Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations fish story

My brother in law and i set out a trot line with the line stretched tight so the hookes were apprx. 12" deep in 4 to 6 ft.of water, baited w/shrimp to try and catch snapping turtles, caught only catfish . so we did not bait again . were taking the line out the next day and i swear we had catfish on every hook. I have caught them with chunks of ivory soap before , but empty hooks !!!....True story Harvey

Harvey, I've seen the same thing before, one time I had a bass attach an empty hook ! Must need more forage.

I've been attempting to snag some of my 40 odd snapping turtles using shrimp heads, but so far they've been getting them off successfully

No catfish or bass in the newly re-stocked pond as of yet to grab the hooks

You are using treble hooks to catch the turtles right ?

I used to go with my grandaddy turtle huntin'. I had to carry the barlap sack. He would catch them by reaching under the banks, but we caught more with limb lines set with cheap chicken parts, wings, neck, legs etc. He told me he had to bait 'em that way so as not to catch those stinkin' catfish he wanted the turtles. Harvey maybe give the chicken a try!

Harvey- I've had my best luck catching the big snappers with a chunk of raw beef liver on a large single stainless steel hook. Probably time to take another couple dozen out of the pond again.
Do you clean and eat 'em or just "relocate" them? They sure are good eating but I'd almost rather skin a skunk that clean a big 'ole turtle. I'd swear that hide is half steel mesh.
Good luck.
Dan

As I understand it, silver hooks gleaming in the moonlight make the catfish think they are baitfish and bite. For the snappers, try fishing on the bottom with any cut bait. You will catch catfish. But you can catch a few snappers too. Time spent fishing with a shotgun close at hand works well too.

Another method I stumbled across as a kid was to watch in the pond for a rising line of airbubbles coming up from the bottom. this was from a big snapper moving around. It was highly effective to tie on 2 or more trebble hoooks with a split shot near them and cast out ahead of it. The turtle will hook itself when it walks over or you can try to snag them.
Robert

Eastland-have fished for Cat with treble hooks , but not for snappers Greg-i'll try the chicken parts, for the snappers , but love those stinkin' catfish ! Dan-yuck eatin those prehistoric ugly creatures ! out of the question !!!! Nick-will try the bottom but have not seen any on top-only slidders ? keep 22 & shotgun handy. Robert- have seen bubbles several times but thought jst coming out of the bottom. Hey thank ya'll all for the info Help & Fun ---Harvey

don't look at them as a nuisance, look at them as target practice!!

I recently bought a farm in northern OK, 80 acres with 2 ponds and threee shallow shale pits next door. Last year I had more turtles than I thought could exist in a small (1/2 acre) pond. One day there were so many turtles out sunning they completely covered about 200 sq ft. of bank. I could spend an evening with a .22 and burn a couple hundred rounds and just finally gave up. (Could say something about my shooting ability .) Even "took out" 3 or 4 HUGE snappers (which may change based on what I have been reading.) But this year I have only seen a few. Don't know what happened, but now they are at levels where I don't mind seeing them around.

For those of you who won't eat snappers, you're nuts. Floured, browned and then baked for several hours, they are one of the tastiest of God's creatures...show me where they are and I'll be there.

We use hoop net traps, baited with fresh carp (that's the key) in a bait sack, and can often catch 3 or 4 (big ones) in a trap each night.

Sharp knife and knowing where the joint between shell and under shield lies is the key. GOOD stuff!!

Hey mat how do you go about butchering and cooking a big snapping turtle?
I've caught three while fishing for catfish but let them go because my mom loves seeing them come to the surface and I didn't have the first clue how to clean them.

-Scott

I have four ponds that I caretake, three of which are in my front yard. I have used jug lines with bacon and it works as well as anything else I've tried, except maybe my 223, 243, 7mm Mag or 300 Weatherby. The latter makes the shoulder tender though!!