ok been waiting for this till I remembered to take some pictures while out on the line . Here we have what is my standard set a 220 on an old beaver house that the otter use to get in under the ice or come out onto the tundra and run around and what not the top of this house is one great big toilet



And here is the results

I walked over the house to see what the other trap had caught and found this
MAN I HATE IT WHEN I DO THAT!!! THis house has missed twice now once due to the thaw and once due to this

The next set is a beaver dam cross over under the ice

And the results otter number 8 or 9 from here in 3 yrs 3 this year



Here is one more of some holes on another beaver house I set up and doubled on mink


Quite often I just lay the trap on top of the hole wedge it in to give it a little support or make it so the otter just needs to pop his head up thru the hole or dive down into it. 75% or better of these sets catch as the otter are comning out from under the ice. All my current otter sets are 220s the one trap that had the safety left on was a 330 I swapped it out for a 220 today Who Says 220s dont stop otter!!!

Nice... Great to see how you do it. Awesome pics. I am going to have to go through some of my pics and see if I can add something to this.

awesome before and after photos otter.

Those are cool photos. I can't believe I didn't find this place sooner. I learn something new here almost everyday. My TV watchin has dropped to almost zero and where there was once dust on my computer there is bits of Doritos from snackin and scrollin' baby!

Dad, is that right across the Wood by that first slough? Man, I got the itch real bad. I'm almost tempted to buy some 0's and set Potter Marsh for weasels. If anyone has room for someone to go check their line, I would be most greatful. I live in the
"big village" Anchorage, and I am getting homesick more and more every day. I don't know near as much as my dad could have tought me, but I know some basic sets and I would like to get out of town. I would be willing to drive or pay for gas, I just need to get out of here for a while!

Ben the cross over is that first one I set the other side of little Muklung I think thats the one your thinking off most years it is just a hole to set but this last thaw the cross over opened up for me to set. The other is behinde 1st place

Big village - I like that. Looks like this forum saves on long distance calls too. I hope you can get out. Weather and daylight getting better.

looks like that snowmobile goes through a workout with all that snow.

Now this is my kind of thread. I don't know what it is about otter trapping but its addictive to me. I only get a handful every year too but I still can't wait to check those otter sets every week. I seem to be constantly scanning the river for good locations to set up. Here's a couple new sets I just got out the other day where they were surfacing and had a potty set up and I fenced in a couple 330s in a trail they were working. No post catch pics yet...and I guess, there might not be either. We'll see.

when the otter are coming up in areas that have no surrounding brush will they use the same trail if a coni is placed in it or will they just go around?

wilson I am interested to hear your sucess rate at setting like you show us this is probably the one way I bypass as the big holes just seem to have so many random spots they can haul out and go around the conis. I do set in the narrow creeks like this below

this set actually has 2 traps I forgot to take a picture of the second on a hole 10 ft away as it was full of this

the two holes where once one big long one the otter like these spots as the blackfish they feed on are attracted to the light of the holes. this otter actually had a blackfish tail hanging out of its mouth but dumb me tugged at it thinking it was a piece of ice and it fell out before I could take a picture.
It seems if the otter come out to a toilet or seem to be feeding on the blackfish they will return to the spot otherwise some of the holes are very random in nature they come out once and the next time thru they come out 20 yrds away these are little creeks that dont freeze up till the extreem cold and at the first warming the open up the otter love them

It is pretty cool seeing all these pics. I have seen all the same sort of things, but my setups are usually a bit different. Essentially, I have all the same situations as in the previous pics with them coming out of the creeks and such, but what with the extreme snowfall I had this year, I avoided those sets and tried to set back underneath the trees where I had a chance to keep sets working. The neat thing is just how it becomes so apparent, that the critters are the same regardless of what sort of country they are in.

I don't have as many of the before and after pics as I would like, lots of afters, short on befores; but here are a few...




This is from a few years back. A nice slide. 280 under the spruce branch, and an otter caught in it.







Another one not from this year. (Notice no snow. Ha!) 280 on a crossover trail. Trap was set right about where its at. Between the bushes and the tree.






Another toilet. Caught a few otter here. 280 was on the sticks and camouflaged with dead grass. You can see that I cut the sticks down because I decided that they were a bit much...








