Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Devastating otter predation

A friend, who has a lot of resources and effort tied up in developing a collection of koi carp for sale and for breeding is taking devastating losses at night, most likely to otters. Mink being considered not large enough to take and eat 18" fish overnight...

How is he going to halt this damage...

Regards, andy

Traps, guns, maybe a game cam to find patterns!! Simple

Set traps baited with tuna at various locations around the pond and move them after every animal is caught. Take the traps away for a few days then put them back out. This will keep them from getting wise to the traps

Another option in addition to trapping might be an electric fence.
It's worked great for me.

Since Koi can be high dollar fish, I'd do the electric fence ASAP and use traps outside of the fence to catch the otters.

Be careful with traps. If you want to use the 330, it can severely damage your hand or arm, if not properly set.

After determining that they are, in fact, otter predators, just watch the pond for a day or two. Otters have schedules. I have used a .22 LR, and a .17 HMR to remove several otters. There have not been any for several years. Knock on wood.

Of course, adhere to your state hunting laws.

i have caught two otters here in the last month or so, but i never see one during the daylight hours.

sniper- were you able to shoot yours during the day?

Yes, Scott, they would tour the pond around 9 a.m. and again around 3-3:30 p.m. They keep sticking their head up to look at you and that's their downfall. One of them was 45 lbs. and full of fish.

You have about 3-5 seconds to squeeze a round off. Not unlike most ground game.

i just setup a game camera below the dam today. i wanna see if there are anymore coming to the pond that maybe bypassing the trap.

i havent ever seen one in the daytime at my pond, but i am watching!!!

i hope they didnt wipe out my bluegill.

anyone have any adult cnbg for sale???

Great tips all! Thank you so much!

Regards, andy

Scott, what is cnbg?

Please let us know what the camera reveals.

Copper nose bluegill CNBG

Scott, I'll give you about 10-12 8-10" BG or HBG or CNBG or Redears depending on what we catch. I'm not too far from you - 3rd exit on I-20E over the AL/GA line (Temple).
Just give me a call or email.
Randy