End of Turtle Season Pics

Every year I claim I am not doing commercial snapper trapping yet the next year I do it again. This summer is the last of it for me, I swear!!
First pic is a trap in a rocky trout stream that is in pic 2. Very dry this year so a trap set in a deeper hole produced. Bigger turtle in the trap is the one I am holding (spots on his shell are leaves). Looks bigger than he was weight wise, probably in the low 30"s. Not a big truckload maybe 2000 pounds. Last pic is a trap dropped off of an abandoned railroad bridge (about 20 feet down from my feet). Multiflora rose bushes line the stream bank so there is no way to put in or take out a trap (stream is not boatable). Had to lift the trap up to the rail bridge with a rope and grapple hook. 5 snappers in it it was not easy to do, all the time I could hear my late father saying " there is no fool like an old fool".

That's great, looks like quite the haul!

I look forward to next years pics.

LOL, beat me to it!
How's the market?
Don't see as many guys here turtling the last few years.

WHAT is the market? Always wondered what some of you commercial guys (of any species) do with your bounty.

I get a buck a pound, live weight. Not a lot but it beats fur trapping right now and more than covers expenses.

Great stuff Eric!!!

Very nice, until next year.......

Genuinely appreciate all you have shared over the years, Eric. Just wish you would put out a mink snaring book. Fifty years from now it would be as revered as Thorpes Suicide Mink Methods or Dobbins mink book. You have to wonder about a world where spell check autocorrects mink to monk.

Eric thanks for sharing the pics! A lot of work involved, I’m sure. What’s your preferred bait, if you don’t mind me asking? For my crab pots, it’s an oily fish. Bunkers ( menhaden) or bluefish both work well. Turtle baits similar?

John

If you are actually getting out and have a couple of turtle nets with the flatt bottom I would buy a couple.

looks like a good year , thanks for sharing

I have done some turtle trapping over the years using set lines and hooks I have had quite a few that where in the 18 lb to 22 lb range. At a $1.00 a lb it would be worth the effort to catch them .Thanks for posting

Nice catches Eric

Great job Eric!

It takes a lot of work to fill up the truck with turtles great job hope to see more next year. Dave

Thanks for posting eric, appreciate it.

Oily fish are a must for bait. I use carp for bait but salmon heads and/or bluefish are better if I can get them. Catfish sometimes works but most other freshwater fish are not going to entice a snapper into a trap. Bait has to be fresh/frozen, snappers are not interested in sour or rotten bait. Many guys tend to use bait and then some fish oil. I don't. Trouble with most fish oil it is made by rotting down fish so it is no good for turtles.
Set lines with hooks are ok if you are going to kill them the same day as caught, otherwise they get infected inside. Most commercial buyers do not want hooked turtles for this reason. Hooks also do not discriminate, small legally undersized turtles often die when belly hooked.