Otis Fishing Report for September 29, 2023: When daylight breaks over Katmai about 8:00 a.m., there are already a handful of bears roaming the River and seeking sustenance.
When we catch up to Otis, he’s in full Meander Mode and by the time we grab this snap, he’s already had a couple pawfuls of Breakfish Snacks. By the looks of them, we’d say half might be two-biters and the other half look close to full-sized fish!
A short bit later, two bears emerge from the fog, and one of them is Otis. He gets a couple of DOAs in short order and then takes a pass on one — always a good sign to our eye, when he’s comfortable being a bit picky about a Salmon Buffet.
He appears near the Fish Cache later and looks to be walking with purpose. Unmeandering, we might say, if we were one to make up words. 😉 And like clockwork, about 30 minutes later, a shadowy figure with a familiar silhouette and movements appears in the fog on Brooks Falls cam. The Otis Dopplegangers are out in full force these days, but the familiarity of this particular shape we’ve been following for 3 seasons now is unmistakable.
Otis has arrived.
He heads toward the Riffles peninsula and then comes around the corner seeking the perfect salmon snack along the bank.
Oh, to be a photographer on Riffles Platform this morning! (Even the cold wouldn’t deter me! ♥)
Otis pauses and gives a friendly howdydo to his Royal Guard Alice, and then winds his way up the River.
A little chubster waddles by the Platform, and we’re momentarily distracted. Otis comes back into frame at the Sandbar. He bypasses the Sandbar’s offerings, and walks toward the Near Bank.
As has been his habit of late, he heads Up the Fish Ladder (that’s 9 up and 5 down this season), across the Falls, and off cams. Some have speculated that he may be headed for snoozles, and that’s entirely possible, but it seems like — being the e-fish-ent bear that he is — he’d only trek this far to seek out more slippery salmon delights. But as he’s not yet been equipped with a Go Pro, your guess is as good as ours, and either possibility is as good as the other!
Anywho, that was at 9:45 a.m. Katmai time, and it’s not until about 4:00 p.m. that we spy our boy again. He’s back in the Lower River and heading toward the Fish Cache. We don’t GIF, so we didn’t catch it for you, but we have to say that Otis’ rump is getting a bit jiggly! This is the content we’re here for! Lol
We were tied up all day and still have a bit of Rewinds to go, but we’re kind of exhausted, so we’re heading off and totaling the fish count for September 29 at 11 DOAs. We’ll pick it up tomorrow and update you with the midnight-to-midnight count.
Until then, Wishes for Fishes and Sweet Snoozly Sleeps! ♥
Bonus Content
We don’t GIF, so we’re thankful Blair-55 does! Blair’s GIF of Otis in the foggy sunrise under the full moon this morning on the River is positively magical! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
