Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Should I be concerned with turtles - lots of them?

The 10 acre pond that I fish has a surprisingly large turtle population. It contains both snappers and painters. I usually remove 3 or 4 snappers each year, as the neighbor kids swim in the pond often. Usually I can catch them on cut bait and a J style or circle hook.

My question is: should I worry about managing the painter turtle population? I'm surprised how many there are. Would less of them equate to more food for the bass, and thus more Lunkers?


Thanks in advance, Shawn

I consider turtles to be part of the pond clean up crew and not as primary food eaters.

Even Snappers. They will walk a mile plus to "pond hop" especially the males during mating season.

I've never had an issue of any kind with turtles of any kind. Sliders and snapping turtles come and go in my West Virginia ponds.

I just feel bad when I hook a tourist snapping turtle. If they have been deeply hooked, and I feel they might not survive, I will "dispatch" them and turn them into several delicious meals. I just really don't like doing it because I feel they do a lot of good work wherever they are visiting.

I've been around turtles of all kinds during my 68 years. I've never known of a "real" story of anyone being attacked by a snapper. The very few snapper incidents I'm aware of have been the result of stupidity (hey! Hold my beer!).

I also do not feel that any types of turtles, in reasonable populations (which, it seems like you probably have) significantly affect the food chain from plankton and snails to eggs, frys, fingerlings, etc.

If you compare the number of turtles to bass, bluegill, and other predators in a pond environment, they make up an extremely small proportion of the conuming biomass food chain.

Ken: or "Hey! Hold my turtle!"

I know from experience, large soft shell turtles strike faster than snapping turtles, and their necks are longer.....

It's also a LOT harder to hold them as they don't have a convenient long tail for a handle. You gotta grab a leg and they can pull said leg back into the shell with surprising strength.

THAT gets you to hold onto them with more force, and you bring them closer to your body to do so. Next you know they are trying to take a nice sized chunk out of your thigh, along with a nice chunk from your jeans too.....

I have always had turtles and never had a problem with them. They are the cleanup crew and lot a times get a bad rap

Jonboat. Two human occupants. One large, very irate snapping turtle hoisted over the side. Very stressful.

Man fishing alone on the shore of a lake. Gentle bite. Set hook. Snagged? Boulder comes to the surface. Boulder has two eyes. Boulder looks at man. Man considers throwing pole in lake. Boulder swims away with all the man's fishing line. End of story.

Scott -- somehow I've never run across those critters. In my case, I guess that is good!

We are at our place in NC. We have a lot of sliders in the pond -- and our friend Al E. Gator. We don't provoke him.

A snapper in a Pond Boss gathering outhouse can also have some effects when someone may be in gastric distress.

Ken, I'm guessing Sunil by the smile that's on Todd's face.

Thanks for the responses and the laugh.

Snappers will raid a stringer. Get a wire basket for your keeping fish if you normally use a stringer. Or shoot the snappers.

Cmm

I had a thought while thinking which is rare for me

Since LMB seem to eat everything in sight, do they also eat baby turtles? If so, are turtles filling a niche in some pond communities as the pond scavenger eating dead or weak fish while providing yet another forage source?

General rule of thumb for LMB is if they can fit it in their mouth, they will eat it. Small turtles, snakes, baby muskrats, ducklings, etc. They will eat them.

I have found turtles the size of a half dollar in my CC's.

Yeah LMB will eat it all, oh except one thing! Tadpoles.... Least mine won't eat them even on a hook right in front of their face! There is something about them they don't care for.....

RC

I used to worry about snappers in the pond, but after reading a good bit both here and on other sites I think my concern was unfounded. I leave them alone....

Probably worth mentioning again that they will indeed raid a stringer - a big one will even worry through some of the cheap fish baskets if left alone long enough. I've got at least 2 baskets that have holes eaten through them that I had to re-wire shut.

They wear out my trotline.......

Yeah I was fishing once this last summer and was keeping the smaller bass we caught on a stringer over the boat... All of a sudden them smaller bass sounded like they were like 2 pounds each!! Here I look down to pull the stringer up and I have a fricken 10 pound snapper coming up with the stringer!! Crazy turtles.... Once they know you got them over the boat they wont give up either! This thing would NOT go away!! We even tried to hit it with the oar and it still would not go away...

For me I don't mind having some but I don't want a bunch of turtles in my pond some is fine but a bunch no thanks...

RC

Snappers! Incredible (freaky) creatures!

To date, I've pulled a 25lb, 32lb, 40lb and 50+ lb (scale only went to 50lb) out of my pond!

But this is the one that really had me boiling! It was a Saturday morning after getting my new fly rod combo the day before. I had caught several BG that morning when I thought I got snagged on a log.

Nope! It was this guy and he snapped my new fly rod right in two (and yes, I was partly to blame for that but at least I learned my fly rod's limitations ).

I eventually had him on the dock by the tail, yet still hooked to my fly and by myself standing there on the dock I was at a loss as to what to do next. So out of my hands he went, finding his way over the edge of the dock and back in the pond .





Although I was pretty heated, he wasn't too happy either. And if I can post the video I have of him hissing and snapping, I'll get it posted.

Regarding the huge number of Painted(?) turtles in my pond, I'm fine with the ones who don't hang around eating pellets. Those end up netted and relocated.

PS - I drove back up to Cabela's and they exchanged my fly-rod combo, no questions asked

Keith, I'd have cut the line on that one.

Dave, being a few fries short of a Happy Meal, I rarely turn down a challenge, and I really wanted that creature out of my pond!

Although, he won that battle!

For now

FWIW many years ago when I was in Singapore, a friend of mine took me out to eat turtle soup for lunch. When we got to the shop, there were 5 items on the menu; all turtle soup but different prices. The cheapest was just the broth the turtle was cooked in. The second was broth and some turtle skin. The third was broth, skin and fat. The fourth was broth skin, fat and some meat. The fifth was broth and meat. Feeling extravagant, I went for number 5 (about $3 US). It was awesome!

Paints I don't worry about, but I do like to relocate snappers when possible. I worry about my dogs walking the edge of the pond and inadvertently stepping on one.

A long time ago I had a large snapper crawl out of the bed of my Mazda pickup while on a relocation mission, not sure how she got over the closed tailgate but she did.