Snagged this gal while working the bottom for crappie last night. 6 lb test & 1/8 jig. Wife netted it, and just barely fit in the net. I relocated her down the road a half mile, to a creek. She was cranky!
She took a good swipe at me but missed..
"Politics": derived from 'poly' meaning many, and 'tics' meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.
Wife thought she had a nice CC on the other day and when she pulled the line up a snapper about a third to half that size was on the end of the line. Luckily the turtle was not hooked but just had latched onto the hunk of fish she was using for bait but the turtle was not giving up its claimed possession. About then the bait pulled out of the hook and wife got her line back and the snapper got its dinner.
We have a big soft shell snapper that comes back to the pond for a spell each year. Been basking on the bank the last few days. Hard to get close enough to get a good picture though. We called them leatherbacks growing up as a kid. They have flippers more like an ocean turtle. Estimating 12-14" front to back on the shell.
I have 2 snappers near that size in mine. I like looking at them, but not sure I want them. Lol! Snrub, we always called them pancake turtles when I was a kid.
I have one that size or somewhat bigger with a smaller male, both have been here 20 years. They wait at the dock to eat pellets at feeding time. They don't seem to mind or get aggressive when the fish steal pellets right in front of them. Lusk always says that a fish that gets eaten by a turtle was a weak, sickly or slow fish.
Only a 1/2 mile away - she might be back to the good pond buffet.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 05/03/2009:30 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management