Snapping Turtles

[davetclown]

any one targeting Snapping Turtles?

What devices are you using and do you have pics and or spec's for your devices?

Looks like I will be harvesting a few this year, got a call to remove some bothersom snappers from a pond.

I have been catcing snappers for years but never on the scale I have been asked to preform on this adventure....

I am looking for new ideas..... I will share any thing I come up with as well.... and pics of the turtles I remove as well....
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[gdn443]

As a teensger I use to use nylon cord and a good size hook About a #5, and baited it with chicken. Tied off to a clorox bottle and went to find them the next day. Worked for me. Good luck Dave and enjoy the stew.
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[davetclown]

as a youth we did the same thing. a gallon clorox juge for a bobber and enuff cord to reach the bottom of the deapest hole in the lake.

michigan has sinced changed the regs for catching turtles and we can no longer pratice this method because it cant distinguish larg turtles from small ones.

we can still hook and line them if we are using rod and real just no more trout line type setups....

so now I am looking at various types of traps. so I can build them my self. Cant afford to pay 50-250 bucks for traps....

I searched the net last night for turtle traps and found half dozen. since my building skills are not what they used to be I came up with an adeptation of two different traps that I can use in different situations.

there was a bottom trap and a floating trap that was close enuff that I could combine the two. I will post a pic later. but for now I will share the pics of what is available on the net, that I could find....
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[davetclown]

todays adventure yeilded 2 painters I spooked the aligator snapper just before he went in....

I saw one turle that is two big to get in to my trap. I am going to have to build one of the other disigns.
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[fish4fish]

What do you do with them after you catch them, turtle stew?
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[davetclown]

stew is my specialty....MM MMM good....
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[davetclown]

I have been trapping turtles for a solid week now,

I was scratching my head when when I would go out in the morning to check my traps and not see any turtles in my traps, yet in the after noon I would find between 20-30 turtles in my traps.

I found this strange because my traps would be filled with bait and when I got back the bait would be gone...

yesterday I set up a special rigging to check if there was human intervention going on. sure enuff there was, so today I pulled a fast one, I had pretended to leave and lingered out of site to see who was messing with my traps.

low and behold I caught him, a man running a critter controll business....

makes me wonder what any one else would do to a man who was running and screwing with ther traps? I wonder how he would feal if I started running behind him?


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[gdn443]

Any laws against this in Michigan? Or was he POed that he didn't get the job. Reminds me of lobstering here in CT.
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[davetclown]

yes there is actualy laws against it. but unless I get a photo of him with his hand in my trap it is his word against mine.

And yes I think you are absolutly right about his not getting paid for a job that was being given to a sportsman. he was shocked that I caught him, I could see the look in his face though his mirror when he rounded the corner and I pulled out behind him...

I went back tonight "time undisclosed incase some one is looking".... I pulled my small trap and wouldnt you know it, there is a trutle in the trap...

I disabled my larger trap because I wont be checking it tomarow because of a strom and I want to do a little more work to it.

I also want to take some time to stock up on bait so I can dont have to catch bait and run traps at the same time. not that I mind doing both at the same time, it just seems like waisted time

attached is a pic of the turtle I caught tonight and the trap I caught it in....



he is to small to do anything with so he will be released in to another privet pond where is wanted to help with a gold fish problem....
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[davetclown]

here is my latest catch.

changing my checking times is paying off.

this one weighted in at 30 pounds

the goal of getting the swans pack to the pond has been acheived....

I built new bait cages to hold the bait. this time I added a door not just an opening. I found on the last bait cage when I pulled the trap that removing the bait not only was it smelly after sitting on the lake a few days removing it was nearly imposible.

the new cage has a 5 inch square door that I wired shut with a hog ring once it is filled so now when I want to empty it all I need do is clip the hog ring with my cutters, one snip and the old bait is in the water.... no bother [cool]
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