My buddy and I went fishing today and kept getting harassed by turtles! These little guys wouldn't leave our bait alone. I caught this one, but he wouldn't let us pick him up. He was an angry little dude!!!

Them thar snapen turtles is protected be kind to them.

I don't have much luck with fish when turtles are on a heavy feed.

Wow! He is huge! Bet he is 80 years old! Did you blow in his face?

Haha. No. I wasn't putting my head anywhere near his!

Wow, one of the bigger turtles ive ever seen

Same here bud. His head was bigger than my pit bull's!

Dang!

Holy Smoke!!!

Do you have another pic that shows more of him? I have caught many 5+ pound Common Snappers. And even one 18 to 20 pound Alligator Snapper. Biggest softshell was upwards of 8 to 10 pounds.

I forget how big the one that Jody told me of catching long ago, during the Kid's Catfish Tourney back in June, as we were all exchanging tales of the past.

Couldn't get it out of the water, Lynn. But here is a shot that shows his shell a little better. Two weeks ago we got one close to the bank that we thought was huge, but this one was even bigger. I'd be shocked if he was less than 50lbs. And he was pretty darn strong!!! We caught another alligator snapper after this one but it was 1/4 of the size.

If you had the pic in there, it never came up for me. I'll check back Sunday some time.

Wait, here it comes. I'm on dial-up trickle feed out here by the river.

My hand (or leg) would be nowhere near that sucker. Snappers do not let go. They are viscious. They may play dumb & slow, but they can skeedaddle quite well. My advice would be no swimming in this area for the summer, lest you be turtle bait. You should contact some TP&W biologists, I am sure they would love to check one out. Maybe they might take one to study & that would be one less you would have to feed.

I don't ever plan on swimming in the river after what I have caught! It's a shame since I live about 300 yds from it. Besides that, it is the Trinity within the metromess. Not getting in that water! I just may call TP&W as I know there are some HUGE gator snappers in there. I had one break my line before we got this one up.

"once i was swimmin' across turtle creek .... man them snappers all around my feet" ... awe never mind...............just an ole song

I would love to have one that size for a pet.....for the Trailer Park's reclaimed swimming pool!!

Nice catch!!

WOW!

No thunder in the forecast

I lived in Arlington a couple years and we would always walk and fish Rush Creek we saw several that would go 50-100#'s. That one will prob be 70 lbs they are dense as all get out. And like you said crazy strong! That's cool man


BTW how's your noggin doin?

I'd guess that turtle is at least 100#'s or more

WOW !!!

I was the dumb guy trying to pull him in by the tail and I lifted his hind legs out of the water to pull him on the bank. I weigh around 200lb and I did not budge him at all. He was every bit of 150lb plus

i thought cajuns eat those things.

All healed up man, thanks! Staples are out and I have now had 3 consecutive fishing trips with no trips to the ER so all is good! Just watch out for falling logs!

Not sure what he weighed, but at one point, both of us had him by the tail and could not pull him out.

Does this count as a state record?

Doubt it bro. I bet there are much bigger in there. I say next time we get it out and you try to wrestle with it.

You can make a pole with a rope noose like they use for catching snakes. But better get 1/4" solid braid nylon, at least 110# test. And be sure to have it rigged with a good eye towards the end of the pole so you can tie it snug. Just don't choke the thing to death. But it should hold if you get him behind the head. Be sure it is set up good, lest it come undone & you become a bullseye (target). I would say go for a leg, but I am sure he would bite & snap the rope like butter.

One lady on Limestone told a bunch of us once that she will never go swimming again in Lake Limestone after seeing some of the fish I & some of my YellowCat/Catfish Calendar students have brought in.

WoW!

Good to hear, that place has been brutal on you

[quote=2Fish4everything
Good to hear, that place has been brutal on you [/quote]

Haha! No doubt about it man! Next time I am going to wear my old football helmet.

We could always ask the state to legalize noodling in that body of water ... the turtles would always be well-fed!

Big Turtle

man that is a big turtle im goin tp rig up some ropes so if i come down and we get one that big we can lift him out and get some goods picsof the full body i dont think i have every seen one that big!

We need to hit it up soon! Should really produce this spring too!

Just in case you don't know how to clean a turtle.
Lift tail and give three good wipes.

That made me spit tea across the room FUNNY

Yep! Turtle sauce piquante is excellent and a Louisiana traditional camp meal. Here's the recipe http://generalhorticulture.tamu.edu/prof/recipes/turtle/turtle.html

Usually if I don't want anything getting my bait, I put it on a hook and throw it into Belton Lake. I can leave it in there for hours, probably even days with nothing touching it.

Hope that helps!

Come on nothed Belton not that bad.Your not holding your pole right.

You must know some spots that I don't know then. I cant find shad to save me so I caught a nice white drum the other night and filleted it up. I didn't even get a nibble on that. I went to the Korean market and bought some thread herring. Tried that out today with the same result. I may try again tomorrow.