Say hello to Godzillia...
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Kingcreek
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I've fooled with them in the past and it's not Sport for casual amateurs. They are out looking for places to bury their eggs right now. I saw a platter size female by my road today.
And here's Mrs Zillia...
This one was much larger then the first badboy, in fact they are not badboys at all, they are badgirls. I have no idea how much they weigh, but I'm betting that this one went well north of 50 lbs. Its head was huge! It also appeared to be much older, and perhaps a bit battle scarred.
This one was much larger then the first badboy, in fact they are not badboys at all, they are badgirls. I have no idea how much they weigh, but I'm betting that this one went well north of 50 lbs. Its head was huge! It also appeared to be much older, and perhaps a bit battle scarred.
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rswartsell
Member
I spent a couple of years when I lived in Cincinnati, OH with a Kentucky backwoodsman learning the art of turtle fishing.
IMHO respecting this creature will come like the sun comes up in the morning with any experience. Turtle and the Hare? You damn betcha they can be fast when motivated, are stronger than they should be, weigh more than you think, and I will testify that a human finger will not even slow down that bill even on an "adolescent". Ask my buddy "three finger lefty". And.. OBTW they hiss a menacing warning when pissed, loud enough to disturb the birds in nearby trees. Unsettling as hell for first timers.
They like rotten chicken gizzards, strung from saplings near the bank. Gizzards are tough and need a solid bite. Perfect for this latter day dinosaur. Pick a good size tough sapling or you are wasting your time.
I don't know a thingabout trapping them but using this "hook" method, use a large hook. We started with a 2/0 jig hook and soon moved to at least a 3/0 circle or spinnerbait.
You might occasionaly get a BIG catfish instead of a turtle, we didn't see this as a negative, and it is NEVER impossible to collect a hook that was overcome by a big turtle. I think you would need a saltwater , blue sea hook to prevent this entirely.
P.S. ... use a wire leader.
I found that I didn't like eating them. Maybe it was the process of tapping them on the nose with pliers to get them to bite the pliers, pull the neck to full extension, and then using a very sharp Buck skinner to cut the head off and watching them gnaw on the pliers while their bodies moved to the butchering table. Maybe I don't have a taste for reptile.
Serious tin snips separate the shell, top from bottom. There is a "backstrap", protected by a ventilated tunnel in the top shell, a total of "7 different kinds of meat" if you believe the Kentucky hillbillies. And in the end, the soup is the only culinary achievement I have ever believed from the effort.
The conclusion is that I realized that the "big ones" had been there for maybe 50-60 years. Waiting for me to find out what poor cajuns, hillbillies, etc. HAD to eat.
I leave them alone now. With a good deal of respect.
IMHO respecting this creature will come like the sun comes up in the morning with any experience. Turtle and the Hare? You damn betcha they can be fast when motivated, are stronger than they should be, weigh more than you think, and I will testify that a human finger will not even slow down that bill even on an "adolescent". Ask my buddy "three finger lefty". And.. OBTW they hiss a menacing warning when pissed, loud enough to disturb the birds in nearby trees. Unsettling as hell for first timers.
They like rotten chicken gizzards, strung from saplings near the bank. Gizzards are tough and need a solid bite. Perfect for this latter day dinosaur. Pick a good size tough sapling or you are wasting your time.
I don't know a thingabout trapping them but using this "hook" method, use a large hook. We started with a 2/0 jig hook and soon moved to at least a 3/0 circle or spinnerbait.
You might occasionaly get a BIG catfish instead of a turtle, we didn't see this as a negative, and it is NEVER impossible to collect a hook that was overcome by a big turtle. I think you would need a saltwater , blue sea hook to prevent this entirely.
P.S. ... use a wire leader.
I found that I didn't like eating them. Maybe it was the process of tapping them on the nose with pliers to get them to bite the pliers, pull the neck to full extension, and then using a very sharp Buck skinner to cut the head off and watching them gnaw on the pliers while their bodies moved to the butchering table. Maybe I don't have a taste for reptile.
Serious tin snips separate the shell, top from bottom. There is a "backstrap", protected by a ventilated tunnel in the top shell, a total of "7 different kinds of meat" if you believe the Kentucky hillbillies. And in the end, the soup is the only culinary achievement I have ever believed from the effort.
