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Post by Mean Gene on Jan 16, 2023 10:32:21 GMT -5
So, I've been sitting here this morning watching videos of catfishing in Indiana, and I saw one where they got some snapping turtles. I've never seen one, and all I know about them don't let them bite you. So, I'm guessing you can eat them?
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Post by Ahawkeye on Jan 16, 2023 10:37:43 GMT -5
Yes you can eat them and the few that I've had were very good but I don't know how to prepare them. There may be someone here that knows how but if not there are plenty of youtube videos showing how.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2023 10:52:51 GMT -5
Lots of snapping turtles in ponds and rivers in the state, most aren't very big (compared to their southern cousins).
Yeah just don't let them get ahold of a finger and you'll be ok.
Every once in a great while you might get one fishing.
Always keep some really long pliers in your tackle box lol.
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Post by greghopper on Jan 16, 2023 11:26:55 GMT -5
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Post by budd on Jan 16, 2023 11:26:55 GMT -5
Yes you can eat them and the few that I've had were very good but I don't know how to prepare them. There may be someone here that knows how but if not there are plenty of youtube videos showing how. Very good eating, I usually get a couple every year for my mother to cook up for me. |
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Post by greghopper on Jan 16, 2023 11:30:27 GMT -5
Most people I know that eat Snappers will catch them then put them in tub of clean water for a few days to clean them out then kill and clean.
They do like to live in nasty areas.
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Post by Ahawkeye on Jan 16, 2023 11:45:08 GMT -5
The cleaning out process is a bit time/space consuming in my opinion. Maybe when I'm not coaching baseball I could give it a try. I've seen one method where they cut the head off and hose clamp a garden hose then let the water push out the gunk. Most times I see guys holding them in some sort of enclosure and changing water (as stated above).
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Post by duff on Jan 16, 2023 12:12:02 GMT -5
Eaten a few. More trouble than they are worth imo. But it was fun cleaning them and trying something new. I always caught a few on trot lines. When I was a boy I would stay with a family that would set jugs with hotdogs for snappers.
In the 90s I knew a guy who would wade rivers and catch them by hand and sell the meat to pubs and restaurants in Greenfield area. Then the state outlawed the sale of them. Dude was quite a bit older than me. He was fearless in many ways but a great outdoorsman.
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Post by scrub-buster on Jan 16, 2023 12:13:05 GMT -5
I've caught a couple while catfishing in ponds. Last summer we saw one on the side of the road that was about 15 lbs. I stopped the car and my wife jumped out and had the turtle by the tail before I could even get to it. She's had experience with them. We took it to her Dad and he showed me how to clean it. He loves catching and eating turtles.
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Post by budd on Jan 16, 2023 13:00:10 GMT -5
Turtle meat is expensive to buy. I tried to get a commercial license in Minnesota but the only way to get one now is to have it passed down from father to son/daughter. All the beaver ponds, lakes, swamps up here snapping turtles are everywhere. We are allowed 3 per year, 12 inch minimum.
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Post by esshup on Jan 16, 2023 13:32:30 GMT -5
I have caught and eaten a lot of turtles, mostly softshell turtles. I never purged them, be it softshell or snapper. I would catch them by using chicken gizzards on a trot line or by snagging the softshells. (Snagging is illegal now)
Softshells, I'd grab their nose with a set of pliers, pull their head out and chop it off with a hatchet. Hang them up by a hind foot for the blood to drain out.
Turn upside down, use a sharp fillet knife (a 6" Rapala knife works great) to cut the feet off the turtle and to cut the bottom shell off of the turtle. You CAN cut through the top/bottom shell on a softshell, not a snapper.
Use a different knife (or clean that one well) and cut the legs out of the shell, and while doing so, leave the skin attached to the top half of the shell. Try to minimize the amount of time that the knife touches the skin - i.e. cut the skin from the inside out, then "skin" the leg with the knife like you'd skin a furbearer, cutting between the meat and skin.
Cut off any fat from the meat. I used to fry them just like squirrel or rabbit. To me, both Softshells and Snappers tasted the same.
With Softshells, the "handle" is one of the rear legs. Watch it when you pick them up, their necks are a LOT longer than you realize, and I think they are faster than a snapper when they try to bite you. With Snappers, their tail is the handle. Same thing, hold them away from your body to keep your body parts safe.
Biggest turtle I saw was in Potato Creek around the year 2000. I was fishing in a boat and a snapper (not an alligator snapper) came up along the boat. It had moss on it's back that was at least 6" long and it's head was just as big or bigger than a large muskrat. I bet it was close to 30" across and probably 36" long. For a brief minute my brain was scrambling trying to figure out how I could catch it, but then I realized if I DID catch it, how the heck would I get it in the boat? No way could I lift it in the boat.
