Today, I was fishing one of the large tanks in the city of Denton park system. I had one nice crappie and a couple largemouth on my stringer in the water below me. So I see out of the corner of me eye something up out of the water where my stringer is. I did a double take and low and behold if it isn't a huge turtle and it's eating my crappie! This was not your average red-eared, flat-bodied turtle you see basking in the sun on a log. This guy was the size and shape of a basketball and his head was the size of both me fists put together. His neck was also maybe 8in. long. I tried to ignore him thinking he was full after eating one fish, but he hung around and nearly snapped the tail off me largemouth! It was really neat how he would stretch his head and neck way out the water and breathe. I'd never seen one like this in the wild. I also had a snake cross the trail when I was changing locations, not sure what kind though, it was greenish-yellow?. I caught several perch and a few largemouth and the one crappie. I had one nice bass fall off when I reached for him, maybe a 5lb.er. I was using a 1/8oz. chtr. head Roadrunner spinner jig hook with a blue/clear sparkle Renegade solid body tube.

One of the reasons,I sold my tube!I got tired of feeding the snakes and turtles.I really did not mind much,but when they started to bite me,not that changes everything.

get a topwater, throw it over his head about 4ft when he is popping his head out like that, give the lure a little jerk so he turns around then start reeling it slowly till it gets about 1in from him and jerk the hell out of it. . . . drag it to the bank and do what ya gotta do. I only sometimes use that method, usually i have a "turtle round up" this time of year with my shotgun at all my fishing holes.

I love turtle round ups!!!!!!

Randall

Have you tried eating turtle?It is very good as long as you clean it right and prepare right.Soft shells and snapping turtles are great to eat.

I have had the same thing happen. When I was a teenager I used to fish a stock tank that had a lot of snapping turtles. Some of them were very large about the size of a steering wheel on an old pickup. I had a wire basket torn up by one and some stringers so I started fishing for them. I got a salt water rod and reel with heavy line. I would drag them onto the bank and make them good turtles. The farmer was happy to get them out of his tank. I also carried my shotgun for the many snakes. I caught a lot of fish including a channel cat over 13 lbs and crappie over 2 lbs. That was 30 years ago. Now houses grow there.
I will probably hear from the PETA people now.

You don't have to go thru all that to catch a snapper on a top-water. Just put it in front of him and he'll take it. Been there, done that!

i cathum in the foot all the time that pisses me off having to retie. but where im fromm LA( swamp country) they use to grow up to be in the hundreds of pounds but those ol guys are gone due to trappin .they never thought that those turtles earned it beeing around that long.an we'll never see another one that size again . 400 hundred pounds is big taste good too, sorry had to say it