Nice standard hole through spruce roots to access the water. Pic is of reset after pulling that otter out of it. Snowed in the next week though and it never really returned to operable condition.






Here is the all-time greatest crossover. 9 otter this season. First pic is one of a double took on the first check. 280 was camouflaged in the bushes there. Then there is a pretty cool, but poor quality video that I took early in the season. All the snow put one end (first pic) out of commission for good, but back under the trees I just kept shoveling and kicking out the trail and picked up a few more.











Classic otter hole. When we first found this spot, we were drooling over all the places to set traps when an otter stuck his head out of this hole and looked at us. Played peek-a-boo for quite a while. This was just a couple weekends ago, and this place had a ton of sign. Set it up hard, and picked up 4 on the first check. Unfortunately no stills. I took complete video of the whole thing, set-up and check and hence forgot the stillcam in my pocket.





Here is a foothold otter though at that same place, part of the quadruple. The otter were going back up underneath that stump. Bedded a #3, put down a few guide sticks and the #3 Montana did the job from there.






And here is a pic to show that on a few occasions, the effort I put into shoveling out sets paid off this year. This guy managed to get caught before everything drifted back in. That is the back of an otter there.





So yeah, hopefully someone can get something from those. Although they weren't necessarily taken to be instructional so don't show everything the best. I'll stop now before I really get carried away... Ha! I took a lot of pictures this year...

Rueben and Otterman, not being the expert otter trapper by any means, but I came up on that set just because I was out of options on several similar situations. I noticed they were using one or two trails to get to under a tree where they had a potty or something else going, so I fenced in a 330 on their existing trails even though they can easily get around them and I can't say I get them all but I've got some with that set. I've caught them without fencing in at all and it would be real easy for them to go around that trap but they, at times, just wanted to stay on their trail I guess. We'll see next check.

Otterman, how are you setting up your mink sets. I found a slough with some mink in it and want to try and catch them.

Kusko I actually dont target mink much but got just over a dozen this year almost all in otter sets but a 110 or 120 on the holes they use like otter holes only mink sized did the trick for a couple and what i use to do when I really went aftter them that and pocket sets befor ice up but instead of the standard 1.5 in front of the hole I used a 110 and put the bait deep in the pocket this way if the ice froze the pocket I made dry still held mink when they ran the shelf ice

Could anyone give me some advice on otter trapping. I have an area where I saw otter signs all over about 3 weeks ago on a lake with some old beaver lodges on it. i havent seen any activity on it until a day ago but it was just where an otter popped up through the ice and walked only 20 ft on the ice then went back into the water. The weather here has been between 0-40 degrees since then and the ice is getting to thin to walk on. I did have an encounter with an otter at a beaver lodge about 3 weeks ago. I know there is more than one because the landowner told me he saw 3 this summer and i have caught some there in the past so it is good area. I have checked out the two other lakes in the area and i didnt see any sign of them at either place and i also checked the creeks and ditches nearby and there is no sign of them there either so I am curious what they might have done or are doing, the food supply there is plentiful and there is no other trapping pressure in my area. Could they be living under ice this whole time and in the abandoned beaver lodges and decide they arent coming on the ice and if so how do I trap them? Thanks
-Mark

well, I got my first otter.

Before, I set at the toilet



After

Mark M the otter are most likley staying under the ice and travelling there. After teh ice freezes the water will drop and leave hollow spots along the bank between the bank and creek otter will run these for miles punch a hole in the ice and look for the trail you find a trail stick a coni in move a bit 10 feet or so and put another in do this 3 or 4 times and a family comes along you may get most of them. Dont forget to cover the hole with a chunk of ice and cover with snow so the otter dont climb up over your coni in an attempt to exit your hole. the set should look similar to the crossover set I posted above only tight to the bank with any beach or ground left between the coninand water blocked off so they are forced into your coni

We picked this otter up this weekend. Wish I had some pictures of the before and after. We had the trap on this otter hole for over two months before it connected. He weighed in at a bit over 20 lbs. He is the biggest we have gotten this year, and also the darkest.





I will try and get some before and after picks the next trip out.

Sorry, the beer wasn't the bait that got him. Just for reference for size.......

-TJ

nice otter Top jimmy love them big dark males. Man I told you not to give my secret bait away you know cheap beer works just as good as that Canadian stuff on otter they arent fussy