My nephew and I were fishing a slough (sp?) on Lake Winnsboro yesterday. He thought he was hung up. He was, on the biggest snapping turtle I have ever even heard of, much less seen. He snagged on the side, and it was not happy. this is a picture of its head. The second pic is its side. This thing was 3 1/2 feet across. Its feet were as big as my hands. He fought it for about 10 min before I cut the line for him. We just wanted to get another look at it. We were in awe. The pictures dont do it justice.

True dinosaur!

WOW!

Holy cow!

Did you "lip em"?

Found from Trinity river east in Texas. TPWD considers them a threatened species.

I saw one on fork I SWEAR shell was 5-6' wide

That’s why I don’t noodle for catfish!

Be careful with those Snappers.
If one clamps down on you, it won't let loose till it thunders!

that is ancient
did you snag his shell?

That looks big, only seen one other and it was at Lavon.

I must have seen the same one on Fork.

I must have seen the same one on Fork.

He was snagged right under the shell. Im not sure if it was in meat or shell. You can see it on second pic.

that can take a finger off, what a big one.

Big males can weigh over 200 pounds with a length of over 30 inches. They are amazing animals. Their bite radius is much greater than many other turtles and they are lightening fast. Be careful if you encounter one.

My first thoughts exactly!

I saw the one at Fork several times ten years ago.

When I was a kid in the early 50's wondering around in the piney forest, I came across a pair doing their things in a little creek about 5 feet across. These two, one on top of the other, were as wide as the creek.

Many years later a biggun came up thru the pines to a 35 acre tank where I lived and ate everything except some big swans. All the ducks, baby ducks, muskrats, baby beavers and baby swans were gone. Its head was as big as a saltwater turtle. I could have grabbed it by the tail one day from my boat, but I figured it would just pull me into the water. It disappeared after a couple of months.

Ditto, I thought it was an alligator at first, huge.

Ain't that the truth, that one could take a hand or arm off quickly.

They used to sell them live almost that big out of the back of a truck on side of road in south La back in the day. Probably why they’re endangered today.

Who would buy one and why? Honest question.

He is talking about Louisiana, they eat them. Seriously, I know folks that had gatherings and that was the main course.

I saw a guy snag a small one on Rowlett creek and he was going to cut the line. A asian guy ran down and grab the turtle and threw it in a cooler. He was very happy to get him.

My grandfather had a place on Squaw Creek in northern IL between Fox Lake and Long Lake. I spent summers there as a kid. We ran a troline baited with cut bluegills between his dock and the neighbors. One time we caught a big snapping turtle that he said was close to a 100lbs. My brother and I had fun playing with it and seeing how big of a stick it could snap in half.

They love it when you rub their nose with your finger. They smile big.

I once hooked into a giant sea turtle fishing off the jetties in Corpus Christi years ago. fought that monster for nearly 20 minutes until I realized what it was. Eventually the hook dislodged (from the side of his head!), but that seaturtle was about 3-4 foot diameter.

Was scuba diving in Cozumel an latched onto a large sea turtle and let it pull me for a short while until it started heading too deep. It was pretty cool and it didn't even seem to be too upset that I was tagging along.

30 - 40 year lifespan for a common snapping turtle obviously the mortality rate can vary.