Had Lochow Ranch people out last week doing pond fish survey and they reported below amount of both bass and forage fish.They advised i had a poaching or otter problem. Just now happened upon a large male otter on my dock with a 2 lb. bass in his mouth! Been here 26 years and never had,seen or heard of river otters in this area. Anyone have suggestions for eliminating these predators before i begin restocking?

My in-laws have a place in Emhouse and I have seen (may or may not have disposed of ) two that were setting up shop in the creek that is a runoff from the Lake Bardwell creek that meets up with Chambers Creek. They definitely are in the area

Watch and shoot em.

I doubt it'll be worth a trappers time to trap them for fur.

From TPWD:

Quote:

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A person who possesses a hunting license may take a fur-bearing animal (furbearer), provided the furbearer (or any part thereof) is not to be sold or exchanged for anything of value. There is no bag or possession limit on furbearers. A trapper's license is required for the take of furbearers for the sale of pelts and/or carcasses.
Fur-bearing animals include:

• Badger
• Beaver
• Fox
• Mink
• Muskrat
• Nutria
• Opossum
• Raccoon
• Otter
• Skunk
• Ring-tailed cat

Take, Possess or Sale of Furbearers

• Hunter education requirements apply.
• A department-issued CITES tag is required to be attached to all otters taken and possessed in this state. No otters may be taken or collected from a public roadway.
• Furbearers may be hunted at night on private property with the aid of an artificial light.
• 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.
• There is no closed season for recreational harvest.
• For more information on COMMERCIAL seasons, legal means, and other rules for furbearers and their pelts, consult the Fur-bearing Animal Digest, available at TPWD Law Enforcement offices or calling (800) 792-1112.

Otter Tags
All otters taken in Texas, except nuisance otters, shall be permanently tagged with a department issued federal Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) tag valid for the year in which the otter was taken within 90 days of take. All otter pelts imported into Texas must be accompanied by evidence of lawful take or possession.

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I don't think Bass would be considered "personal property" unless you were raising them commercially to sell? Interested to hear an expert opinion.

Conibear trap. SSS. except you won't need to shoot so just SS.
But only if no pets are going to be in the area. The conibear kills.
I don't think a special liscense is needed to kill a nuisance animal if you are not keeping it or its pelt.
A friend in the crawfish farm business has had hell with them running his traps and eating all the crawfish this year.

I think the 3 S's apply here.

No license required for Nuisance Fur Bearing Animals.

Quote:

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Nuisance Fur-bearing Animals


Landowners or their agents may take nuisance fur-bearing animals in any number by any means at any time on that person's land without the need for a hunting or trapping license. However, fur-bearing animals or their pelts taken for these purposes may not be retained or possessed by anyone at any time except licensed trappers during the lawful open season and possession periods.
Nuisance fur-bearing animals may be captured and relocated if the person has received authorization from the department and the owner of the property where the release will occur. A monthly report is required and must be submitted to the department on number and kind of fur-bearers captured, location of release site, name and address of person authorized to release.

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Easy peasy just don't catch and release.

My guess, is that you can trap the one you have out there, call the Game Warden, and they will relocate it for you. I bet if you call the game warden in your county, they will let you know if they would be willing to play ball.

But, on the other hand, if it were me, an otter pelt, trapped at my own place, sounds like something cool to hang up. I might look into that CITES tag, and see what it would take to get one. Then trap it, off it, and take the pelt for processing and tag it.

Edit...looks like maybe you have to be an Otter pelt dealer to get the damn tag, since it is an endangered species.

What are the 3 Ss? I am missing the last one.....(I assume)

Shoot....Shovel....(Shutup/Save$)?

Traps plus attractant. Someone I may know tried Connibear traps with no luck; foot traps had a much better success (available on Amazon) along with a scent attractant. 3 in the first 48 hours....so I'm told

Not sure how true this is but I heard they wipe out a pond of fish then move on to another one.

The Outdoor Board really otter know what to do here.

I'd rather have some otters to watch than some fish...definitely more entertaining.

What Chris said.

Otters are cool creatures.

I love watching otters. It's a priveledge to see them.

I am in denial as i had no clue that otters existed here. Sorry but they have to go as we prefer fishing over otter viewing. Waiting on recs from Lochow as they initially suggested hiring professional trapper but they warned that would be pricey. We will see. Thanks to everyone for input.

When I had otters in my pond, the local ag agent said that if is a nuisance, such as eating the fish you stocked (personal property), you can legally SS without a hunting license. If you want to keep the meat/pelt for personal use you need a hunting license, and if you want to trap and sell the pelt, you need a commercial trapping license.

