Are Turtles Good?

[jmed999]

My pond has turtles in it. Not sure if they compete with the bass for food or if they are food for bass.

Are they good or bad for bass in a pond/lake generally speaking?

[Gangley]

It depends on the type of turtle. Some will eat fish, others will eat some of the vegetation.

One thing for sure: If I see multiple turtles coming up for air in a specific area, I'll saturate that area with a jig and worm. In my experiance, where there are turtles, there's structure, and I will usually catch fish in that area.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Snappin turtles are good.........................eatin

[Jim H.]

Are turtles good?

Yes! Turtle soup is great! One thing you need to be aware of though is that they are tough to skin. They are kinda like golfs. By the time you get their skin off there ain't much left.

What I do is brown the turtle meat over high heat with 2 tbsp of peanut oilo. Then, make a roux and add celery, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Cook until tender and add the turtle meat and a couple of cups of a good dry sherry wine, bay leaves, and okra. Serve over rice with lots of Franks Red Hot. UM... umh. good.

[zenyoungkoh]

Are turtles good?

Yes! Turtle soup is great! One thing you need to be aware of though is that they are tough to skin. They are kinda like golfs. By the time you get their skin off there ain't much left.

What I do is brown the turtle meat over high heat with 2 tbsp of peanut oilo. Then, make a roux and add celery, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Cook until tender and add the turtle meat and a couple of cups of a good dry sherry wine, bay leaves, and okra. Serve over rice with lots of Franks Red Hot. UM... umh. good.

Man save the details for yourself!! Turtles are too cute looking to be eaten!

[zenyoungkoh]

My pond has turtles in it. Not sure if they compete with the bass for food or if they are food for bass.

Are they good or bad for bass in a pond/lake generally speaking?

Nah, they wont usually prey on fish. They do eat dead fish though. I've never caught any turtles on crankbait or any moving baits. However they would attack my fluke, worm when im dead sticking it. And i keep a turtle with about 20+, 0.5" to 3" fish in a 50 gallon aquarium. When my turtle was young it would stalk the fish and try and eat it. But 39 out of 40 times the fish got away. (and this was a small 50 gallon aquarium) Now that my turt is 4 years old she learns to not exert more energy than you get from a food, so she lives with them in peace now lol. She still tries to stalk them once in a while but 97% of the time the fish gets away. lol

[Bluebasser86]

Snapping and softshell turtles are really popular for soup around here it seems like. They will attach baits, I've caught them on jerkbaits, jigs, and topwater and not just when they were sitting still. I don't see them hurting the fishing any. For the most part they will eat dead fish and since they're coldblooded they don't need to eat very often if they get a good meal.

[MuffinMan]

turtles in your pond is neither good ir bad, they dont harm your fishing though

[jmed999]

It just seems like they would be bad if they eat the same things bass eat....that would make them compete for food. Of course I would like to have as much food for the bass as possible. Maybe they dont compete with bass...I dont know.

[Catt]

Soup!!! d**n Yankee’s

Sauce Piquant!

[NBR]

I'm with Gangley, turtles coming up can mean there is cover or some sort of structure below!

[zenyoungkoh]

It just seems like they would be bad if they eat the same things bass eat....that would make them compete for food. Of course I would like to have as much food for the bass as possible. Maybe they dont compete with bass...I dont know.

Their diet are roughly 93% vegetable, 2% fish, 5% inverts.

[Fishing Rhino]

Ever fish a pond that has no turtles? My favorite pond is loaded with box/sun turtles and snapping turtles. If the turtles disappeared, I'd be very concerned as to the cause. If a pond cannot support turtles, I'm not sure it could support fish. Each has its place in the ecosystem, and the healthy balance thereof.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Nah, they wont usually prey on fish. They do eat dead fish though. I've never caught any turtles on crankbait or any moving baits. However they would attack my fluke, worm when im dead sticking it. And i keep a turtle with about 20+, 0.5" to 3" fish in a 50 gallon aquarium. When my turtle was young it would stalk the fish and try and eat it. But 39 out of 40 times the fish got away. (and this was a small 50 gallon aquarium) Now that my turt is 4 years old she learns to not exert more energy than you get from a food, so she lives with them in peace now lol. She still tries to stalk them once in a while but 97% of the time the fish gets away. lol

this would depend if u had a snapper .I have kept baby snappers and they are ferocious predators .They will eat anything dead or alive dont matter to them at all >size dont matter either

[RoLo]

Questioning the worth of any turtle is questioning the judgement of Mother Nature.

Regardless of their staple diet, ALL turtles are good because no turtle can survive where food is inadequate.

Roger

[NorcalBassin]

Have to agree that the turtles are good for a pond.

[zenyoungkoh]

this would depend if u had a snapper .I have kept baby snappers and they are ferocious predators .They will eat anything dead or alive dont matter to them at all >size dont matter either

true. But big snappers in the wild are more like lazy spiders that wait for a fish to come along.

[Sam]

I love the chocolate covered ones with the pecans.

Delicious!!!!

As for live turtles in your pond...don't be concerned unless they take over.

They eat dead fish and other matter and help keep the pond clean.

They normally will not strike at a bait but I have hooked them on treble hook baits.

If you have a snapping turtle in your pond be careful. They will leave you alone but they will eat dogs and cats and small ducks and geese. I suggest removing them from yor pond so everyone can go swimming safely.

[Facepalmmaster]

I HATE turtles! In the lakes I fish, I use live bait, and whenever there are turtles around (there always are) they try to eat my bait, and half the time they succeed. Also, one time, I saw a big 4 or 5 pound bass, and a couple of seconds later I realized a snapping turtle had it in it's mouth. I fished the bass out and tried to get it to swim again, but it was basically dead. This is why I hate turtles.

[J Francho]

[CWB]

this would depend if u had a snapper .I have kept baby snappers and they are ferocious predators .They will eat anything dead or alive dont matter to them at all >size dont matter either

Agreed. I have a terrarium with several species of small turtles in it and the only one that is any danger to anything else are the snappers. My son will bring home a small one about the size of a silver dolar and in a years time, we have to let it go because they actually try to eat the other turtles. I don't let him keep them for more than a few months as one of them took a bite out of a small painted turtle and killed it. They're pretty much lazy slobs when they get bigger. Saw a big one chomping on a dead carp last weekend. Big Softshell are very aggressive though. Caught this one off my dock on a big minnow.

2nd of 3 I caught the same day. Almost took a bite out of me after this picture was taken.

I don't think they do any harm and they help clean up the dead stuff. If a big bass gets caught by a turtle it was probably sick or deserved it somehow.

Softshells are pretty fast but I actually caught a snapper that was laying on the bank and jumped in the water when I happened by. Ran in after it and grabbed it by the tail. I aint exactly Jessie Owens. Agree with Rhino. I'd be a little suspicious if there were none present.

[South FLA]

I hate turtles, caught one about 3 months ago on a T-rigged worm and thought I had a whopper, turned out to be a whopper of a soft shell turtle! Turtles I believe are bad if you are into pond management for trophy fish so, so get rid of them! The only turtles I kind of like are painted turtles, but I hit one with my jon boat motor once and it ruined the prop so I don't like them either!

[Diggy]

I like turtles but not when they chomp my d**n lure or bait

[clayton86]

I hate snappers one took a few of my cranks this year and last year I grabed one outa the water then started poking it with a stick like a retard and almost lost my thumb he nicked my thumbnail it was so close. I screamed like a little girl and took off running it wasn't even that big

That's him

[jmed999]

I think I have these...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Turtle

They are always chasng my top water lures.