Snapping Turtles

[Greg Hunsicker]

Besides being an ocasional pest, how do snapping turtles affect a bluegill fishery? Does the presense mean good things or bad or do they matter at all? I would think that they would indicate that there is plenty of food.

Greg

[Sagittarius62]

There is a place I take the kids, where a 30 foot wall of rip rap runs along the bank of a canal, the wall being slightly undercut by water action. The Pumpkinseeds, and Bluegill are THICK under the rip rap. There is also a very healthy snapper that lives there too. We have actually "caught" him a couple times, Those nightcrawlers must look good to him as well. The fish seem to coexist well enough with the snapper. When I release a small fish, and happen to drop it in right near the wall, they don't swim straight down, but swim outward a few feet before going deeper. They seem to have a healthy respect for the top predator, and get out of the way when in a compromised position.

[Gardenfish]

they love fish on stringers. Somehow when I was a kid I always forgot this and at the end of a fishing day I would have a stringer of perch with the lower half gone. Unless the fish is awfully slow I don't see how a snapper could get one.

[white43]

If I recall, and I should probably research this first, don't the snappers do a little "tongue" thing that attracks fish to the worm-looking appendage. When close SNAPPPPPPP! Early one morning near here I was fishing for smallies. Beautiful early summer day. As dawn broke I suddenly noticed across the river on a sand flat two snappers that were obviously laying eggs. One finished and trudged back toward the water, crashing into the river with a splash. Several moments later the other turtle did the same. I felt as if I'd witnessed a pre-historic moment. After some time I made it across to the sandar and noticed the "tracks left by the edges of their shells and tail, a poem as old as time itself. JGW

[James Smith]

Snapping turtles are part of the environment and as such do not pose any more threat on Bluegills or other fisheries than say larger fish, heron, king fishers or Osprey. There is a rather large one (about 24 inches across the shell) that live in the lake I live on. It is only a 50 acre lake and there have been a couple of occasions where he has surfaced within three or four feet of my kayak resulting in two rather startled individuals; namely him and me. I've never had one offer to bother me while I was fishing as long as I left them alone. As already mentioned I've had them eat my fish off of stringers, but then again I've also seen aligators eat the entire stringer of fish chain and all.

Jim Smith

[Eight Thumbs]

Snapping turtles are just part of a healthy ecosystem. The high reproduction rate of brim and other sunnies has to be held in check by multiple predators or they quickly eat themselves out of room and board. I too have lost fish on a stringer to this ancient, hard-shelled opportunist. 8T

[billknepp]

In most place's I fish, I wish there were more predatory spiecies to help keep the blue gills better thinned out....

One private pond in preticular..It's loaded with turtles of all kinds and bass in the 4 to 8 lb. range are plentiful also but the bg population is still way outta hand...
I've taken coolers of them 3 and 4 times a week, for whole summers down to the creek that flows behind my house and it seems to make no difference in their population density.

That said..I have a friend with a pond that takes snapping turtles regularly for Turtle soup.. when asked to stay for dinner one eve, After catching his family a good mess of gills... I found out for myself that turtle soup is pretty good!... Just not one for the cleaning of fish and turtles myself.

[Micropteris]

Love snappers.

Once my buddy and I witnessed a huge snapper take down an adult Canadian goose in open water. We both hate the geese so we stopped fishing and watched the whole two hour event, rooting for the turtle.

You think they are slow, wave your hand in front of their face, or try to pick them up and you will see how slowly you pull a bloody stump back where your hand used to be.

They are one of the reasons why I don't mind throwing back an injured fish, after the hook is removed. Don't mind feeding the turtles their natural diet.

[ducksterman]

Is it true their meat has 7 different flavors?....remember being told that as a kid

[Mark k]

I was told that the Soft Shell Turtle had seven differant flavors, finally got to eat some last year and it tasted like chicken to me.