The conclusion is that I realized that the "big ones" had been there for maybe 50-60 years. Waiting for me to find out what poor cajuns, hillbillies, etc. HAD to eat.
I leave them alone now. With a good deal of respect.
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Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
They live a long time. Some guesstimates of well over a hundred years. A 150-pounder was caught in the early 1900s from the lower Chattahoochee River, not far above the Florida line. There was an arrowhead embedded in the shell.
OkieGentleman
Member
Old Snappers
I read an article once that told about a man visiting down near the swamp and the man he was visiting had some large, 30 inch diameter shells on a wall. One of the shells had several flint arrowheads and musket balls in the shell. I found this with a search of reptilechannel.com.
Size-wise, the alligator snapper is no slouch either. Although record lengths of over 30 inches are known (but exceptional), average lengths over 24 inches are common. They are also very long-lived, and as recently as the 1970s trappers were finding alligator snapping turtles with musket balls and flint arrowheads lodged in their shells! Given their potential to live upward of 150 years, anyone considering an alligator snapper should be prepared to keep a very large turtle for a very long time!
I read an article once that told about a man visiting down near the swamp and the man he was visiting had some large, 30 inch diameter shells on a wall. One of the shells had several flint arrowheads and musket balls in the shell. I found this with a search of reptilechannel.com.
Size-wise, the alligator snapper is no slouch either. Although record lengths of over 30 inches are known (but exceptional), average lengths over 24 inches are common. They are also very long-lived, and as recently as the 1970s trappers were finding alligator snapping turtles with musket balls and flint arrowheads lodged in their shells! Given their potential to live upward of 150 years, anyone considering an alligator snapper should be prepared to keep a very large turtle for a very long time!
The largest common snapping turtle came from the valentine national wildlife refuge in northern cherry county in Nebraska. If I recall correctly it was quite near 75 lbs.
The alligator snapper is the largest fresh water turtle in the world. I used to own several babies and watching them eat goldfish was very interesting. They would sit on the bottom of their tanks and wiggle these little pink appendages in their mouth like fishing lures. We also had a larger one that would take large rats when thet would swim across the top of his tank..
The alligator snapper is now completely federally protected in all states which afford them the same level of protection as bald eagles so I really wouldn't recommend getting caught making soup out of them.........
The alligator snapper is the largest fresh water turtle in the world. I used to own several babies and watching them eat goldfish was very interesting. They would sit on the bottom of their tanks and wiggle these little pink appendages in their mouth like fishing lures. We also had a larger one that would take large rats when thet would swim across the top of his tank..
The alligator snapper is now completely federally protected in all states which afford them the same level of protection as bald eagles so I really wouldn't recommend getting caught making soup out of them.........
Flintknapper
Member
Can you provide a link for this......^^^^^^^^^^^?
I know they are "regulated" in one form or another in all states where they exist, but was unaware of any "federal protection" to the degree you suggest.
The IUCN lists them as a threatened species, and as of June 14, 2006, it is afforded some international protection by being listed as a CITES III species.
Any additional information would be appreciated. Thanks,
Flint.
Carl N. Brown
Member
I remember Gamera, but only from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 send-ups.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle
Illustration from Holbrook's North American Herpetology, 1842:
The ones photographed by the opening poster are the common snapping turtles. They are common through out the Eastern and Mississippi/Missouri valley USA and southeastern Canada. They are not as protected as the Alligator Snapper. ASTs are protected more, but I have found no indication protection level on the AST matches the bald eagle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle
Illustration from Holbrook's North American Herpetology, 1842:
The ones photographed by the opening poster are the common snapping turtles. They are common through out the Eastern and Mississippi/Missouri valley USA and southeastern Canada. They are not as protected as the Alligator Snapper. ASTs are protected more, but I have found no indication protection level on the AST matches the bald eagle.
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Texan Scott
Member
^ evil turtle necro-thread!
WYOMan
Member
I found one when I was fishing years ago about the size of a silver dollar, even when they're small they have an attitude.
D Crockett
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if you guys want to eat something good take that turtle after yop clean it let it soak in orange juice over night season to your likeing wrap it up in 2 layers of auluminun foil and put it in a smoker let it cook for about 2 to 3 hr on a low heat (around 200deg ) that gentlemen is good eating D Crockett
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