How do you catch snapping turtles?

[Keepah Seekah]

let's see.....i know they'll take pieces of hotdogs. chunks of dead fish, worms. had one follow my 6 inch pumpkinseed texas rigged zoom lizard all the way to the boat, a fin-s-shad, had them follow in chug bugs, etc.

[Boomer]

In spring you can find them "wandering." Crossing roads, in people yards etc... Largest one I ever "caught" came from a person's front yard. It weighed in at over 60 pounds on a certified scale. We put a 10ft aluminum boat over it until we were ready to butcher it. My friend's wife comes out intothe back yard and yells at us that the boat is moving towards the road and we might want to catch it!  That turtle moved that boat about twenty feet!   At the Kentucky State Fair back in the early 1980's they had two alligator snappers a guy got out of the Ohio River from a turtle trap. The smaller one weighed over 120lbs and the larger one I think was over 150lbs. Took a tractor to pull it out of the river. The oldest one was estimated to be born sometime around the Civil War!

[bmxrider11976]

when im bass fishin i see them all the time. if you spot one before you spook it, you can prety much throw anything in front of their trap and they will engulf it. ive caught them on jigs, fluke baits and rubber worms.

[hoghammer]

Hopefully by the back feet. LOL

[MaineNative71]

If you are serious about getting some to eat or what not than it takes a little work to really get a good catch of them...

Start with a 50gal plastic barrel. Cut a whole on the side approx 18"X 18".
Lay Barrel on non-cut side in shallow water and weight with rocks. (you want the hole to remain a half foot or so out of water)
Drop in chicken parts (The nastier the better)
Turtles will crawl in to get at the aromatic chicken and will become trapped in the barrel.. (They cant crawl out, the inside of the barrel is too slippery)

Trust me.. This works... Don't Ask.. Lol

[Drewdog]

Hopefully by the back feet. LOL

Grab him by the back feet and you'll get bit,you grab them by the tail   DD   

[FishingPolski]

why would anyone want to catch a snappin turtle?

burp

lenz

about once or twice a summer, i spotted em eating my KOI fish.especially the little ones, that are in the shallows,, where the pond plants, algie etc, grow. pond is oval shape, 150 ft. long ,approx 11 ft deep in ctr.. did have a few largemouth bass in it, but lost them over one winter 3 yrs ago-.pond is not a biggie, but a nice place to sit, relax and down a few brewskis. tdday, there is a family of geese there.- now i have to contend with dem cigars (poop) they leave ya. any idea what would scare them away.. lost my dog 4 yrs ago, and blossom (dog) would take care of business. more rant= deer destroy tne garden. i plant. so bold that they eat the garden up,  i planted right next to my house.  

[Boomer]

Have you tried placing human hair around the garden? Sometimes it will work.

[hook-set]

there is six different types of meat in a snapper some better than others ..there is also alot of nasty snot like material and they usually are loaded with leaches on their underside ..i deheaded one and hung it to bleed out from a bumper of the truck the thing lived for over a day and a half with no head ...nasty critters indeed ..as for the eating its really not bad in stew but i could live without it ...not worth the work in my oppinion ..

[pikeking]

Saw a nice one today. He had to be all of 60lbs. He got close a few times. I tried to get a good picture of him but only was able to get his head shot about 40 yards away.
You can tell by the size of his head that he is huge.

[Boomer]

Actually, a very nice pic. Surprised that his back is not showing. I have seen turtles where the back may be ten inches to a foot from the head.

Eating turtle is like anything else - some people like it and some don't. Yes, it is some work getting the meat. Won't lie about that. I have had it as soup (stew) and fried. I like it fried best. Just my choice.

[Joser06]

about once or twice a summer, i spotted em eating my KOI fish.especially the little ones, that are in the shallows,, where the pond plants, algie etc, grow. pond is oval shape, 150 ft. long ,approx 11 ft deep in ctr.. did have a few largemouth bass in it, but lost them over one winter 3 yrs ago-.pond is not a biggie, but a nice place to sit, relax and down a few brewskis. tdday, there is a family of geese there.- now i have to contend with dem cigars (poop) they leave ya. any idea what would scare them away.. lost my dog 4 yrs ago, and blossom (dog) would take care of business. more rant= deer destroy tne garden. i plant. so bold that they eat the garden up,  i planted right next to my house.  

Shotguns work!

[deerhunter]

i got one laying eggs in my garden. want it?

[amazinmoose]

years back i caught one on a worm and a steel leader. fought it for about an hour on 8# line... sucker was about 25#  just a baby...   but he did taste good! -moose

[crappiekiller315]

DID YOU KNOW THAT CAMBELLS SOUP USED TO BUY TURTLE'S AND SELL TURTLE SOUP IN A CAN