October 5, 2023 Otis Fishing Report

Otis Fishing Report for October 5, 2023: We spy a “Coulda Been Otis” Who Bear on River Watch in the pre-dawn hours, but (to be honest), without seeing his No. 7, that’s a negative for record keeping purposes. That said, “Coulda Been Otis” Who Bear chewed not at all, so no scraps, no fish to count… or not. 🙂

At 10:00 a.m., Otis appears on River Watch swimming the delightful day away in search of snacks. Not only is he looking round-faced, but the Ear Phenomenon is evident: As Otis gets fatter later in the season, his adorable floppy ear perks up!

A short 15 minutes later, we pick him up on Kat’s River View. After he scrams a few ducks out of the tall grasses, he meanders along the tall grasses in the windy afternoon. He picks up a bit of something that looks to be pretty whole — no wiggles, no waggles, but takes quite a bit of time to eat it, so a nice sized DOA!

He strolls a bit, gets out of the water, walks out of sight, and then back onto cams — right into another DOA. And another. He may (or may not) be enjoying his beautiful Fall coat against the Fall colors, but, gosh, we sure are!

We’re informed by people who ID better than we that 856 enters the chat. As we’re attempting to confirm we have *any* ID skillz at all, said 856 SPLOOSHES right in front of Otis! Otis, of course, doesn’t even flinch. Zen Mode Activated!

Not that this is the 856 Fishing Report (doesn’t have the same vibe, now does it?), but HOLY MOTHER OF SALMON, look at that thing (the fish too haha)! And still, Otis doesn’t even bat an eye. He continues to chew.

Otis decides he likes it here in 164 Bucky Buddha’s spot, and tries it on as his Fall Office. He sits. He fishes. Sidebar: This is some minutes later, and 856 is still chomping, by the way, to the left. Otis is waaaay in the back. 🙂

Shortly after, Otis gets up, shakes himself off, and heads off cam. To the Falls, perhaps? Off we go to Riffles and Brooks cams! Otis does not disappoint. 🙂 Thirty minutes later, he arrives on Riffles — waaaay back in the back by the Office wall. He sees it’s otherwise occupied and just isn’t in the mood to tussle (is he ever?) with Mr. 32 Chocolate Chunk the Hunk (who, we remind you, has endorsed King Otis for Fat Bear 2023). It’s just as well — the Office seems pretty fishless lately, so no fish for Otis to inspect. 😉

Otis heads toward the Sandbar, and we pick him up on Brooks. No Sandbar Salmon Buffet is served today. He meanders through the River looking for bits and bites. None to be found. And so he heads for the Fish Ladder, as is his habit of late. (That’s a cool, even dozen Up the Ladder and still 6 Down for 2023… balance escapes us…)

He hugs the bank and pauses behind the tree line — scraps, perhaps? We lose him on Brooks and switch back to Riffles. Today, he doesn’t meander about the top of the Falls — it looks like he heads straight back on onto fishier streams, berrier pastures, sounder snoozles, or maybe that cuddly girlfriend of his.
And all this before 11:05 a.m.

Time to total the October 5 midnight-to-now fish count at just 4 DOAs, in just a few short minutes on cams. Again we remind you (and ourselves) to worry not — Otis knows what he’s doing, and he wouldn’t keep going up that darned Ladder (and not down it), without good reason!

Until tomorrow, Wishes for Fishes and Happy Fat Otis Week!! ♥ Votis Otis!!

Bonus Content
Before he walked off cam, we did have the opportunity to ask another chatter question: senushka1515 wants to know where, exactly, is Otis’ den and can he stay a little longer at the falls this year? Otis says “If I tell you where my den is, I’ma haft to scream at whippersnappers to get off my lawn all Winter. No, thank you!” He tells us that he and the fish are a package deal — he’ll stay at Brooks, if we can convince the salmon to stay at Brooks. And reminds us that he prefers the wiggly ones. 😉

And speaking of wiggly ones, this is Otis’ First Fish of the 2023 season: July 26, 2:03 p.m. Katmai time. It mighta caught CamOps by surprise, but we can see it wiggles!! GIF brought to you by SuspectCelery.