Turtle trapping

[MuskratD]

I have a good population of snappers nearby, but no good ideas on how to construct a trap for them. I pretty good luck on limb lines, but am looking for a better way. Does anyone have any ideas they would share? Thanks much, MuskratD!

[ez]

noodle....the art of hand hunting....placing the hand where others dare not go....under rock ledges and washouts of creek banks; muskrat and beaver openings to dens; under fallen trees in creeks and root wads and any other type hole, crevis, ect in still or moving water..you may even catch a catfish or two........always remember; have a partner to help and always keep hand flat on the bottom for a turtle has dificulty striking down more then he has striking straight ahead..feel for back side of shell(jagged) and pull by tail to extract from hole......small gaf good to take along to help in pulling out turtle and need burlap sack to carry home prize or prizes.........these creatures make a dam good soup.......need recipe??

[GSP]

I've noodled (we called it graveling)a lot of catfish in my time, but I ain't screwing around with a snapper.
Try a tilt board trap and a 55 gallon drum. Catch a lot of turkels and save a few fingers.
EZ- you still catchem by hand? I would like to tag along and watch sometime.

[MuskratD]

Thanks, fellas, but I don't know about noodlin'. I tell my kids "hands shouldn't be where the eyes can't see", and I try to live by that examle. No doubt hand grabbin' those rascals would be exciting, but I'm leery of such activity, so to speak. Thanks for the reply, and I have a question about the barrel. Does it need bait to bring them in, and what's the best way to keep it at surface level? Also, I don't see snappers sunning themselves as much as ohter turtles, but I bet it catches a lot of softshells, huh? Softies are mighty tasty, so I'd sure like to cach them as well!

[ez]

have not done this "noodle thing" since i left ohio....4 years ago..alot less road crossing turtles in ohio then here...alot easier to pick-up off road then to reach in black hole getting wet, leeches or muskrat/snake bit, not that i don't mind a good challange once in a while...........ez

[GSP]

When you set a tilt board make sure it is about a foot out of the water. We always baited the end of the board. We wired chicken necks or whatever we could get.

[Big58cal]

Here's an address for a wire turtle trap: http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/traps/page30.html

I'll look around a little more. I remember seeing plans somewhere of a tilt-board trap.

[MuskratD]

Thanks for the ideas, I'm gonna start trying some of them out as soon as I can trust the creeks and ditches around here. Lately I've had to set lines only to pull them the next day, not that I'm complaining, the rain we've had is much better than no rain at all.