It was in one of my traps yesterday. It's about 12 inches long. I still have it in a bucket on my back porch.

Too small to be a water dog. Some sort of salamander?

That looks like an aquatic salamader... simular to a mudpuppy ~ it has lungs... I know I know what it is and have seen it before, but it is escaping my mind...

Cool critter!

Greater siren. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Siren

We don't have cool critters like that up here with te winters we get..

I think it'd make good LMB bait, but personally, I'd put it back where I found it.

haha my first thought was bait as well.

They look kind of mean as adults. but seriously WOW they can live in the mud for 25
yrs during drought events.

Sirens are a type of Mermaid, right? My daughters are going to love the fact that the "snog" (snake + frog, that's what they named it) on the back porch is actually a mermaid.