In reply to Post #164
And there are a damn sight more square miles with no water on them!!! I can't see them feeding much in farmers fields full of crops.....
Even 10000 is mental. One, two or three mature fish a day.....EACH! Look what 15000 cormorants have done to silver fish stocks and there is - was millions of them 15 years back. And you can protect against them by stocking larger fish, scarers, shooting with a licence. Otter protection is much more difficult, time consuming and expensive.
But if you don't fence
And there are a damn sight more square miles with no water on them!!! I can't see them feeding much in farmers fields full of crops.....
Even 10000 is mental. One, two or three mature fish a day.....EACH! Look what 15000 cormorants have done to silver fish stocks and there is - was millions of them 15 years back. And you can protect against them by stocking larger fish, scarers, shooting with a licence. Otter protection is much more difficult, time consuming and expensive.
But if you don't fence
In reply to Post #165
I wish with the otter problem we face I wish people (and I haven't read this whole thread ) would not call for an otter cull. We have to get across to the people in charge we are NOT anti otter but they have to understand that like a farmer if a fox gets in his hen house he can shoot it and if an otter predates in an enclosed body of water where it is having an effect on the lake own inhabitants fishery owners should be able to take immediate action.
This is not an endangered animal and neither is a cormorant and as such both should not be given preferential treatment
Measures should be given to lake owners to take an agreed course of action in defending there and other peoples livelihoods and the conservationists should realise that ultimately we all want the same thing but sometimes there has to be an element of give and take.
I wish with the otter problem we face I wish people (and I haven't read this whole thread ) would not call for an otter cull. We have to get across to the people in charge we are NOT anti otter but they have to understand that like a farmer if a fox gets in his hen house he can shoot it and if an otter predates in an enclosed body of water where it is having an effect on the lake own inhabitants fishery owners should be able to take immediate action.
This is not an endangered animal and neither is a cormorant and as such both should not be given preferential treatment
Measures should be given to lake owners to take an agreed course of action in defending there and other peoples livelihoods and the conservationists should realise that ultimately we all want the same thing but sometimes there has to be an element of give and take.
In reply to Post #165
i don't understand what is happening to our fisheries why can't the general public see what damage these carnivorous animals and birds do, when i was a young man we used to get paid to shoot cormorants not anymore and look whats happened, a fishery owner should have the right to protect his business but i just can't see it happening for a few years yet i expect i will be dust by then.
i don't understand what is happening to our fisheries why can't the general public see what damage these carnivorous animals and birds do, when i was a young man we used to get paid to shoot cormorants not anymore and look whats happened, a fishery owner should have the right to protect his business but i just can't see it happening for a few years yet i expect i will be dust by then.
In reply to Post #1
Just seen a video on facebook of an otter clearing the koi pond in a garden centre!! Cant seem to share it...gutted
Just seen a video on facebook of an otter clearing the koi pond in a garden centre!! Cant seem to share it...gutted
In reply to Post #168
The video on facebook (shared by the PAG) is from an employee from here....
www.teviotgamefaresmokery.co.uk
Which they claim is "a haven for wildlife such as badgers, otters, woodpeckers and kingfishers which have been spotted in the past year."
Seems like they have accepted that the Otters will take their fish
The video on facebook (shared by the PAG) is from an employee from here....
www.teviotgamefaresmokery.co.uk
Which they claim is "a haven for wildlife such as badgers, otters, woodpeckers and kingfishers which have been spotted in the past year."
Seems like they have accepted that the Otters will take their fish
In reply to Post #1
In the news 12 months back.......Norfolk
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272738/Distraught-couple-forced-remove-6-000-gallon-pond-garden-otter-ate-200-prized-fish.html
In the news 12 months back.......Norfolk
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272738/Distraught-couple-forced-remove-6-000-gallon-pond-garden-otter-ate-200-prized-fish.html
In reply to Post #1
A 7 acre lake between St Neots and Huntingdon in 2010 on farmers land. A good friend gets permission to fish it along with one other. A 40lb mirror and a 28lb common are caught - these unpressured fish are easy to spot and the total stock is 23 carp with another two or three 30lb mirrors.
June 2014 and the stock is now 6 fish with the common being the largest. All throughout the winter the farmer has seen an otter visiting the lake. No doubt it is visiting the other 3 larger ones within one mile too - one being a syndicate.
Will it happen to your lake? What do you think?
One area where they do seem reluctant to visit ( so far ) are lakes really close to towns. I am thinking of Lea Valley and Colne Valley in particular. But for how long?
Nobody WANTS to fence their lake, but what other options are there?
A 7 acre lake between St Neots and Huntingdon in 2010 on farmers land. A good friend gets permission to fish it along with one other. A 40lb mirror and a 28lb common are caught - these unpressured fish are easy to spot and the total stock is 23 carp with another two or three 30lb mirrors.
June 2014 and the stock is now 6 fish with the common being the largest. All throughout the winter the farmer has seen an otter visiting the lake. No doubt it is visiting the other 3 larger ones within one mile too - one being a syndicate.
