Best turtle catching trip ever last weekend. 2 big ones, but I always ignore any little ones. The first one was just a simple catch by hand but the 2nd one stalked my canoe while drift-fishing. It took my leech, I landed him, and while still in my grasp, he clamped onto a walleye on my stringer. That made me mad so he and I had a little tussle until he cried "uncle" and released my shore lunch.




The walleye fishing was good too!

I'd be counting my fingers...

Man... those snappers are nasty. They'll bite anything. I had no idea they were in MN. They're all over the place here in TX.

BeaV is mighty!

Is that an Alligator Snapping Turtle?
I would have let him have the fish.

PowerLizard: "Is that an Alligator Snapping Turtle?
I would have let him have the fish."

No alligator snapping turtles in Minnesota or Quetico.

More and more, I'm thinking BeaV is the great-great-great-great grandson of Pecos Pete.

Who took the photo in the second picture, were you paddling with another canoe?

One of the few pictures i've seen of you without your bush hat on, did the turtle get that too :-)

missmolly: "BeaV is mighty! "

Barely....that second turtle, when it got it's hind legs locked against the gunwhale, impressed me with it's own might. This picture shows that fight...I was not smiling, I was gritting my teeth!



Later on, when I cleaned those walleyes, the one it bit was seriously bruised on both sides of the bite right to the backbone. Bad enough I had to throw away the tail section.

LindenTree: "Who took the photo in the second picture, were you paddling with another canoe?
One of the few pictures i've seen of you without your bush hat on, did the turtle get that too :-)"

Hey Lindy! No leather lid for this trip...it was pretty hot last week/weekend. I was with 5 others on a base camp/fishing trip on Ensign Lake.

What no one likes turtle soup?

I was cleaning panfish once on a floating dock. Well the tails would fall between the boards and a couple of times a darn snapping turtle grabbed the tails. Took me a second to figure what was going on under that their dock.

Bushpilot: "What no one likes turtle soup?"

I had it a couple of times,and some say it taste like chicken. I say no it didn't. It wasn't that bad but not worth cleaning.
Also many areas of the state with turtles being like 75 years old. Think of all the PCB's,mercury etc. build up in those tissues. They are probably a walking toxic dump in some areas?

Pinetree: "

Bushpilot: "What no one likes turtle soup?"

I had it a couple of times,and some say it taste like chicken. I say no it didn't. It wasn't that bad but not worth cleaning.
Also many areas of the state with turtles being like 75 years old. Think of all the PCB's,mercury etc. build up in those tissues. They are probably a walking toxic dump in some areas?"

We caught one on our trip and we talked about the idea of eating one. My father was saying you have to put them in a tub for like 3 days to wash all that stuff and mud out? Then it tastes good I hear but I'll probably never know.

The stories just keep getting better BeaV!

I happened upon some bears gathered around a campfire last night. They were in a heated argument and I was in the dark, so they didn't see me. They were arguing about whether they'd fight BeaV to save a cub or keep BeaV from stealing their hive dripping with honey. There was one young boar, about 300 pounds, who was sure he'd fight BeaV, but the older boars and sows wouldn't hear it. They called him young and foolish.

missmolly,
Not sure of Pecos Pete relation or campfire bears...but there IS a story of a large snapper I had a run in with many years ago on Ensign Lake. He was a big, old, wise one...but he had a weakness for sunning on a big rock. I put the sneak on him and lassoed his gnarly tail with my anchor rope. Then I went back out to deeper water fishing walleyes on a rock reef. Fishing was good and soon other canoeists were anchoring close by.

It was a rather calm wind that day and any old anchor would have held fast to the bottom. But not my anchor- mine slowly moved along on the bottom allowing me to fish the entirety of that reef catching the active fish. Those other canoeists sure were puzzled by the site of my moving anchor!

I released that ol' snapper after the fishing was done...but he was sure mad! He didn't take to being all tied up and humiliated. My companions named him "Anchor" and the legend was born. It is a running joke that Anchor will some day have his revenge on me.

BeaV: "missmolly,
Not sure of Pecos Pete relation or campfire bears...but there IS a story of a large snapper I had a run in with many years ago on Ensign Lake. He was a big, old, wise one...but he had a weakness for sunning on a big rock. I put the sneak on him and lassoed his gnarly tail with my anchor rope. Then I went back out to deeper water fishing walleyes on a rock reef. Fishing was good and soon other canoeists were anchoring close by.


It was a rather calm wind that day and any old anchor would have held fast to the bottom. But not my anchor- mine slowly moved along on the bottom allowing me to fish the entirety of that reef catching the active fish. Those other canoeists sure were puzzled by the site of my moving anchor!


I released that ol' snapper after the fishing was done...but he was sure mad! He didn't take to being all tied up and humiliated. My companions named him "Anchor" and the legend was born. It is a running joke that Anchor will some day have his revenge on me."

Laugh out loud funny! Thanks, BeaV.

This guy would have fed us for a meal or two!

Impressive catch. It would be interesting to know its age.

Years ago we were fishing on a no motor lake in the Chequamegon when we felt the canoe leaning. Checked the stringer only to find a turtle attached to it. It was about the size of the one in your picture and did not let go either as my husband lifted it out of the water. We did not have it for supper, and I did not dangle my feet in the water for the rest of the trip.

Miss Molly and BeaV - thanks for the smile and the tall "tails". Pun intended!

Pinetree: "

Bushpilot: "What no one likes turtle soup?"

I had it a couple of times,and some say it taste like chicken. I say no it didn't."

We used to have it quite frequently when I was young. As I recall it was a bit greasy, but really don't remember that much. But chicken - No. My dad was a Ramsey Co. cop and any time someone called about one in their yard he'd get the call and bring it home.

Neat! Not sure if I would have the guts to hold one like that. Wait, I am sure...that I wouldn't.

Had a giant one - probably the second biggest I have ever seen - swim up to our canoe in WCPP a couple weeks ago. Thumped him with the paddle. Wrong move...just increased his interest level, and we got out of dodge.

Had one nip my big toe one time splashing my bare feet off the dock, just left a little indent in my toe, didn't break the skin. Made me jump up awful fast though. Wife thought i was crazy til she saw sitting there under the dock.
And they aren't worth the hassle of cleaning in my humble opinion

Had one nip my big toe one time splashing my bare feet off the dock, just left a little indent in my toe, didn't break the skin. Made me jump up awful fast though. Wife thought i was crazy til she saw sitting there under the dock.
And they aren't worth the hassle of cleaning in my humble opinion

I met this little gal today in my driveway, " Martha I call her" she has been around my place for years. She even tried to block me into my cabin last year.
When I saw Martha today I rolled her over and gave her a belly rub, (she loves them) then I gave her a kiss on her left ear.