Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: mcginnis6010 on April 24, 2012, 09:44:55 pm
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I wish this cold weather would go away for good for awhile. i havent been able to catch a single snapper yet bc of the cold air and rain that keeps coming in. Itll be warm for a few days and then get cold again its like a viscous cycle! >:(
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Bummer. What do you cook with them? I used to catch them for my grandma to cook when I was a kid.
George
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i boil them then i roll the meat in a mixture of flour and corn meal with salt and pepper mixed in. Then i fry them on the skillet. ;D
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Mmmm, sounds wonderful. Good luck.
George
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I saw one on the side of the road the other day. It was about 12" to 15" in diameter but had a crack down it back. It wasn't moving either! ::)
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I saw one on the side of the road the other day. It was about 12" to 15" in diameter but had a crack down it back. It wasn't moving either! ::)
yea pat its a shame when they get ran over all that good meat gone to waste.
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Here in southern Indiana I catch em all the time.
I just get some 14+lb fishing line...tie a hook and put a piece of fish or meat on the end and toss it out...tie it to a branch.
Come back the next day and pull her in. The snapper will swallow the hook. Just be quick in dispatching or getting it out of the water...it may bite through the line in a few snaps. This method works for me for gettting snappers out of lakes and ponds.
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I used to eat them regularly when I lived in Nebr. Had one a few years ago here in Wyoming. Still tasty.
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I helped pull a monster snapper out of a fyke net in Northern Illinois. That was quite the process. I was helping another biologist, so we had to get the thing out alive, to be marked and released. That was fun.
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I worked on a Canada Goose and Wood Duck restoration project in Eastern Nebraska in the early 80's. Snappers got into the enclosed pen and we saw some foot damage on some of the adults and the goslings and ducklings were disappearing. I made traps that were basically huge minnow traps and baited them with a variety of things. funnels were oval instead of round.
I used to catch them in western Nebr by going to a small prairie stream that had oxbows-old stream channels now seperate from the main stream. They were filled with flooded grass and such. Early in the spring the snappers woudl be in that water because it would warm up quickly. YOu could see the flooded grass moving and then step in and try to grab their tail. If you got the tail the first time all was good. If you missed the turtles grew more uncooperative and things got a bit more sporty. We released those turtles into seasoned flour and hot oil.
I have never eaten a soft-shell turtle or leatherback-any body else eat those?
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No i havent eaten either ive only had snappers. The weather is finally warming up some here so im gonna set some lines today and see what happens hopefully i get a couple of good sized snappers. Im gonna bait the lines with some catfish guts from the catfish i caught two days ago. They cooked up real good too lol.
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sounds like your getting some mileage out of those catty fish.
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I catch a couple everyyear out of some ponds I bass fish. My favoret way is to put them in a cooking bag with some SWEET BABY RAY BQ SAUSE. B
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oooo! I may have to look for a snapper to fit in a cooking bag. Do you skin them first? :o
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Yea i can catch catfish all day and night long. I have my own secret bait for them even tho they will hit anything really.
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Everybody ought to have the experience of cleaning a snapper! They are nothing like you've ever cleaned before. Their heart will beat for a long time after you have it laying on the bench. Creepy.
George
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I think if I ever try to clean another one, I am using the chainsaw and the dremal!
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yea cleaning a snapper will definitely give you something to do. Its definitely an experienc. ;D
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Mmmm! Hey6010 how about a clean along? I used to trade perch for turtle stew,,I didn't pay attention dang-it ! That would be cool thanks JeffW
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Mmmm! Hey6010 how about a clean along? I used to trade perch for turtle stew,,I didn't pay attention dang-it ! That would be cool thanks JeffW
Ill do that. i have to check my lines in the morning to see if any snappers are on them and ill take pics as im cleaning them and post them as soon as i have time. Ill also post pics of the most effective and humane way to dispatch a snapper before you clean it.
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Mmmm! Hey6010 how about a clean along?
I'm not so sure. Cleaning a snapper is grisly, messy business. Besides that they're downright weird. The first one I cleaned for grandma I cut the head and feet off, removed the bottom shell, gutted it, cut off the tail and neck, and left the top shell attached to the legs which I had skinned. I had so much fun getting the neck and tail away from the shell that I thought I'd let grandma or grandpa fillet the meat off the legs. I put the shell in the sink with the head and tail which I had also skinned. I didn't make it 20' out their door when grandma screamed. I ran back in and the turtle, with no head, neck, tail or feet, had stood up and climbed out of the sink and onto the counter. Man did she freak and to a much lesser extent, so did I. They are bizarre animals.
