Posted By: John Pearson
Turtle Trap Photos - 07/12/12 12:46 AM
Wanted to show some pic
s of our first trap check. 2 snappers, 1 soft shell and 4 painted. Used a combination of bluegill and beaver (ongoing beaver job) as bait. Thanks Kirk for the help! Client said most of the problem was associated with the painted turtles hitting his grandkid's jug lines.
Yes, these are pigeon traps. I use them as transfer cages. Caught the turtles in 30" Memphis net and twine traps.
Posted By: Peskycritter
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/12/12 03:27 PM
Look like that Memphis trap net loaded up . Wonder if snappers eat painter turtles . I know painters love fresh fish
Posted By: ritrapper
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/13/12 03:08 PM
what is the best turtle trap on the market? I use a 330
Posted By: Phil Nichols
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/14/12 07:47 PM
what is the best turtle trap on the market? I use a 330
You want to catch them live or dead?
Posted By: ritrapper
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/15/12 11:57 AM
I want to catch them alive so i can clean them out for a few days. about 90% of the catches in a duke 330 are alive! I guess I could use jugs too,but I just like to see how different contraptions work>
Posted By: John Pearson
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/18/12 06:20 PM
Yes, that was the best haul of the job. Only caught 4 more after that picture was taken, but 2 were very large snappers.
Posted By: LT GREY
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/18/12 07:34 PM
What would you call a "very large snapper ? "
Posted By: trapper4hire
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/18/12 07:57 PM
LT I would call these large snappers 3 of them weighed over 30 lbs live weight, we cleaned 12 after the first week of ohios second turtle season andgot 110 pounds of meat. That handsome devil holding the turtle is coonsmasher220
Posted By: Phil Nichols
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/18/12 08:43 PM
LT I would call these large snappers 3 of them weighed over 30 lbs live weight, we cleaned 12 after the first week of ohios second turtle season andgot 110 pounds of meat. That handsome devil holding the turtle is coonsmasher220
Well yes, we here REALLY appreciate your handsomeness, and your turtle harvest attire. The blue slippers, are they the trend in turtle harvesting attire? Inquiring minds need to know.
Posted By: trapper4hire
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/19/12 01:44 AM
You'll have to ask coonsmasher220. LOL mine are the much fatter legs wearing the brown water sandals in the bottom pic.
Posted By: trapper4hire
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/19/12 02:11 AM
Nice. do you ever catch any big ones? lol
Posted By: aprophet
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/19/12 12:34 PM
No. Snappers do NOT eat painted turtles or any other 'cooters' for the most part.
Don't even bother them, regardless of size difference.
Hoop nets will can be folded flat will give you much more room and are the only way to go, IMO.
Forget the hooks if you want to harvest turtles in NUMBERS, or if you have a size restriction!
You hook an undersized turtle ( 13" is legal ) you can't keep it, regardless if it's killing ducks here in Ohio.
Oily fish, such as Skip Jack herring, Carp , trout, etc. will out perform bluegills and fish that have no oil.
A 50 gallon drum is how I transfere them...very easy to handle that way.
chicken fat ( backs and necks) is almost as good as oily fish
Posted By: aprophet
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/19/12 12:36 PM
What would you call a "very large snapper ? "
the one that destroyed a wire cage day before yesterday
Posted By: aprophet
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/19/12 06:45 PM
I tend to leave the larger females out there just for the eggs they are laying this is kina why I hit the possums and coons and greys so hard here I have watched the waterfowl ( mostly ducks) and turtles comeback here the last 7-8 years
Posted By: Michigan Born
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/20/12 06:21 AM
Trout's too good of a fish to use for bait lol.
But let me get this right, the guy's hiring you to catch painted turtles because his grandson keeps catching them....????
Posted By: LT GREY
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/20/12 09:56 AM
IMO, trout is the one of the best , if NOT the best fish you can use for turtles.
It is a very oily fish...and the "oil slick" it puts on the surface is what draws the turtles for a long distance.
No one says you have to go buy fresh trout to use as bait. Scraps from the fish market, dead fish at a hatchery, etc. can all be used.
Not everyone lives where trout live, but fish markets do exist most places.
Krogers, a national chain, sells them throughout the summer.
Carp, which live about everywhere, makes a pretty fair bait as well.
Chicken can also be used, especially the skin/fat, as that is what makes the "oil slick."
I know this because I make chicken oil and it's what I use.
Skip Jack, a type of herring, works very well as it is oily, with a strong fish smell.
It is used as a BLUE CATFISH bait...and I think it actually may have another name...anyone know ?
The LOCATION of the bait is just as important as what you use...just like any kind of trapping.
Posted By: aprophet
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/20/12 12:05 PM
if you can come up with menhaden or bluefish they are quiet oily as well they are mostly found on the coast speckled trout is good too but too good for turtle a lot better for me
Posted By: david_johnson
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/20/12 01:56 PM
Thats the only thing we ever called them is skip jack.if u dont catch a catfish with skip jack just go home .
Posted By: beaverfoot
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/24/12 02:30 PM
if you are in need of a turtle trap I make and sale these turtle traps. DAVE 318-464-4819
Posted By: John Pearson
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/25/12 01:32 AM
That was the best haul of the job. I like those traps, although I think I'll get a couple of (Beaverfoot) Dave's traps. I like the "D" shape of the hoops.
Posted By: John Pearson
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 07/25/12 01:38 AM
Certainly not as large as the ones in trapper 4 hire's photos. I was on vacation at the time, but my employees said they ran about 16" or so across the carapace. Only had one more small one after that catch.
Posted By: Tonymichael
Re: Turtle Trap Photos - 08/05/12 05:53 PM
I have used bacon for snappers
As I get older and probably weaker, record book wildlife has taken an entirely different turn. ( And this will affect everyone of you that is reading this ) When I was young, I shot the largest moose that was killed in the interior of Alaska, for that year.
Now I brag about the smallest chipmunks, raccoons, and definitely snappers, that I have ever caught! The pay is the same, whether they are 30 ounces or thirty pounds!