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Joined: Jul 2014
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Joined: Jul 2014
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Last evening I was checking the pond, fences etc after being gone a few days and my pond had 15-20 dead bluegill as well as (6) 8-10 lb partially to totally eaten Channel Cat laying on the ice around the pond. its just short of an acre, island in middle 4 bottom aerators have a trapper coming tomorrow. any additional input would be appreciated. I'm a bit concerned how I'm going to catch otters in a acre buffet.
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72 |
Otters are "cute" until they start gulping down all our expensive fish. The way I see it...my fish can not coexist with otters. So I will kill them and kill them without hesitation. My trapper says the saddest thing he ever has to do is if after warning a land owner about keeping their dogs away from the traps...and the land owner doesn't listen...and then the trapper has too remove a dead dog from one of his traps...just be careful if ya have dogs. My trapper usually has caught at least one of the otters within the first 48 hours.
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,655 Likes: 1
Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: May 2002
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Illegal to shoot, or shoot only in season...SSS
"I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far." � Neil Simon,
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,090 Likes: 284
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,090 Likes: 284 |
Fred, we have a 365 day season here.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
Joined: Jul 2010
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Fred, we have a 365 day season here. Yep... "No license is required if nuisance furbearers are taken while causing loss or damage to agricultural crops, livestock, poultry, or personal property. However, such animals or their pelts may NOT be possessed or sold""may be hunted at night on private property with the aid of an artificial light"https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdo...ral-regulations
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,655 Likes: 1
Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,655 Likes: 1 |
What I meant to say was that killing them out of season may be illegal in some states. Our wonderful state of Illinois even saw fit to stock them and banned hunting them for a while. Now they can be trapped. With their size and pelt at least it gives trappers something worth trapping.
The only one I ever saw in our pond got the SSS treatment. When I saw that 4 pound bass being eaten it sealed his fate.
When I first saw the otter I got so excited I ran inside and told Connie, "We have a seal in the pond" 12 gauge works well. Connie is still laughing about the seal comment.
"I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far." � Neil Simon,
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,429 Likes: 20
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,429 Likes: 20 |
After the otters decimated my expensive catfish that I had fed to eating size two years ago, I just pretty much stopped and let the ponds be what they will, other than mowing. I still feed a little, just to watch what fish I have left stir around. I even put some Koi in there.
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 175
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 175 |
Fred, we have a 365 day season here. Yep... "No license is required if nuisance furbearers are taken while causing loss or damage to agricultural crops, livestock, poultry, or personal property. However, such animals or their pelts may NOT be possessed or sold""may be hunted at night on private property with the aid of an artificial light"https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdo...ral-regulations I love your Country.
Filippo
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,959 Likes: 188
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,959 Likes: 188 |
Bing Sh- -t Shovel Shutup ?
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72 |
Thanks my Italian friend....but we're not a Country....YET!
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 907 Likes: 205
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 907 Likes: 205 |
I just went by the firearms store today, getting a silencer for a 17hmr,, my favorite otter, GBH and muskrat tamer, I figure it will help me catch them to transplant them, set them free.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
Buzzards and ants will clean them up pretty quick along with alligators and beavers. Just chunk them.
Last edited by TGW1; 01/29/20 07:40 AM.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 907 Likes: 205
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 907 Likes: 205 |
Buzzards and ants will clean them up pretty quick along with alligators and beavers. Just chunk them. That's my theory, just looking for a politically correct way to phrase it.
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 175
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 175 |
Thanks my Italian friend....but we're not a Country....YET! Zep I meant all the USA
Filippo
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
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Zep I meant all the USA gotcha
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,655 Likes: 1
Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,655 Likes: 1 |
"I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far." � Neil Simon,
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69 |
Mother Nature seems hell bent on managing your fishery, Zep.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,668 Likes: 57 |
At my place Mother Nature really kicks in during the time that the Tp slow down and or die. Otters, Bald Eagles, Osprey and cormorants. All of them show up at that time and then some will hang around for quite a while after that time. Right now the Osprey and the Eagle continues to hang around after 45 days from Tp die off.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Tracy
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,429 Likes: 20
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,429 Likes: 20 |
I think otters can smell fish from a distance, and are attracted to a pond when you have a large biomass, as occurs when feeding lots of catfish.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307 |
Otters wiped out my fish cage. My LMB aren't happy at all.
AL
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
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Otters wiped out my fish cage. My LMB aren't happy at all. They are a wolf in sheep's clothing. An enemy I actually enjoy seeing with rigor mortis!
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69 |
I had a mink clean out 4 cages over the course of a Winter, chewed openings right through the galvanized hardware cloth and the plastic cages, too. It's amazing how many lbs of fish this or these mink consumed considering their diminutive size. Since they serve as a primary predator of muskrats I elected to leave them be and beefed up cage security the next season. For some reason he, or they, never came back, unless of course they're at it again under our NE ice as I type this.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307 |
Stinkin' interlopers. They raised the lid on my cage to get in, but I think I can fix that problem with tiny little conibears. That is after I restock the cage this spring.
AL
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,800 Likes: 69 |
Al they did that to me, also - so I made the cage lid netting much larger to allow pellets but small enough to keep out critters [1" mesh] and zip tied it down. Kept the GBH, Coons, Mink and others from accessing from the top.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,326 Likes: 307 |
Thanks TJ. I did all of that but zip tie the lid down. I'm trying to figure out a way to mount a 110 conibear into the lid and make that access easy for critters to enter by.
AL
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