drag them up into the spillway rocks and chow down. They'll usually leave the carcass.

Otters are also one of the very few animals that kill for fun. They inhabit every creek large and small in East Texas and almost always travel in pairs or larger family units. You may think it is only one in your pond but don’t believe it for one minute! They will decimate your fish population in short order!

We had otters move into great little fishing pond near our home in Pennsylvania. They wreaked havoc on the fish population. In a short time the banks were littered with fish bones.

I don't if they were otters or minks but I have seen them on the rocks at Ray Hubbard and Lavon.

They seem to show up in winter months in my pond. I know they are there when I see pine needles raked into small piles on the levee with their scat deposited on top of it. It’s full of fish scales and crawfish shells. They folllow the creek looking for more hunting grounds and eventually hit the jackpot in my pond.