Have You Ever Caught A Snapping Turtle...??

[Crow Horse]

Has anyone ever caught a snapping turtle? The pond I regularly fish has a lot of them and one I nicknamed "Bismark" because he's at least 2 1/2 feet long (nose to tip of tail), maybe a little longer. When I cross paths with him I give him the right of way and leave that area. When I was a teenager, we used to catch them by hand and did have one as a pet, so I'm no stranger to them. I definitely don't want to have to tangle with one and don't want to injure them but if caught, the only recourse is to cut the line.

[geo g]

Yes I have caught several types of turtles over the years.  Always while fishing slow on the bottom.  The last one was a 15 pounder on a senko just soaking at the bottom of a ledge.  All the others have been with Texas rigged plastics.  Before trying to get the hook out I flip them over and then use long plyers to snap the hook out.  Pain  in the A**!!!!!!!!

[Choporoz]

I have snagged two in the foot the past few months

[TnRiver46]

Yep! Quite tricky to unhook but also edible 

[Mobasser]

Years ago, I had some crappie on a stringer while bank fishing. I walked down the bank and heard commotion coming from where I had my fish. I quickly walked down there, and a huge snapper was chomping into my crappie.  I waved my arms and he swam off.  The fish were no good. I've never actually caught a snapper. Ive seen quite a few over the years.

[Functional]

Yes. 2 memorable ones.

 

1) hit a spinner bait slow rolling on a weedy drop off. Luckily i let off pressure when I saw what monster I pulled in (thought it was going to be a state record) and it released from its mouth. 

 

2) night fishing with a jitterbug. I was slow rolling a 5/8oz jitterbug and saw a HUGE wake circle behind and start coming up being the lure. Big splash and nothing but drag for a while. Got him in and he was NOT happy. I was in a row boat and tried to immobilize him enough to get pliers to the lure but he bit the oar and left a good dent in the solid wood. After he snapped at the oar he flailed enough that the line broke and never found the lure. It at least wasnt in his mouth and on his leg but hopefully it fell out. Still have the oar at my parents, I'll take a pic if I can remember next time. 

[Jimmy Wallhanger]

When I was like 14 bank fishing, I thought I had a massive bass. As soon as it appeared i cut the line. The hook was stuck in it's foot. 

[Catt]

21 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yep! Quite tricky to unhook but also edible 

 

Yes sir 😉 

 

Caught em & ate em.

 

When they're crossing the road a buddy of mine will pull over & thrown em in the back of the truck.

[Pat Brown]

When I start fishing top water in the morning I catch a lot of snapping turtles. Sometimes they trick me into thinking they're a bass for a couple of seconds and it's really fun LOL!

[Crow Horse]

16 minutes ago, Catt said:

When they're crossing the road a buddy of mine will pull over & thrown em in the back of the truck.

I'll pick them up and carry them across the road in the direction they were heading.....

[casts_by_fly]

9 hours ago, Crow Horse said:

Has anyone ever caught a snapping turtle? The pond I regularly fish has a lot of them and one I nicknamed "Bismark" because he's at least 2 1/2 feet long (nose to tip of tail), maybe a little longer. When I cross paths with him I give him the right of way and leave that area. When I was a teenager, we used to catch them by hand and did have one as a pet, so I'm no stranger to them. I definitely don't want to have to tangle with one and don't want to injure them but if caught, the only recourse is to cut the line.

 

Yes, a few, but none as memorable as the one my dad caught on a crankbait.  Must have been just the right cast and direction as the turtle ate it as it came by on the bottom.  It was hooked solidly in the mouth.

 

9 hours ago, Crow Horse said:

 I definitely don't want to have to tangle with one and don't want to injure them but if caught, the only recourse is to cut the line.

 

Nah, you don't have to cut the line.  Grab them by the tail and use pliers to grab the hook.  

 

52 minutes ago, Crow Horse said:

I'll pick them up and carry them across the road in the direction they were heading.....

 

Same here.  The bottom of our hill is a 2200 acre swamp with roads running parallel on both sides.  Around this time of year they start moving to lay eggs on higher ground and they are on the roads all the time.  Last year The road was blocked and I thought there had been an accident with people out of their cars and everything.  There was a ~24" shell snappper in the middle of the road and no one could get it to move.  We obviously have a lot of city type folk that live around here because everyone starts hooting and hollering about "don't touch it, it will bite your finger off".  A quick tail grab and traffic was on its way.

[Koz]

No, but caught a box turtle once on a treble hook. One hook was in the roof of his mouth and another in the bottom.

 

It took about 20 minutes of gently pulling and his head retreating into his shell to tire him out.

 

Once he was tired I was able to get the hooks out with my fishing pliers.

[Bird]

Years ago when I stayed up half the night catfishing we'd occasionally hook some big snappers.

They'd end up on the back of the truck to take home.

[A-Jay]

Have You Ever Caught A Snapping Turtle ?

Does it count if it's in my yard ? 

                             

A-Jay

[ike8120]

Have caught a few don't like messing with them. Either the line snapped or I had to cut it.

 

[Skunkmaster-k]

I caught a big un on cut bait in the middle of the night. Bad thing was that my lantern had run out of fuel and I was keeping him at rod’s length while he hissed and lunged at me in the dark. Still got most of my fingers so it worked out pretty well. 

[Functional]

56 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

He was really trying to give you the business there. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

Looks like he was trying to bite your business. 

[A-Jay]

23 minutes ago, Functional said:

He was really trying to give you the business there. 

 

19 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Looks like he was trying to bite your business. 

LOL ~

Pretty sure he wanted a piece of my AZZ.

🙃

A-Jay

[OkobojiEagle]

Over the years, several.  Most memorable pulled me in my float tube around a small pond for awhile.

 

oe

[Crow Horse]

Mr. Peabody, fire up the Wayback Machine!!

 

My brother with a day's catch..... All were released after the leaches were removed and any wounds treated. All were caught by hand. IIRC, 65#, 55#, 25#.....

[Bass Junke]

I was fishing the 40 acre pond on my street. I just hooked a 2lb bass and was maneuvering it over to the side of my kayak I like to land fish on. I was about to lip it when I saw a good sized snapper coming out from the depths to eat my fish. I panicked and lifted the fish out of the water, high sticked my rod and broke the tip off.  

[TnRiver46]

We had this one that would always steal our bait in my buddy’s pond. We finally caught and ate it, had 5-6 of our hooks and tons of hot dogs inside 😂 

 

my buddy’s mom has pet ducks they are always eating as well. The other day one of them grabbed a duck by the leg and the duck somehow swam the turtle all the way to shore and dragged it up onto dry land 

[MediumMouthBass]

I had a huge snapper chase my Texas rig senko at a pond a few years ago, any time i brought it back to the bank it would swim towards it. Thing was massive, but i did hook a small turtle on a Adams dry fly awhile ago too....

 

Just a tip for the other kayakers on here, if you dont know already. In the summer months dont put your fish on a stringer over the side of the kayak. Youll get all kinds of turtles and snakes to go along with your catch. But hey i guess thats just more protein, whos got the seasoning?

[Catt]