Otis Fishing Report for September 28, 2023: After the sun has risen and the fog has lifted around 8:00 a.m. Katmai time, we’re left waiting an hour and a half before we pick up Otis up on the Lower River swimmin’ and snackin’ and snackin’ and swimmin’! He grabs a couple quick bites and strolls off cams.
We spied and stalked and rewound and didn’t see Otis again until about 10:45 a.m. Well, it wasn’t exactly us — it was a keen-eyed CamOp. And we have just one question: What the heck kind of vitamins or veggies do you hybrid CamOps eat that you can SEE Otis in this frame? No kidding, the CamOp sees Otis here on Riffles and zooms right in like a CamOp on a mission! We’re thankful for both the zoom and your veggies. 😉
A minute later, Otis reminds us of the reason he hugs the River Banks as he meanders — he picks up this decent sized fish scrap.
He picks up another, and it doesn’t pass inspection — he tosses it back. Seeing him toss one is a good indicator that, in his opinion, he’s getting plenty to eat! So as we like to say, worry not and In Otis We Trust!
He gets to the corner near his Office, and notices something smells more than fishy… like wet fur doused in salmon… he remembers that he’s on vacation this week anyway, and heads back into the River.
He checks the Salmon Buffet at the Sandbar and decides that’s a hard pass.
We pick him up on Brooks Falls Low as he’s heading Up the Fish Ladder (that’s 8 this season with 5 downs), and just like yesterday, it appears he’s going to head left to snoozles. He’s back behind the Falls trees a hot minute, and we’re now presuming he’s scouring the banks for fish, as he doesn’t appear either to the left or right of the Fish Ladder. It’s several minutes later that we see him amble across the Falls on Riffles the size of about 3 pixels. We realize the suffering we’re causing ourselves trying to see a 3-pixel bear waaaaay back there and flip back over to Brooks Falls Low, and there he is! Again and as yesterday, he heads toward the back of Falls and off cams. All before 11:00 a.m.!
We have Brooks Falls Low up on one screen hoping to see Otis walk Down the Fish Ladder (because balance!) and carry on with our work day. Just before 2:00 p.m., it goes to highlights. That’s normal this time of year, and we don’t think anything of it.
And then BAM! At 2:15, highlights are off and there’s Otis in his Office. We check to be sure it’s not highlights, and it’s LIVE and not Memorex! We check Riffles and Brooks Falls for the sole purpose of seeing our boy walk Down the Fish Ladder, and no luck — so off balance we are for now.
Ten minutes later, he slides out and heads back Down River. As per usual, he hugs the Far Bank looking for parts of parts and parts of fish and whatnots here and there. A Splashy Mama Bear photo bombs, and fortunately for her, Otis was looking the other way during the “splash” part of her show. 😉
Around 3:30 p.m., Otis appears on River Watch cam swimmin’ and snackin’ and snackin’ and swimmin,’ and we feel like we’re right back where we started this morning. (Perhaps because we are…)
We keep saying this — because it’s true — but here it is again: Otis hasn’t been on cams much today, and still we’ve managed to write a novelette. Can you imagine how much we would write if he were on cam MORE?! The great thing is that he’s eating constantly during the few minutes we spy him here and there. So we’re still feeling confident that he’s eating gobs, wiggles, and waggles whether we see it or not.
It’s getting to be our snoozles time, so we’re going to total the September 28 fish count here at 15 DOAs + 1 Scrap, and we’ll add now (about 5 p.m.) through midnight in tomorrow’s update.
Until tomorrow, sending Wishes for Fishes and Sweet Snoozly Snoozes your way! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