Will it happen to your lake? What do you think?
One area where they do seem reluctant to visit ( so far ) are lakes really close to towns. I am thinking of Lea Valley and Colne Valley in particular. But for how long?
Nobody WANTS to fence their lake, but what other options are there?
In reply to Post #1
I have run a small lake for 2 yrs and I am into my 3rd year. It is predominantly a catfish water, but does hold specimen sized fish of many species including carp well into the 20's and big rudd. We are surrounded by many other commercial fisheries and carp lakes etc. Other fisheries never mentioned the fact they had an otter and even denied having one to me, until last month when I found a dead carp and a dead catfish, then when I asked them again they all said they had had problems for the last 3 years!! My lake had basically just been fortunate not to have lost any fish up until this year.
I have now erected 600m of otter proof fencing. I cannot recommend my fence fitter enough. He is extremely well priced and did the whole lake in 2 days!! From start to finish.
The otter even attacked a 50lb cat, and 2 40lb cats. One of the 40's was killed and the tail eaten!!
They will have a go at anything in the water!!
The fencing contractors name is Adrian Hall and he covers most of the UK. A top bloke and did an impressive job
07973 237670
I have run a small lake for 2 yrs and I am into my 3rd year. It is predominantly a catfish water, but does hold specimen sized fish of many species including carp well into the 20's and big rudd. We are surrounded by many other commercial fisheries and carp lakes etc. Other fisheries never mentioned the fact they had an otter and even denied having one to me, until last month when I found a dead carp and a dead catfish, then when I asked them again they all said they had had problems for the last 3 years!! My lake had basically just been fortunate not to have lost any fish up until this year.
I have now erected 600m of otter proof fencing. I cannot recommend my fence fitter enough. He is extremely well priced and did the whole lake in 2 days!! From start to finish.
The otter even attacked a 50lb cat, and 2 40lb cats. One of the 40's was killed and the tail eaten!!
They will have a go at anything in the water!!
The fencing contractors name is Adrian Hall and he covers most of the UK. A top bloke and did an impressive job
07973 237670
In reply to Post #172
Having fenced my lake, we've had very little trouble.....until the other week where an otter dug underneath the wire fence buried into the lake bed and done this to one of the biggest in the lake...Her pec fins and tail also in a bad way
shes still alive and was obviously suffering, but I guess as its only a fish it doesn't matter to the pro otter pple
Having fenced my lake, we've had very little trouble.....until the other week where an otter dug underneath the wire fence buried into the lake bed and done this to one of the biggest in the lake...Her pec fins and tail also in a bad way
shes still alive and was obviously suffering, but I guess as its only a fish it doesn't matter to the pro otter pple
In reply to Post #173
Very sad
Very sad
In reply to Post #174
Very sad indeed.
The worst bit is, you can do a perimeter check every day, but it only takes a few minutes for them to get in! So you check and its safe one evening, come the morning it could have got in. Sickening!
Very sad indeed.
The worst bit is, you can do a perimeter check every day, but it only takes a few minutes for them to get in! So you check and its safe one evening, come the morning it could have got in. Sickening!
In reply to Post #161
Beave, you have arrived at the figure of one otter per 5 square mile by dividing the total surface area of of England by the estimated number of otters. However...otters live exclusively on the banks of rivers/lakes...they do not live in Westminster or the middle of a cornfield. Were you to rework your answer by counting only the square mileage of the areas where it is possible for otters to live...you would end up with a very different figure indeed.
That new figure would be useful to us as well...as that would tie in nicely with the areas we anglers are concerned about. Having said that, if otters DID decide to make a nuisance of themselves in cornfields and Westminster, we might then get some action on the issue
Cheers, Dave.
Beave, you have arrived at the figure of one otter per 5 square mile by dividing the total surface area of of England by the estimated number of otters. However...otters live exclusively on the banks of rivers/lakes...they do not live in Westminster or the middle of a cornfield. Were you to rework your answer by counting only the square mileage of the areas where it is possible for otters to live...you would end up with a very different figure indeed.
That new figure would be useful to us as well...as that would tie in nicely with the areas we anglers are concerned about. Having said that, if otters DID decide to make a nuisance of themselves in cornfields and Westminster, we might then get some action on the issue
Cheers, Dave.
In reply to Post #173
Hi joss,sad to see pic of that carp,just shown that to Mrs,she couldn't beleive the damage done by those cute little things she sees on tv(country file etc),,,,,,,,,she now understands my anger
Hi joss,sad to see pic of that carp,just shown that to Mrs,she couldn't beleive the damage done by those cute little things she sees on tv(country file etc),,,,,,,,,she now understands my anger
In reply to Post #177
hi mate...sorry only just read this...
that fish survived...ive wrote about it in jans carpworld article due out....the story goes further, of which I will write about in feb's issue
hi mate...sorry only just read this...
that fish survived...ive wrote about it in jans carpworld article due out....the story goes further, of which I will write about in feb's issue
In reply to Post #173
!!!! i can't look at that picture it makes me cringe
!!!!
i can't look at that picture it makes me cringe