There was a mink farm less than a mile from my home. When the loonies released all the mink there was a big panic. At first they were a nuisance. I heard reports of them attacking anglers, but I have never encountered this myself. After a very short period of time they seemed to thin out and now only a few are seen. They are territorial and I think the numbers even out over a period of time. I have never caught fish showing signs of damage from mink on the stretches they are present on.
Otters, cute and cuddly , belong here etc. There are several otters near a trout farm on the Avon. They are fed surplus trout and cause no problems as they are well fed. They have now spread upstream and downstream. The stretch upstream was a very good chub fishery. There are now hardly any chub there. It can't be pressure as hardly anybody ever fishes there. The stretch downstream is a very popular one. Several large chub and barbel have been found, killed by otters. These big fish are not as common as people think and may never be replaced. As the otters spread I fear for the future of the fishing. Ask Mark Callaway about the otters on the Avon. On the Stour the problem is worse. People have been releasing captive bred otters, which they are not supposed to do. Even the bird watchers, hardly friends of angling, have complained about this. I have experience of a few stretches with otters present. The mink cannot be blamed for what happens on these stretches as they do not exist there, mink and ottters do not mix and the otters kill off the mink. On one of these stretches the barbel are now very few and far between. The Stour record barbel, prior to the Throop fish, was damaged by an otter and eventually died. On two stretches I fish regularly for chub I now catch badly damaged fish. This is not due to pressure as the stretches are lightly fished. Also the fish were pristine when mink were present. It always seems to be the big chub, often 6lb plus, which are damaged. I am not a lover of mink or a hater of otters, just reporting what I see. I hope no more otters are released or I fear for the long-term future of our fishing. When otters were plentiful many years ago there were probably far more fish around for them to eat so the waters were able to sustain them. Fred, I did not want to be so blunt in my previous posting but I have seen the damage otters can do. I have not seen this from mink. I don't want to worry you but I saw two otters on the Ouse last season. Fortunately I haven't seen them this year so, hopefully, they may have gone. The person I believe released these built a dam below a weir which stopped the chub from getting to their spawning areas. Fortunately she does not own both banks so the dam is no more. I hope otters do not spread on your river or your fishing will undoubtably suffer.