In a normal Wis. winter I normally don't have any trouble filling my two allotted otter tags. The key for me has always been to set in areas that stay open all winter even in below zero Temps. As every Wisconsinite knows this has been far from a normal winter with high Temps and no snow. My otter sets have not had any customers except some wayward beaver and muskrats. Lack of fresh sign around areas usually frequented by otters in winter has led me to believe they aren't traveling as much this winter as they haven't had to gravitate to open water. I like to set bottom edge or blind bg's for otter and after a month's soak one Finally connected. Until today my biggest otter was a 24 1/2 # male caught several years ago. Today's otter pushed the scale to 25 1/2lbs. At first glance I thought l had caught a big male but after closer examination was astounded to see it was a huge female. Haven't skinned her yet but pretty sure it's pregnant and also has retained a lot of body fat because of the mild winter. As in all trapping, patience payed off again.

Awesome! Pic?

Couldn't get pics thru. Some times they go thru sometimes not. Sorry.

It is a real chunk of an otter!

Good deal.

Congratulations, very nice otter,

One of the signs of being a good trapper is being patient If you have been successful with certain sets and locations in the past they will likely be good spots for the future A large part of being a good trapper is also you need to be an optimist Make your sets in what you feel are the best locations you can find and then believe you will catch something those sets

Way to go!

Another pic showing the girth of this obese female otter. After I had her skinned and before fleshing I hung her on a nail and measuring from nose to tail was 59and1/2 inches. The weight was all in her girth. I've caught longer otters but never one this big around and carrying that much fat.

Got the overweight female otter put up today. No tick bites or blemishes. A beautiful looking Otter. Had to add a temporary extension to stretcher for tail.

Way to go, Walt!

Moosetrot

Nice one Walt, always makes me smile when I catch one.

Very Nice!!!

Wow that is a thing of beauty.

What a biggn' Walt. I'd say a month is more patience that I'd have.

Congrats Walt, that's a beauty

That's a great otter. And yes, patience pays off. Your put up looks very nice.

Congratulations, that is a dandy otter for sure. Nice looking put up too!

Patience comes easier as you age. Be happy you are young yet. Your son will teach you Patience as he grows older.
Good luck on the line and with the boys wrestling!

So...that duct tape on the wire stretcher....holds those wires together just a touch...to make the rat longah ?