October 1, 2023 Otis Fishing Report

Otis Fishing Report for October 1, 2023: We had a few Fauxtis and Notis sightings on the Overnights — possibly 274 Overflow and/or 83 Wayne Brother and/or 469 Patches, all of whom make us double-take — but no confirmed sightings of our boy Otis.

At 9:30 a.m. almost on the dot, Brooks Falls cam is focused on 708 Amelia fishing. Seemingly without reason, the cam pans left toward the Falls and Bank. We spy a Bear Nose in the trees, and it looks suspiciously like an Otis Bear Nose. We’re left wondering what sort of CamOp Magic is this that they just knew *right then* to pan left.

Fat Bear Champ 806 Jr. is on Kat’s River View and adoring fans are paying attention to the Little Tank That Could. Neither chat nor our CamOp appears to see said Nose (making us think we may be a bit crazier than you already know us to be). We rewind to be sure we’re not hallucinating. Super easy to miss in real time, but there it is!

Our Magical Nose-Seeking CamOp pans back to Amelia. She (Amelia, not the CamOp) sniffs the air and hops off her Surfing Log rather abruptly. Otis enters the chat.

He greets his Alice Royal Guard dutifully standing at attention. He does his morning yoga stretch.

Checks out a lil bit of salmon breakfish scrap. And so officially begins the Katmai Octoberfish Celebration, as Otis heads toward the River, with a little more yoga and sniffing along the way!

At 10:00 a.m., we spy Otis at the Oxbow and heading toward the Fish Cache. Our round-faced boy checks the refisherator for leftovers. He walks toward the camera and paws at something in the water. He picks it up, and it looks like it has just ONE wiggle left in it — but one wiggle is all it takes, folks! We’re calling it — FISH! A full breakfish is officially served, and Otis takes his time and enjoys every bite.

When next we gather a glimpse, Otis is swimming in the River. Meander Swimming on a Sunshiny Day, if you will. 😀 He sniffs something fishy and lets it go. He gets a one-biter and lets that go. He gets two of his ducks in a row and enjoys the lovely morning. 😉

He continues swimming toward the bridge and kicks up enough to make it known on the Underwater Cam that he’s near (but makes no appearance there), and then heads back the other way.

Next, we pick him up on Kat’s River View — chewing, as he has been almost every minute on cam so far today!

And before we can say “that client needs that by…,” Otis re-appears on River Watch. 😀 Chewing. Hahaha This one appears to eat like a fish, so we rewind and having no decision, we get the bloody magnifying glass again. (We see you laughing at us! It’s permitted!) Nope. No wiggle. We’re calling it a DOA. A very fish-like DOA. 😀

CamOps give us a close-up, and in case you were wondering what color to paint your bedroom walls, might we suggest Golden Otis set on a Field of Gold? Here’s your color-matching shot. 😉

Otis swims under the Bridge on River Watch toward Kat’s River View again, and he’s off cams a while. At 12:30 p.m., we pick him up mid-meal. This one sure eats like a fish, but alas, we didn’t see him catch (or trip over) it. Whether fish or DOA, we takes his sweet time eating it, as Alice stands guard.

Otis continues his Meandventures and finds a live one worth the Splashing Calories! Unfortunately, it’s a splash and a miss, but our boy’s got pep in his step!

From this point, we’ve got up River Watch and occasionally flip over to Kat’s River View because it’s that time of year. 🙂 We Brooks Falls up always and keep an eye on the comings and goings there. No Otis. Finally, we walk away for eats.

About 30 minutes later, we check notifications — and they’ve blown up! “It’s wiggling!” “Up the Fish Ladder!!”

We set River Watch to roll at 10x and set out to find the time stamp for Freddie123‘s post that he thinks it’s a live one. We’re not gonna lie: The body language for this said FISH, and if it were July, we’d be counting it as a fish. But this is what we’ve got to work with, and the magnifying glass is not going to help. 😉 We’re going to compromise and call it a Probable Fish. Because that’s fair, yeah?

Unsure whether that Probable was a three-fer or Otis is just enamored of a nook or maybe a cranny, but it’s 38 minutes before he shows up on cam coming around that last corner to the Falls at just before 4:00 p.m. Katmai time. The pixels are bear-ly moving, but they’re moving. Can you spot him in this shot?

He sniffs around here like there’s a treasure chest filled with salmon nearby and then continues along the bank every so carefully. Slow and steady, that’s our Otis. He nudges tree branches aside, sniffs the water, licks the air, and keeps pace with… himself. He’s a bear on a mission. It looks like he’s headed toward his Office for his daily check-in.

And now we’re dying here, you guys! He climbs up on Alice’s Restaurant like he’s a spring cub as if to say “Don’t listen to that silly girl; yes, I stand on rocks!” at least one more time this season! (The focus on this snap is fab, folks — grab a copy for your Otis Folders or scroll back and grab a dozen; 3:57ish p.m. Katmai time will get you there!)

And he stands surveying the Kingdom that is Katmai so majestically that now we’re crying at his magnificence. Oh, gosh. We didn’t see it in chat first, and it was perfect — but what a roller coaster that 10 minutes was!

He steps down and gets a long drink of water and looks around. He walks back toward the River and then curves toward the Sandbar, as is his routine. There’s a look and a POUNCE! And a pause. And a wiggle and a FISH!!

He crosses the River and comes in at the fallen tree close to shore. He continues to look for fish every step of the way to his destination. He walks toward the Jacuzzi thinking he spies something he might like to eat (probably). And then decides that’s too much effort.

He heads Up the Fish Ladder (that’s 10 up; 6 down for 2023) and meanders above the Falls. He sniffs the upper level nooks and crannies and walks off cam toward the back of the Falls.

That’s 4:15 p.m., and that’s where were we’re totaling the fish count for the first day of Octoberfish Celebration at 2 Wiggling Fish + 1 Probable Fish that Probably Wiggled (at some time in its life) + 17 DOAs!

More tomorrow, and until then, sending Wishes for Fishes and Sweet Salmon Snoozles! ♥

P.S. It’s likely that Otis trekked Down the Fish Ladder earlier today at the Falls, but he could have gone back to the bank and come down by the Platform. Without eyewitnesses, we are left with a gap between Ups and Downs. 😉

Bonus Content
In honor of Otis chewing his way through the River today, we leave you with this little ditty to sing while you watch the bears: Chewing, chewing, chewing, keep those Fat Bears Chewing as seen in this GIF brought to you by Blair-55!