George
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Live action! :o
Tracy
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YEA JUST SKIN quarter some times I'll leave them in salt water over night. SOMETIMES
Beleive it or not I had a cousin the surplyed a couple restrunts and saved the hearts and livers for me the best cat fish bait I've ever used. I used it 100's of times when I was younger for years. I don't cat fish any more but save mine for friends that do every turtle I get.
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Mmmm! Hey6010 how about a clean along?
I'm not so sure. Cleaning a snapper is grisly, messy business. Besides that they're downright weird. The first one I cleaned for grandma I cut the head and feet off, removed the bottom shell, gutted it, cut off the tail and neck, and left the top shell attached to the legs which I had skinned. I had so much fun getting the neck and tail away from the shell that I thought I'd let grandma or grandpa fillet the meat off the legs. I put the shell in the sink with the head and tail which I had also skinned. I didn't make it 20' out their door when grandma screamed. I ran back in and the turtle, with no head, neck, tail or feet, had stood up and climbed out of the sink and onto the counter. Man did she freak and to a much lesser extent, so did I. They are bizarre animals.
George
Yea snappers are like snakes and have automonous nervous reaction and will continue to move even after death. As far as cleaning the turtle itself as long as you know the right spots to cut then its actually not that hard to clean and get all of the meat out.
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...as long as you know the right spots to cut then its actually not that hard to clean and get all of the meat out.
Clearly you have cleaned a lot more than I have cause I never figured it out. Largest one I ever picked up by the tail is 25lbs. If I did that today the chiropractor would be seeing me for a month... Sure was some good eating though. Never thought to try the innards for catfish bait though...duh.
George
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My best friend and I (back in high school) decided to go fishing. He new of a little pond full of crawfish we could use as bait. It was small and shallow so we to a 8" seine and started walking through it. (without shoes of course). all of a sudden the net got real heavy. We thought we had the mother load of crawfish. pulled it up and there was a BIG snapper in the middle. Looking pissed as only a snapper can do. We weren't angels by any shape or form, but we walked on water out of that pool! I spent over 2 hours trying to skin that thing. Used an ax, several knives the works.
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Cool Thread.
I too would be interested in a Clean Along...
My wife and I Love Turtles.
Both as Pets and as Dinner.
We have a thirteen year old Eastern Box Female.
But we draw the line at feeding her Turtle Soup... :)
On a Side Note, we are looking for an Eastern Box Male of Breeding age.
-gus
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Cool Thread.
I too would be interested in a Clean Along...
My wife and I Love Turtles.
Both as Pets and as Dinner.
We have a thirteen year old Eastern Box Female.
But we draw the line at feeding her Turtle Soup... :)
On a Side Note, we are looking for an Eastern Box Male of Breeding age.
-gus
I used to find box turtles all the time when i was a kid and i would keep a few as pets. But as far as eating one i wouldnt in the wild they eat poisonous muchrooms and plants all the time and they just naturally have alot of toxins in their bodies because of it so in a sense box turtles are poisonous if eaten.
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...as long as you know the right spots to cut then its actually not that hard to clean and get all of the meat out.
Clearly you have cleaned a lot more than I have cause I never figured it out. Largest one I ever picked up by the tail is 25lbs. If I did that today the chiropractor would be seeing me for a month... Sure was some good eating though. Never thought to try the innards for catfish bait though...duh.
George
You have to have a sharp knife and cut in between the joints otherwise youll be cutting all day and the only thing that youll get is a dull knife and a tired arm. Oh and just like deer dont puncture ANY of the innards or youll ruin all the meat.
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I used to find box turtles all the time when i was a kid and i would keep a few as pets. But as far as eating one i wouldnt in the wild they eat poisonous muchrooms and plants all the time and they just naturally have alot of toxins in their bodies because of it so in a sense box turtles are poisonous if eaten.
Oh no... the Box turtles are pets...
The snappers and softshells are for eating...
We're looking to have a clutch of Boxies for pets.
Heck they're too small to eat anyway, unless you were Mighty Hungry! :)
Never tried eating a Slider...
-gus