Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Otter invasion

I don't post on here very often, but I am on this site quite frequently and love to read the wealth of information & knowledge.

That being said, I have to share some news that is basically a punch to the gut.

I just found out today that a family of otter have taken over the family's 4 acre pond. My dad saw 4 of them in the pond this weekend. He didn't tell me right away in hopes that he could do some nuisance control himself. But he had no luck and after finding fish remains on the shore, he finally dropped the bomb on me. I went out there after work today and sure enough it is not a good situation to say the least. Hard to believe, but we found one half eaten catfish that was likely 8-10#. I would have never imagined that an otter could kill a fish that big, but they must be vicious little devils. The otter were not in the pond this fall when we last fished, but have obviously moved in since then sometime during the mild winter that we have had thus far.

It just makes me sick to my stomach, especially since it has been 6 years since our last major pond catastrophe - severe winter kill. We solved that problem with aeration, restocked the pond, rip-rapped the dike, installed structure, installed a large floating dock, installed a fish feeder, and were looking forward to fun fishing for many years to come. This past year was the best year we've ever had fishing in the pond - We caught 5# LMB, 4# WE, 5#+ HSB, & redear & bluegill bigger than your hand.

Now I fear that all that hard work is ruined & the funds put into it are lost and we've taken a major step backwards.

I had a trapper friend come out tonight to assess the situation. He was amazed at the amount of otter sign, which obviously made me even sicker to my stomach & less hopeful that minimal damage was done. The otter season in Iowa ended on 1/31 & one is only allowed to "harvest" 2 per season. There is the ethical dilemma right there, let nature take it's course and face the resulting consequences or take matters into one owns hands.

Sure otters are cute and fun to watch, but when they move into a small body of water like a pond - I believe that is almost a death sentence for that pond. At least this how I feel after inspecting the damage done to our pond.

The Iowa DNR introduced otter back to Iowa several years ago (I believe in the 90's). I question that the DNR really thought that idea through very well, as to the long term effects once the population of a "predator" are established and that predator expands its range beyond Iowa's lakes and rivers. Now that otter are obviously established, IMO the DNR should re-think how they are going to control them. Allowing limited harvest of them is not the answer, especially when fur prices are so cheap & there are fewer and fewer trappers than ever before.

To say that I am frustrated is an understatement. Even if we get rid of the current otter problem in our pond, I am wondering what the future holds for the family pond and if it is even worth the fight anymore especially against a predator that is likely going to be a concern & threat for the rest of my life & the lives of my 2 sons.

Oh well, at least we had a few good years of fishing before nature took its course. You may sing me a pity party at your leisure.

Brad

Call your Department of Conservation, get a game warden out to your place, show him the fish remains and ask him if you can apply for a nuisance removal permit. That will allow you to remove the otters out of season.

If he says no, then ask him who you would contact at the state to apply for reimbursement for the cost of the fish. Explain how much it costs to restock with fish that size and how many dollars they have cost you. That might change their tune if they say no to a nuisance removal permit.

I know what I would do.

I am no longer the outlaw I was when in my younger years. In fact I have never been an outlaw but when it comes to removing otters from my pond where they can eat 2.5 lbs per day of fish, that little bit of outlaw would raise it's head. And I would be removing them from my pond. I am not recommending you become an outlaw, I am just saying I would set me some conibar 330 traps.

Really sorry to hear that Brad. Not sure how private of a location your pond is in, but the things a man does on his own private property are his concern...*wink-wink*

I wonder if it's a good move to put your pond 'on the map' by contacting any state officials.

If they don't see things the way you want, you may limit your future options.

I was in your shoes before I knew the toll they could take on a pond. You need to get them out if possible. We can shoot them in here without issue, but there is always some critter waiting to take our hard earned rewards. GBH, eagles, otters, water turkey,.......some you can get rid of, some you just have to learn to live with.

I agree with DrLuke. Be discrete. But giterdunn!! I have said it here before...I give otters the free roam of the whole entire planet Earth with the only exception being my little 2 acre pond is totally off limits!! Some don't get the message and have to pay the price. Good luck with yours.

If that is a concern, make a phone call or read the regulations regarding nuisance animals and how to deal with them for YOUR state. Used to be that you had to contact the game warden here after you trapped a nuisance animal, like a raccoon raiding a bird feeder. Now with the budget cuts and reduced amount of officers, we don't have to notify them at all.

I was just considering how some of the recent 'pond legality challenges' were brought on by placing themselves on the map.

Here's a nice piece of taxidermy:

That's a nice piece of taxidermy there Sunil. Unfortunately I want to cry when looking at it, because I'm sure that is what took place in our pond this winter. The sluggish larger fish were likely no match for the warm blooded otters.

I decided not to alert the wildlife police and keep matters underwraps as best I can. Several conibears and a few footholds have now been placed by slides, trails, & toilet areas, so we'll see what happens in the coming days. This spring, I'll find out how extensive the fish population damage is. I am fearful that the damage is extensive with there being 4 otters present. If it is bad enough, I am kicking around whether or not I want to hit the reset button once again and wait another 4-5 years before good fishing occurs again. And if I do hit the resent button, my main question is how to control otters going forward? The pond is too big and odd shaped with 5 different waterways going into it to do a fence. I almost think I would need to be proactive & have conibears set year round to hopefully catch them when they arrive versus playing the wait and see reactive game that was played this winter.

Brad

Dredging up an old post here...but after my observations this weekend, I feel like I could have written the original post. Like BradVV, I have a pond in SE Iowa that I have worked my butt off on to prepare and so forth and I think it is virtually fishless right now due to otters.

