let`s talk snappers

HillRunner · #1 06/02/11, 04:00 PM

First hand caught snapper of the season. About 10inch shell didnt seem big anuff to fool with. So I come to ask yall what ize would be worth fooling with what is your favorite set up. Also id love to hear everyones storys.

Farmerwilly2 · #2 06/02/11, 04:28 PM

I had to move a 12 incher out of my field this morning so's I could finishing disking. Not sure where it came from, I don't have water deep enough to support one. Must have come a ways, still had leeches on its shell.

Paquebot · #3 06/02/11, 10:47 PM

A 10" shell would most likely be the first time out of the water for her. Probably about 25-30 eggs in her. I have cleaned them at that size although not much more than a pound of meat. Bigger are preferred but I don't turn down the first-year ones. Added bonus for me is if the eggs are still in her. Then I hatch them and release the young into a large local lake.

Martin

Ray · #4 06/03/11, 07:15 PM

I've caught and eaten a couple dozen over my lifetime but I was never too impressed with them. I started with the hard shells in the river, that get fair sized, and taught myself how to clean them. then went to the large soft shells, and found them more pleasing. I learned not to eat the ones that have 5 lbs.of MOSS growing on their shells, they taste like MUD, but they were from lakes, we call em mossbacks.
The great big soft shell ones from the MO or Mississippi are fine to eat. But I don't have a need for them any more that I' finally learned how and where to catch them by the truck load. Several of the Soft Shell are on the protected species lists, & I need a color picture chart to know which are legal now, I actually went with a friend that taught me how his family had filled their freezer each winter, and was impressed. Hope I never have to fallback on the knowledge. I have learned how to catch enough to feed my family of 30 for the winter if necessary, but never plan to, unless the wonderful Brains we have in DC leading us cause a complete and total economic disaster failing us in our ability to feed our families.

salmonslayer91 · #5 06/03/11, 10:10 PM

Martin, How did you go about hatching them eggs? a diy incubator or just in the sand?

Paquebot · #6 06/04/11, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmonslayer91

Martin, How did you go about hatching them eggs? a diy incubator or just in the sand?

Hatched in the garden with a dirt and sand mix under a ½" hardware cloth wire cage. Lots of spiky wire ends sticking up to deter raccoons. Hatching starts in 90 days for first which are usually males. Females may take up to 10 days longer.

Martin

salmonslayer91 · #7 06/04/11, 01:46 AM

well i know for sure that male or female hatchlings are decided by temperature must be due to depth or material composistion but VERY COOL MARTIN

tinknal · #8 06/04/11, 11:03 AM

You should probably check local laws. I know that here a snapper has to be of a certain size before you may harvest them. I believe it is 12". YMMV.

big rockpile · #9 06/04/11, 05:34 PM

They was teasing me today had Pickup Full and seen two in the road.

big rockpile

JJ Grandits · #10 06/04/11, 10:54 PM

Been seeing turtles on the road for awhile now. Was carp fishing last Sunday and caught a nice size snapper on a hair rig baited with corn. He didn't seem to happy about it. I have no need for snapping turtles and was about to cut the line when he spit the hook.Anyways I've been seeing snapping turtles in almost every body of water Im near this year. They're all over.

Paquebot · #11 06/04/11, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ Grandits

Anyways I've been seeing snapping turtles in almost every body of water Im near this year. They're all over.

Unfortunately, that's not the case all over and it's the reason why there are now closed seasons and size restrictions. The "washtub size" of 40-50 years ago are just a memory now. Most females coming out to lay their eggs are doing it for the first and last time if there is a road involved. If they succeed in laying that first clutch, chances that any hatch are slim. Then chances that hatchlings reach water are equally slim. Best chance they have is with someone like myself and it's technically illegal.

Martin

tinknal · #12 06/05/11, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paquebot

Unfortunately, that's not the case all over and it's the reason why there are now closed seasons and size restrictions. The "washtub size" of 40-50 years ago are just a memory now. Most females coming out to lay their eggs are doing it for the first and last time if there is a road involved. If they succeed in laying that first clutch, chances that any hatch are slim. Then chances that hatchlings reach water are equally slim. Best chance they have is with someone like myself and it's technically illegal.

Martin

I actually saw a big one this year. First one I saw in a long time. She probably had a 20 inch shell. I sometimes fish at a portage only lake up north. There is a dinosaur in that lake. Always comes to your campsite and begs for fish heads. I don't know her measurements, but she can stand in 2 feet of water and hold her head well above the surface.