snappers in arthur

I'd check the beaches duud.  They eat jig n' pigs

Muddy Creek arm............

Cut up TROUT,snappers just love it.

Had two trout gutted while on a stringer month or so ago. Looked like I gutted them, neat cut just below the gills and clean as a whistle. Did not eat any other part but maybe I spooked it before he started on the next course.

I keep them in alive in water for about 3-4 days.  Never had turtle soup but I hear its awesome.  I have had them deep fried.  Taste great.  Thats what I did with the one I got last year.  No turtles as of yet.  This week is too hot (for me anyhow) to go check lines and fight the skeeters.  I have caught them on dead bluegills.  I hear ground hog is good because the meat is tough.  Never used it tho.

The set up i have has worked well for me. The rope (all materials purchased at wal mart) is braided nylon rope. 3/16inch.  The label says 90 pound working load.  My leader is 5 strand wire.  Both items at the local wal mart here are located in the same isle. Dont know if this setup deters some turtles because of the heavyness of wire but I have caught turtles on these lines.  Matter of fact I have 10 lines made up and they are all made with those 2 items.  Check the rules and regulations for turtles.  I use 20oz pop bottles on my lines and I heard they are required by law.  For storing turtles, my friend just puts them in a cooler with a lid.  Nothing to hold the lid down.  I have an extra recycling can that I put them in.  One at a time of coarse.

I used to catch them by hand so I am not too familiar with all the regs, but to my knowledge you do not have to have a float if you are just using hooks,but the lines must be tagged with your info. Beware of using a tub with a weight on the lid, I can assure you they will usualy find a way out, also they can chew thier way out of burlap sacks overnight.Best method we found to keep them alive is to use plastic barrels so they can't crawl out. Makes it a bit tricky getting them out though.If they are under 15# approx. I like them fried,any older & bigger are better made into soup in m.o. Also we liked to fry the liver, it was very tasty & didn't have the big veins to deal with. sam

Let us know how  you do!  I am putting lines out this weekend
 

   If you love animals or have a weak stomach please don't read any further
                                             Well on the way back from settin' lines yesterday eve. Greg said "Mountain Dew dad" (not the sweat on Dolly Partons' breast either) . So we paddle over & start liftin' the Dew & when the Snapper came up it grabbed the foam float strip on the side ov the boat with its huge claws & almost flipped us. We beached the S.P & I'm untying the 80 lb. test mono from a branch while Greg is dragging the critter on shore when the line sounded off like a fire cracker .  I said to myself he aint gettin' away that easy so I grab his tail & he started pullin' me in the drink  Got him on dry land & had Greg wack 'em a bunch ov times on the noggin (broken paddle) so I could stick him in the neck, skull & slice his throat a bunch ov times. Tied his back legs to his tail with weed wacker line & off we went. He wouldn't fit in plastic rough neck garbage can so I got a very large commercial galv. garbage drum & he fits in it a little sideways. He is still livin' after all that.

Today we went to pull the sets & all the bait was gone except for one Snapper & a Bullhead, don't ask me how it ever got a 3.5' hook way down its mouth past its eye??

Good Luck,
  Crappy  

 I'm gonna clean the bigger one this eve., so I'll take a couple. I checked www.thunderbucks.com on the best way to clean 'em. One guy on there said the heart beat for 3 days after the kill.

 crappy

Roughneck

When I cleaned the one turtle last year I cut the head off and put it aside.  Half hour later I stuck a pair of pliers in its mouth and it clamped down on them.  Took about a little while but I got them out.

someone please catch every last stinkin snapper out of the swamps behind bridgeport dam. i'm sick of them taking my carp rigs and destroying them. i can't get through a night of carp fishing with out getting at least one. it's been like that for years. i haven't been able to really fish it like i used to. some days you could walk across the turtles floating around on the water. i've seen at least 3 kinds between the two ponds, two creeks and the swamp. westmoreland parks and rec build amphibian ponds directly off of the swamps to help the lizards and toads and whatever. it seems to me that the only thing it really helped was the turtles.

Do the same with the head,after that you can mount it on a board like a skull mount.you can also do the same with a shell & make a odds & ends bowl. sam

That one big Snappa!