Relocating involves getting written permission from the owner of the property where you plan to release the otter, getting a special permit to live trap the otter, and then submitting a written monthly report to the state regarding the status of the otter. We were given the impression that written report must be submitted from the date of release until forever.

Our conclusion was that the recommended process was SSS. The otter apparently was passing through because we did not see it again.

edit: I just noticed that Pooh quoted the actual regulation. Note that there is no time limit on the post release reports.

Mas89 said:

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Conibear trap. SSS. except you won't need to shoot so just SS.
But only if no pets are going to be in the area. The conibear kills.
I don't think a special liscense is needed to kill a nuisance animal if you are not keeping it or its pelt.
A friend in the crawfish farm business has had hell with them running his traps and eating all the crawfish this year.

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I agree with Conibear traps. I have been using 110's to heip control tree rats. Probably need larger size for otters. Very effective though...

OP, by chance do you have cormorants frequenting your tank?

Again, I am strongly against relocation. If you feel the need to trap it, kill it.

ursusguy said:

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Again, I am strongly against relocation. If you feel the need to trap it, kill it.

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Otter has been dispatched. Now want to keep others away so looking into setting traps for future before we restock.

ursusguy said:

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Again, I am strongly against relocation. If you feel the need to trap it, kill it.

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I am curious as to why? What would the problem of relocation be?

If you have one, you probably have more.

YellowPot_97 said:

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If you have one, you probably have more.

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Exactly what i am afraid of. Been doing some internet research and some opinions state family of 4 to 16 animals is possible. Hope this one was a rogue loner but doubt it.

SteveBott said:

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Not sure how true this is but I heard they wipe out a pond of fish then move on to another one.

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This is true. Otters are one of the few animals that will kill just for fun. Once the pond is wiped out they will move on.

IamGroot said:

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Mas89 said:

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Conibear trap. SSS. except you won't need to shoot so just SS.
But only if no pets are going to be in the area. The conibear kills.
I don't think a special liscense is needed to kill a nuisance animal if you are not keeping it or its pelt.
A friend in the crawfish farm business has had hell with them running his traps and eating all the crawfish this year.

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I agree with Conibear traps. I have been using 110's to heip control tree rats. Probably need larger size for otters. Very effective though...

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What are you baiting your traps with?

I hadn't heard of otters in Texas either until recently. We had a guy from Overton Fisheries come look at our ponds in Washington Co and he mentioned them. His advice was, "If it has fur and is your pond and it's not your dog.... shoot it."

My parents have seen one on a game cam at their place in Lee co.
Also last summer I saw two otters while kayaking the Colorado river near Bastrop -- they were really fun to watch

I think they're more common than most people realize. I've seen them several places - never many but at least once. Fort Worth, Spring, Lufkin, Palestine.

It is a feel good for people and effectively a death sentence anyway for wildlife. Most relocated animals, especially mesocarnivores, ate dead within 10 days of relocation. You are taking them from a known territory, and placing them into an already occupied territory increasing competition across the board. But the biggie, it is a great way to spread disease. This is one of the reasons they want release site logs etc. Plus you are simply passing on a known nuisance critter.

It is pretty well known on here that I will not support relocation for nuisance purposes. For biological reintroduction purposes, sure, but those are handled in a different manner.

Their numbers got knocked down pretty good, but as water quality practices improved, they have made a pretty decent come back. They are listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the Texas Conservation Action Plan. At the state level they have an S4 ranking which simply means "Apparently secure-Uncommon but not rare; some cause for long term concern due to declines or other factors". Boiled down, they are extremely sensitive to water quality. In the 70's and 80's the Trinity was effectively a sewer, and their population crashed royally. As water quality improved (I know this part is hard to believe, but keep in mind at one time the Trinity was considered one of the top ten poluted rivers in the world....we have come a long way).

ursusguy said:

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It is a feel good for people and effectively a death sentence anyway for wildlife. Most relocated animals, especially mesocarnivores, ate dead within 10 days of relocation. You are taking them from a known territory, and placing them into an already occupied territory increasing competition across the board. But the biggie, it is a great way to spread disease. This is one of the reasons they want release site logs etc. Plus you are simply passing on a known nuisance critter.

It is pretty well known on here that I will not support relocation for nuisance purposes. For biological reintroduction purposes, sure, but those are handled in a different manner.

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Thanks for the explanation.

I remember people making jokes about how dirty the Trinity was as a kid... what was driving the pollution and what changed?

Pecans. Drill a couple of holes and slide the pins on the trigger into them.

Didn't really know much about them either until I found two dead along rowlette creek 10 or so years back. Posted a picture here and was informed what they were by ursus. Contacted tpwd to let them know as well. Seems like they've really come along way in that time