In a private pond, I did catch 5 snappers at the same time in a modified Fyke Net that I was using to sample the fish population. That was interesting - the net with the fish and turtles weighed so much that I coudln't get it in the boat, I had to drag it to shore, THEN getting the turtles and fish out was a chore. I couldn't get it out of the water, and I didn't have a small net, so I had to be VERY careful when reaching in the net to grab a turtle. The landscaping crew was there working on the people's house and I asked them if they wanted the turtles. They couldn't get a plastic garbage can emptied out fast enough. LOL Each snapper was big enough that it couldn't fit head first into a 5 gallon bucket. There were a lot of fish in the net that had chunks taken out of them.
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Post by duff on Jan 16, 2023 14:04:21 GMT -5
I have caught and eaten a lot of turtles, mostly softshell turtles. I never purged them, be it softshell or snapper. I would catch them by using chicken gizzards on a trot line or by snagging the softshells. (Snagging is illegal now) Softshells, I'd grab their nose with a set of pliers, pull their head out and chop it off with a hatchet. Hang them up by a hind foot for the blood to drain out. Turn upside down, use a sharp fillet knife (a 6" Rapala knife works great) to cut the feet off the turtle and to cut the bottom shell off of the turtle. You CAN cut through the top/bottom shell on a softshell, not a snapper. Use a different knife (or clean that one well) and cut the legs out of the shell, and while doing so, leave the skin attached to the top half of the shell. Try to minimize the amount of time that the knife touches the skin - i.e. cut the skin from the inside out, then "skin" the leg with the knife like you'd skin a furbearer, cutting between the meat and skin. Cut off any fat from the meat. I used to fry them just like squirrel or rabbit. To me, both Softshells and Snappers tasted the same. With Softshells, the "handle" is one of the rear legs. Watch it when you pick them up, their necks are a LOT longer than you realize, and I think they are faster than a snapper when they try to bite you. With Snappers, their tail is the handle. Same thing, hold them away from your body to keep your body parts safe. Biggest turtle I saw was in Potato Creek around the year 2000. I was fishing in a boat and a snapper (not an alligator snapper) came up along the boat. It had moss on it's back that was at least 6" long and it's head was just as big or bigger than a large muskrat. I bet it was close to 30" across and probably 36" long. For a brief minute my brain was scrambling trying to figure out how I could catch it, but then I realized if I DID catch it, how the heck would I get it in the boat? No way could I lift it in the boat. In a private pond, I did catch 5 snappers at the same time in a modified Fyke Net that I was using to sample the fish population. That was interesting - the net with the fish and turtles weighed so much that I coudln't get it in the boat, I had to drag it to shore, THEN getting the turtles and fish out was a chore. I couldn't get it out of the water, and I didn't have a small net, so I had to be VERY careful when reaching in the net to grab a turtle. The landscaping crew was there working on the people's house and I asked them if they wanted the turtles. They couldn't get a plastic garbage can emptied out fast enough. LOL Each snapper was big enough that it couldn't fit head first into a 5 gallon bucket. There were a lot of fish in the net that had chunks taken out of them. You would never ever find me eating a soft shell. Those things are nasty stinky animals. I would rather skin a roadkill possum in July to eat! Well maybe that is pushing it... |
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Post by pigeonflier on Jan 16, 2023 14:34:12 GMT -5
I always thought the softshells were clean turtles and the snappers were dirty..
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Post by esshup on Jan 16, 2023 15:43:04 GMT -5
Both snappers and softshells eat the same stuff. Snappers have more of a sedentary life vs. the softshells, have you ever seen filamentous algae growing on softshell turtles like it does on the snappers?
Even though I have a few recipes for them, I will not knowingly eat a 'possum, roadkill or not. LOL
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Post by Ahawkeye on Jan 16, 2023 17:04:18 GMT -5
Roadkill snapper, now there's a delicacy!
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Post by greghopper on Jan 16, 2023 17:44:50 GMT -5
Both snappers and softshells eat the same stuff. Snappers have more of a sedentary life vs. the softshells, have you ever seen filamentous algae growing on softshell turtles like it does on the snappers? Even though I have a few recipes for them, I will not knowingly eat a 'possum, roadkill or not. LOL Never seen a soft shell roll out of a sewage hole or a lagoon… also don’t believe a soft shell will travel like a snapper does also. You’re right they have a cleaner look about them vs a snapper! |
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Post by duff on Jan 16, 2023 18:42:46 GMT -5
Caught plenty of both. Shoftshells just stink. Never notice it with snappers. The snappers I cleaned and ate all had seed corn in their gut. You know where they get that from? I had my guess.
I really despise catching either.
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Post by beermaker on Jan 16, 2023 19:14:42 GMT -5
When prepared properly, fried turtle is hard to beat as far as wild game goes, to me at least. Heck of a lot better than any tree rat I've had.
I know some fools that go around to ponds and creeks and feel around for them under water. No sir!
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Post by Mean Gene on Jan 16, 2023 19:58:42 GMT -5
Appreciate all the info. I'd try eatin' turtle. I'll try almost anything once.
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Post by Sasquatch on Jan 17, 2023 7:29:43 GMT -5
I know a wonderful lady who is so backwoods that she carried an old canner in her trunk to imprison any snappers that had the misfortune of crossing the road in front of her.
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