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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Fishing Forum snapping turtles |
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04/17/2007 07:15PM (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Has anybody ever tried catching and eating those snapping turtles that come and try to take the fish that you have on the stringer. My buddy thinks we should try to catch them and eat them. I guess they are suppose to taste pretty good. Has anybody ever tried this or does anybody know how to filet a turtle? I'm just throwing this idea out there I don't even know if I want to attempt it.
04/17/2007 07:50PM
I've eaten plenty of them. The "smaller" greenhead turtles are not good to eat but snappers are really good. Remove the head, both shells, and claws. remove guts and boil the remaining parts, (including the tail) until the meat falls away from the bones. Quite a bit of work but worth it to me. Enjoy!
jt
04/17/2007 08:33PM
Just make sure to follow the regulations. There is a possession limit of 3 snapping turtles and their shell must be longer than 12 inches. You can't take any snapping turtles during May or June.
FROM MINNESOTA FISHING REGULATIONS FOR 2007
Turtles: Resident licensed anglers and children under 16 may take, possess, and transport turtles for personal use. Western painted, snapping, and spiny softshell turtles are the only harvestable species and may be taken by angling or by hand. Harvest by explosives, drugs, poisons, lime, and other harmful substances is prohibited. Harvest by traps, nets, or other equipment requires an additional turtle license. A separate DNR license is required to collect turtle eggs from natural nests or to purchase or sell turtles, except that retail customers do not need a license and residents under age 18 may take, possess, rent or sell up to 25 turtles for use in a non-profit turtle race.
• The snapping turtle possession limit is 3. Minimum size limit is 12" in shell length. Snapping turtles may not be taken during May and June.
• Spiny softshell minimum size limit is 12" in shell length. Spiny
softshells may not be taken June 1-July 15.
• Western painted turtle maximum size limit is 5.5" in shell length,
except that those used in turtle races may be of any length greater
than 4".
FROM MINNESOTA FISHING REGULATIONS FOR 2007
Turtles: Resident licensed anglers and children under 16 may take, possess, and transport turtles for personal use. Western painted, snapping, and spiny softshell turtles are the only harvestable species and may be taken by angling or by hand. Harvest by explosives, drugs, poisons, lime, and other harmful substances is prohibited. Harvest by traps, nets, or other equipment requires an additional turtle license. A separate DNR license is required to collect turtle eggs from natural nests or to purchase or sell turtles, except that retail customers do not need a license and residents under age 18 may take, possess, rent or sell up to 25 turtles for use in a non-profit turtle race.
• The snapping turtle possession limit is 3. Minimum size limit is 12" in shell length. Snapping turtles may not be taken during May and June.
• Spiny softshell minimum size limit is 12" in shell length. Spiny
softshells may not be taken June 1-July 15.
• Western painted turtle maximum size limit is 5.5" in shell length,
except that those used in turtle races may be of any length greater
than 4".
Bromel
04/17/2007 10:16PM
Snappers grow slowly and live to be very old. I once saw a show on PBS about this turtle hunter in the south and he quit harvesting turtles when he discovered arrowheads and musket balls imbedded in some of their shells.
"I am haunted by waters"~Norman Maclean "A River Runs Through It"
04/18/2007 05:56AM
I've been in on a couple of "turtle feeds". We would catch them using treble hooks baited with chicken liver on backwater bays of the Minnesota River. They were a mess to clean, but good eating.
"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after"
~ Henry David Thoreau
04/18/2007 09:09AM
Once while fishing topwater on Lake Fork in Texas using my favorite topwater lure (a bone colored magnum pop R) I had a huge round shadow move slowly up under my lure... I kept moving it closer to the boat and finally recognized what it was... a huge snapping turtle... it had to weigh over 100 lbs, and it's shell was over 2 ft long!! Luckily I pulled the bait away from it or I would have never got it back! They grow large in Texas! The Biggest I have seen in the BWCA would probably weigh in at about 35 lbs! Still big enough to eat a nice walleye off a stringer!
Bruce
Bruce
Good Paddling, Great Fishing, and God Bless All...
04/18/2007 09:35AM
We have a local bar that has turtle fry's the third Thursday of each month. Really yummy.. Some pieces tastes like chicken, but also tastes of beef, pork, and fish are present..
Never lost. All portages and roads go somewhere or they would not be there.
04/18/2007 09:46AM
You mean like this? This old boy was pretty pesky. We finally tied the stringer up in some rapids, assuming he wouldn't go up the swift moving water to get at them. That worked well, I went back for the fish a while later to find an eagle munching on them. Sorry, no picture of that.
Jim
Jim
04/18/2007 01:37PM
Years ago I was literally face to face with one over by the Paulsen Mime off the Kek - his shell had to have been 23" across. Ranger later told me he was probably >75 years old.... and this was 35 years ago.
Mean Cuss too. (The Snapper, not the Ranger)
Mean Cuss too. (The Snapper, not the Ranger)
"You're not serious about wearing sandals on this portage.... are you?"
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