The pond was built in 2016 and stocked in 2017, I fished it once late last spring and caught fish/had bites on virtually every cast. Since the fish were only a year old, they weren't very big yet, but it was very encouraging and I was looking very much forward to good fishing in the years to come. Fast forward to this past weekend and we could not get a bite for nothing, couldn't see fish anywhere, etc.

While I did not see an otter(s), I know the neighbor had one in his pond last fall and I don't live on the land, so there would be plenty of time for an otter(s) to have been there in the times that I am not present. I can't really think of any other likely explanation and I am just sick.

I think I may have the most man-made structure in a pond anywhere, a real fish heaven...but now with no fish. I freaking hate otters!

I would readily shoot them on sight, but there are stretches where I am not there for 1-3 weeks. What do people do to throttle these fish wolves if shooting them on sight is not feasible? I could set some conibears, but I wonder if I could keep the traps operating in the winter(ice)? Aaarrggghhh!

The only thing I fear more than cormorants are otters. Really sorry to hear about your situation. Hard to believe that state governments are deliberately introducing otters into public domain, but then federal government doesn't want us to touch cormorants.

Dave....I too was devastated this winter by Otters and Water-Turkey...

My gut tells me the birds although they greatly outnumber the otters,
the birds will be slighty easier to manage...partly because you can see them.

Found this:

I appreciate the thoughts guys...but I am still fishless!

One other thing that I have learned about otters is that they just don't even kill so as to have enough to eat themselves. They kill and kill and kill, etc, maybe taking a bite out of the guts and then going back for another one.

I would be one thing if they just killed so as to survive, they don't, they kill until there is nothing left to kill. Ugh.

I'm not sure why I was fortunant a couple of years back to actually "see" the otters in my pond. I do live on the property and go down there almost every morning. I'm sure that helped a lot but one observation was I only saw them in the mornings and no other times. I was able to shoot one a day for about 3 days in a row while they were in the water feeding!! Only ever saw one at a time. I actually had to go into stealth mode and stalk them to get close enough. Each time they would go under water I would trot closer to the pond and I would freeze when they popped back up and didn't move a inch until they went back under again. Eventually I got out onto my dock and stood there and waited them out. I told this story on the forum once before but we have a lot of new members now.Look closly while they are swimming under water and they will leave a small bubble trail and you will know how close they are getting to you. They covered the whole 2 acre pond at my place but...it will look like a torpedo is fixing to hit your boat dock when they swim right at you. They normally don't stay under more than about 5 minutes at a time.They have popped up as close as 15 ft from me and then it was my turn to take my shot. Actually killed 3 using that exact same method and have not seen another one now for 2 years. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Deepest sympathies. Otters and cormorants are downright scary.

Got a chance to shoot two while they were breeding..... I know that ain’t right ... but anyway while they were thrashing about I would get closer till I was 10-16 yards away and 00 buckshot away..... never saw them again....

I know Missouri Dept of Conservation stocked them years ago. What a “success story!”
Right up there with stocking coyotes..
Southeast Iowa isn’t too far from me. I’m hoping my pond is far enough away from any creeks that I won’t see them. Sure hope so.
I think I wold put on my outlaw hat for them.

Dave, I have an ongoing war with R. Otters and Beavers. Never ending battle. I will go for months without catching any and then I will catch 3 to 4 in two or three weeks. I go through this about twice per year. Since you are not at your property every day then try to find someone who would run traps for you. Places like a local BPS may have employees that trap or may know someone who traps. Or ask everyone you run across if they know a trapper along with some research on the net for local trappers.

Flame, I have never been stealthy enough to shoot one. They will disappear when they see or hear me coming to the pond. Traps are the only thing that has worked for me.

Texas Parks and Wildlife did the same type of stocking a few years ago. Guessing someone in the system never thought it through.

ZEP, that's funny. My minds eye see's a young wildlife biologist that works for the Government when a discussion comes up around some table and decision was made to bring in some Otters. I am not sure why anyone would think it was a good idea. Never thinking about the problems it might cause for land owners, pond owners in their state. With millions of dollars spent each year on fishing both public and private waters. One might think, what introductions of otters might do to growing fish for recreation and or for food industry. An added expense in raising fish for food and recreation was probably never thought out.

And mountain lions. But they will deny that.

Black bears have already become a nuisance in the southern part of the state. Elk will become a nuisance as their range expands.

I should shut up now...

I found Mt lion tracks in one of my food plots a couple of yrs ago. At the time I did not recognize the tracks so I took pics and went to the net. I started carrying my pistol when I went to the bow hunting blinds after that. Even though at that time one could not legally carry a gun on you when bow hunting. The laws have now been changed now. Do you think they changed the laws do to me not being the only one that started carrying self defense pistols lol. Hay walking up on a Mt lion in the dark with no loaded bow makes an arrow in hand being the only defense would suck I think. And Blk Bears have also been stocked here but not seen one YET!

Augie, we found mountain lion tracks in the fresh snow down by the creek at our place Christmas 2017. We raise sheep so you can guess how we felt about that.

anybody ever tried a thermal/night scope on river otter in pond?

i hear they are more active at night....

i wonder how long I'd have to sit on my back porch in darkness before I'd see one on a thermal scope?

Living on the edge of a major river bottom, full of bayou and swamp, we have several otters in the area. I just keep hoping their food supply keeps them in the wild and they dont come looking at my pond. Hopefully the smell of dog will deter them from wanting to investigate. With the dogs inside at night, they could wreak havoc in my little pond in no time at all.

Yep. There have been multiple lion encounters in our neighborhood over the past five years.
Three separate occasions I've seen a lion on my property in broad daylight.
I don't go in the woods anymore without my little friend on my hip.