Otis Fishing Report for September 18, 2023: As of midnight in the land of Katmai, we suspect Otis is off napping somewhere in the Down River and, as someone who goes to bed way early in the EDT, we begrudge him no snoozles!
Just before 7:30 a.m., Otis does a drive-by, as cams are capturing other bears, and then cams sliiiiide to the left, and we see the unmistakable Ears of Otis, as he munches at the Log Table with a place setting for one (for quite a few minutes, we might add!).
Our boy is circling and eating and eating and circling and certainly getting his fill of salmon delight today! And more than a couple of them were this big — great news for our Fat Bear in the Making!
As a matter of fact, it’s almost like the (dead) fish are coming to him, and at one point, he stops here at what we have to presume is a Bus Stop. Perhaps it’s the fish he’s waiting for… or maybe he’s looking for one of those Fancy CamOp Busses to swing by and take him for a ride. 😉
As Otis glides, meanders, saunters, and whatnots, his Loyal Royal Court attentively follows him here and there.
Then waaaaay far in the back, Otis circles this little island of tall grasses as a duck flies by.
Then we lose Otis on River Watch for a while and about 12:30 p.m., stealth bear that he is, Otis sneaks into the Falls via Riffles.
And as expected by chatters — but not our favorite ice cream-flavored bear 32 (Chocolate) Chunk — Otis strolls into his Office like he owns the place. Chunk pretends to be Snorkel Fishing while heading Otis’ way (to say a friendly hello, probably) and as though Otis isn’t going to notice a 1200-pound boulder heading toward him.
Otis would rather fish than fight, however, and decides his Office isn’t sufficiently aired out for him to partake of any potential inspections here today. He hangs out behind the Conveyor a moment in the Far Pool and then treks across the River toward the Near Bank. As is the Way of Otis, and as much as we attempt to find a word other than “meanders,” it’s just such the perfect word for him — and Otis meanders to and fro and pauses at the end of the catwalk for his adoring fans to get the perfect Bears Quarterly cover shot. Blair-55 captures the moment perfectly in this GIF from Brooks Falls cam.
And for the third time this season (because, yes, we track that), Otis goes Up the Fish Ladder and onto the Lip (don’t get excited — he’s just passing through and not Lip Fishing, folks!).
And finds some scraps at the Table Rock! Knowing that the Royal Jewels were a hot (dangling participle) topic in chat today, he shows off another of his good sides while dining on said scraps.
And then he disappears off cam again, as is with the Magical Performance of Otis — always leave them wanting more! We presume snoozles are in order after getting in aaaaaall his steps in the Lower River this morning.
The time to this point is just before 1:00 p.m. Katmai time, and *we* know Otis has just returned, but *you* know (by now) that the Royal Fish Counter needs her snoozles. 😉 So we’re going to total the fish count from midnight to 1:00 p.m. here at 1 Fish (wiggles!) + 1 Scrap + 25 DOAs on cams!!
We’ll pick up at Golden Otis magical return tomorrow when we do our update. Until then, wishes for fishes and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream for everyone! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
