# How to catch a snapper?



## DougA (Aug 18, 2015)

I've got an in-ground swimming pool that I converted to a koi pond and we had a snapping turtle in it a few years ago. The only way I could get the guy out was to drain it low enough to find him and trap him with a fish net.

Now I've got a bigger one. I've only seen the head but it looks like it will be huge.  It's very elusive and can go underwater for hours.  The water is too murky to see the body or find it when he's down. 

Any ideas besides a gun?  Thought about it but I also thought about the guy who shot the armadillo and the bullet bounced back into his face.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/texas-...bullet-ricochets-back-into-his-face-1.3176390


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## begreen (Aug 18, 2015)

http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-catch-snapping-turtles-zmaz80jazraw.aspx


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## DougA (Aug 18, 2015)

Yup, that's about the size of it by my guess.  I am crazy but not that stupid.


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## begreen (Aug 18, 2015)

Find someone in your area that loves to eat turtle and let them catch it.


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## 2011 GT/CS (Aug 18, 2015)

Use a treble fish hook and chicken liver for bait and just hope you don't get the liner or a fish.


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## sportbikerider78 (Aug 18, 2015)

2011 GT/CS said:


> Use a treble fish hook and chicken liver for bait and just hope you don't get the liner or a fish.



Yup.  Rancid meat on a hook,, on a bobber.


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## Jags (Aug 18, 2015)

Or bank pole.  A small sunfish or the likes on a large single hook laid just on the edge (but in the water).  I used to hook the bait through the side. Check on it every couple of hours.

Note: A large snapper has the strength of a D9 Cat.  Use some pretty heavy line on the hook.  Letting them chomp onto a stick insures the "snappy" part is busy, but don't underestimate what those dang claws can do, either.  They really can be a dangerous critter.


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## DougA (Aug 18, 2015)

The biggest one I've seen had a shell about 2 1/2 ft.  Looks prehistoric.  They move a lot faster than the video when they really want to.


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## gzecc (Aug 19, 2015)

You need to call the "Turtle man", for some live action!


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## Warm_in_NH (Aug 19, 2015)

Never wanted them but when I lived in FL they loved a chunk of hot dog on a hook sitting on the bottom. 
Would be fishing for cat fish and would swear I had a whale on the line,the I'd get it close and realize it was a snapper 18" across the shell and angry. Ugly.


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## BrotherBart (Aug 19, 2015)

Only dealt with one monster sized one in the stream down from the house years ago. The 240 grain hollow point in the .44 mag kept the neighbors dogs that loved to play in the steam alive. Didn't keep a beaver from gutting one of the dogs though...

Catching it is kinda like a dog that chases cars. If you catch it, what ya gonna do with it?


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## CrufflerJJ (Aug 21, 2015)

Years ago, I'd see somebody catch snapping turtles ("terkles" as pronounced by some folks) by taking an empty gallon Clorox jug (with cap screwed in place), tie 3-5 feet of STRONG nylon cord to the handle, attach a strong hook to the other end of the cord, bait the hook with something rotten, then chuck it into the pond.  When you see the jug moving around on the surface of the pond, Mr. Turtle is attached to the other end.


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## Wildo (Aug 22, 2015)

2x6 when he bites it drag him out.  If he breaks it try a hard wood pole.  If you don't mind hooking it use the above liver method.  Like mentioned above then what?


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## DougA (Aug 22, 2015)

Update - haven't seen the guy for a week now.  I think he's gone under to escape the heat. We had that with another snapper.  He'd disappear for weeks.  I found him in the muck at the bottom still very much alive when I drained it.  There is no way to escape the pond, so he's still in there.

I had turtle soup once in the Keys. The most disgusting thing I ever had.  I think they made it with road kill.

We've got a 12 acre swamp next to us, so he'll go there if we can get him out alive. We have a few turtles here that are on the endangered list.  Snapper's not on that list though.


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## begreen (Aug 23, 2015)

Do the snappers put a dent in the koi population?


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## Warm_in_NH (Aug 23, 2015)

Saw one while kayaking yesterday. Must've been 12" across and a solid 18"long on the shell. It's feet looked like bear claws and it's neck was the size of my wrist!
Biggest one I've seen in NH to date, didn't dangle my feet out of the boat after seeing that beast along side me in the water.


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## CrufflerJJ (Aug 24, 2015)

Wildo said:


> 2x6 when he bites it drag him out.  If he breaks it try a hard wood pole.  If you don't mind hooking it use the above liver method.  Like mentioned above then what?



As to the "then what?"....several options come to mind.  A .22 would work nicely (to the snapper's head).  A hatchet or axe to the noggin would also work.


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## Wildo (Aug 24, 2015)

The ''then what'' was if you weren't planning on turtle soup.  Unhooking a pissed off snapper can be risky to say the least.


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## DougA (Aug 24, 2015)

begreen said:


> Do the snappers put a dent in the koi population?


We lost all the big koi last winter.  I didn't leave the air pump on enough and they suffocated.  However, we had one bass, small mouth I think, that somehow got into the pond and I had to catch a hundred of the little baby bass and put them into another pond.  Whatever bass were left are now gone but there are still a few frogs.  The blue heron visited a few times this weekend. Can't shot them as they are endangered. PITA.  Anyway, have not seen the turtle in a week +.  He's lurking on the bottom waiting for someone to come and get him.


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## Wildo (Aug 24, 2015)

DougA said:


> The blue heron visited a few times this weekend. Can't shot them as they are endangered.


Huh?    They are friggin' everywhere  around here.  Just as many as eagles and we have a ton of them, and I mean *Dozens!*


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## BrotherBart (Aug 24, 2015)

The Herons aren't on the endangered list here but are protected by the migratory bird treaty.


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## Wildo (Aug 25, 2015)

Thanks for the info BB.


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## Warm_in_NH (Aug 25, 2015)

Waiting for the thread: "Caught a snapper, how to re-attach a finger"


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## HeatsTwice (Sep 2, 2015)

My Great Aunt Bell in Oklahoma on our ranch near Enid would find snapping turtles in her yard, pull out a hatchet, chop it up live into little bits, open the chicken coup door and let the chickens at it. Evidently, if you don't make soup, you can make chicken feed.

As a little boy, the first time my Dad saw my saw her do this, he was shocked. He always thought of her as a kind old lady from the prairie who wore one of those old fashion bonnets and a long cotton dress.  Then one day, she pulled out the hatched and became a psycho killer.


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## CrufflerJJ (Sep 2, 2015)

Sounds like a woman who would do what needs to be done.


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## HeatsTwice (Sep 2, 2015)

CrufflerJJ said:


> Sounds like a woman who would do what needs to be done.


Yea. Off topic but her husband was the same way. One day he found a bear eating the meat from his wagon, chased it down on horseback, jump off on to its back, and stabbed to death. He put that meat back on the wagon and left.


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## DougA (Sep 2, 2015)

HeatsTwice said:


> He put that meat back on the wagon and left.


Bear meat fetches a good price - I found it revolting though.


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## dougstove (Sep 2, 2015)

My dad caught one on a line, but started to wonder who was catching who.


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## HeatsTwice (Sep 2, 2015)

DougA said:


> Bear meat fetches a good price - I found it revolting though.


My great uncle probably gave it to the Cherokee (who were starving at the time - 1889 - in Oklahoma) as he was a good man, or fed it to the chickens. Don't really know.


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