Otter in mountain streams

[billmeyerhoff]

Any set suggestions for otter in free stone mountain streams? Haven't scouted it but my experience has been that their will be limited sign.

[northof50]

Consider the animals behavour and target their weak points.
Toilet locations are usually used from year to year, so once you find one, you can keep going back. They are returned to quite often in their travels.

[trappnman]

hill streams- look for the little spring inlets- any old "beaver water"- pools with some depth to winter roughfish

its where we found the most consistent sign, in limited population areas.

[Freak( Jim V.)]

The heck with looking for sign , block em down and set 3 or 4 in the tight spots. If they come through they are done , if not they aint there. I have caught otter where I never would have thought on rocky streams , all that brush makes nice natural blockings.

[billmeyerhoff]

Thanks everyone, I'll be setting them this weekend. I appreciate the advice an will be using it.

[trappnman]

mountain streams- block off everything and puit in330s-

fast, fast water- how do you keep those 330s from going off with debris? I asked that question before, and the consencous was you cannot

[billmeyerhoff]

You can't, only thing you can do is check late in day so that you get the greatest time set works during the most productive hours. This is compounded by the fact that we are still having leaf fall. Catching the animal is the easiest part of trapping, it's controlling environmental factors that is difficult.

Biggest hurdle I face is the one trap one animal mentality. I need to change that way of thinking.

[wbg]

Cut your triggers short to reduce leverage, also set with trigger on bottom and you will find that much of the flotsam will make it thru without firring the trap.

[billmeyerhoff]

I use KB stabilizers with bottom trigger offset to one side and bent horizontal to cover about 1/3 of trap opening. Everything helps but the best thing I've found is checking and cleaning late in day.

[Freak( Jim V.)]

Yep , bottom trigger either bent or cut short , you can place a rock offcenter above set a few feet too to divert some trash and set your blocking up as kind of a trash collector also. Kind of hard to explain.Esier to show, sorry wish could help more.Try to set deeper and use blocking above and around with lots of branches to collect leaves and trash, it works better than nothing at all.

[trappnman]

tried all of that- didn't work for me-

[Freak( Jim V.)]

Well it seemed to create more otter and less trashed traps for me. There are still gonna be trashed out traps , but takes longer to trash em out , but whatever works for you der Commisar.

[northof50]

When we had to run fish fry traps in mountain streams we used old fridge hanging racks, up stream about 4 feet and the leaves stuck there, otters curosity is to swim those edies preying for fish.

[billmeyerhoff]

I like the idea of the old fridge rack upstream about four feet. I know this is against conventional thought but based on the fact that most of the furbearers I have caught are swimming upstream I still think the biggest reason they are there is because the current along the bottom edge is slower and therefore the easiest place to swim when going upstream.

Never know for sure because the dead ones aren't talking and I can't find the others to ask why they are there.

[trappnman]

oh sorry- didn't know you were the otter in fast stream expert- thanks for clearing that up

[Freak( Jim V.)]

I aint expert in anything and never claimed to be , just saying what works for me in high , fast water. try otter trapping in the south when the water goes up 5 feet at a pop and you learn a little or you dont trap , like cabling off your traps up high , or you lose em and using brushy branches to catch trash , set a few rocky streams in Va too and they suck but are workable with BGs , sometimes I wish I was more proficient with footholds for otter , but i aint so be it , I Bodygrip em.

[trappnman]

me neother- I just posted that for my type of streams, narrowing te channell down with conibears is almost impossible to do- I've tried everything except adjustible triggers

water cress is a constant problem here in hill streams- real hard to keep a conibear open