September 20, 2023 Otis Fishing Report

Otis Fishing Report for September 20, 2023: It’s either a very mothy or very rainy midnight hour on River Watch cam. We’re pretty sure we scoped Otis circling the island there just after 3:00 a.m. Katmai time, based on his potato-shaped bear bod and movements, but could not discern any active eats on cam that early.

For a while there, it looked like 747 was walking counter clockwise and Otis was going clockwise with their differing gaits, and they’d have met in the middle off cam. We were left to wonder who stepped “off the path” to let the other pass, when it appeared they switched directions — leaving us to think they came face to face and each turned around! Ha!

Alas, we have daylight peeking through, and then full-on daylight! And like a single-file line (almost), we have Otis (back, left entering the screen)! And DOAs a half-minute later!

We’re not getting a lot of Otis screen time this morning while he meanders out of the cam’s purview, but we did catch this late-morning drive-by. Otis is looking fat and happy! (Frankly, your Royal Fish Counter could use such a day of snorkeling, fishing, and sushi like Otis is enjoying today!)

And then our CamOp decides to follow Otis like a new fun video game — it is a challenge because Otis is kind of all over the place — and he gets four scrappy DOAs in a row!

Now we swear to you there’s no magic in tracing Otis steps, but if you ever wanted to believe we had a little Magic Dust floating over Otis, know that both the CamOp and I *know* Otis is in this snap. 😉 Based on length of time back there, it’s entirely possible Otis got a live fish. But you know the rules — no wiggle, no fish! So we marked it a DOA, and we’re guessing it was large.

Speaking of being off cam, Otis is clearly enjoying a game of Hide and Seek today! Again, we don’t know what the noms were here and can only say it took quite a while to consume. We marked it DOA, but we implore you to think “FISH!” in your head!

About 10:00 a.m., Otis falls off radar and stays off radar until about 4:30 p.m. We did have a busy “life happens” sort of day and may have missed a sightings. Nevertheless, they’d have been short blips on that radar based on what we’ve seen. 😉

And then at 4:30, we spy this guy back there by the island (waaaaay back) looking suspiciously Otis Like. And eating.

Just as 435 Holly swims by for a chat, Otis pauses chewing to chat her up real quick. For the amount of time it seemed he was there, we *really* want to call this a FISH, but what are the rules again? No wiggle, no fish (and Oits’ tush doing a wiggle doesn’t count… though maybe it should!)

He begins his circle around the island, picks up another DOA, and then continues on his way, as we enjoy Holly eating her fish.

After that we see a raisin-sized bear way back on River Watch, a big poufy (not floofy) bear napping near that little island, 910s sleeping at the Brooks Falls Platform… and just as we’re typing, “But no Otis,” Otis arrives at the Falls! To be honest, we couldn’t have scripted going from one cam to the next while typing better than he did!

Here he is with his contingent of Alices parting the crowds.

Otis takes a few sniffs of the air to assess the situation and isn’t quite sure what to do next based on current circumstances. He rambles around a minute and then heads toward the Platform… Up the Fish Ladder… Crosses the Falls and walks out of view again.

And that, as they say, “is all she wrote” for today. We’re totaling the fish count for September 20 at just 10 DOAs, knowing full well Otis had much more to eat. That means it’s one of those days where you get to pick your favorite number and multiply those DOAs for a more accurate eats count. 😉

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

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BONUS GIF by SuspectCelery: If you’re keeping track, this is his 5th time Up the Fish Ladder this year. He’s only gone down it 4 times, and if he comes down before daylight, our balance sheet may be off balance for the remainder of the year!