2 nights ago when i was fishing an otter swam past, when i went home my father said i wouldnt be fishing their if their was an otter because if you caught a fish it would take the hand of you to get the fish. Is this true or is it some wild story he heard?

You can tell the dangerous ones, they wear bullet proof vests!

total tosh,,,,,,

I think your father might be confusing otters with bears.

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Malcolm
<')\\\\\<<
Quot homines tot sententiae

Years ago a Seatrout angler on the nith caught a good seatrout,
he put it in his bag on the bank on returning he heard a crunching noise and saw a fully grown Otter eating his fish, and no it wasn't a Mink.
Years ago,when legal i saw a terrier after a skirmish with an Otter,
And they bite hard,
An otter wont bite to get your fish, they are opportunists and wary of Humans.
When an otter is hunting a pool, you might as well move on,
as the fish wont be interested on your Fly, i have found it can take hours for them to settle.

No, it's not true. He's probably thinking of sharks or alligators. I would be very careful when taking fish off with a shark or alligator anywhere nearby.

Grouse

The closest I have got to an otter was on the Barjarg beat of the Nith. I don't know who got the bigger fright when it popped up beside me. I watched for a while but it didn't appear again - don't think it was keen on human company.

We have quite a few otters in our area, never had a problem, just with the damn mink.
I have had some good nights after an Otter has disturbed what was otherwise a very quiet nights sea trout fishing.
Cheers
Richard

__________________
Richard Jackson
Fly fishing instruction and guiding in the heart of Devon
www.devonflyfisher.com

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"They Are NOT" I repeat, Not dangerous to Humans!

They are beautiful creatures, harmless shy and elusive; I count myself lucky enough to have seen several; and on one occasion, while standing a yard off the the bank, almost up to my thigh in water on the river Usk, a large dog Otter appeared on a tree root protruding from the bank; no more than three or four feet from me; we looked at each other for a moment and he quickly slipped in-to the water, it was a fantastic, magical experience! Oh, by the way, within a couple of minutes of seeing the otter, I caught a nice pound & half brown trout in the same stretch of water; maybe we were fishing the pool together.

Leslie, your Dad is mistaken, your in no danger from Otters or Mink!