Unhooking Turtles...

Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
25
Hi Y'all!

Well, I searched and am still a little stuck on this one. This might seem weird, but I know how to handle a snapping turtle - what I can get away with and what I can't - but what about those softshells in the northeast here? My friend says to always cut the line and don't even bring them on the boat, but I really hate leaving a hook in one of these guys if I can avoid it. How far can they reach around? If you grab the shell at, like, 9 and 3, can you handle one of these things (as opposed to grabbing a snapper at 12 and 6) or am I setting myself up to lose a finger??

Unfortunately, I was in a spot a few nights ago where there were just as many turtles as catfish... Hence the question.

Thanks for the input, folks!
 

reelfishin

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
3,047
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

I'm in NJ and the water bound turtles we have here can bite, in fact I think all turtles can bite. But most don't have the reach of a snapping turtle. The soft shell turtles here will nip and bit, the larger one's will take a finger off I suppose but I've never let one get the chance.
They can reach around the shell opening a few inches at most. Their range is no where close to a snapping turtle.

I'd put on a pair of heavy gloves the next time you encounter one and see how far the species your dealing with can reach. The farthest I've seen one reach around here is about the distance of his front legs and just over the top a bit. Most don't really get aggressive though, they usually try to hide in the shell rather than bite. They can be a real challenge to get unhooked safely. If I hook one that won't cooperate, I usually snip the hook off as close as I can and release it. The hook will rust or fall out soon enough. The way I see it, letting the hook stay is far better than any damage one might inflict trying to dislodge a hook on a turtle that's fighting you or the procedure.
 

Tig

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
416
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Leather gloves is a very good idea. I've been clawed up good handling a small snapper. He had claws like a cat.
I had a 5" red ear slider as a pet way back. He was not nearly as strong or aggressive as a snapper. Reach was as reelfishin describes.
 

NelsonQ

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
1,413
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

+1 on the gloves. Kids at the dock last year hooked a big snapper and he clawed me good. He was an old guy and probably weighing in excess of 30lbs so he wasn't the easiest thing to maneuver.

I grabbed him just ahead of the back legs while a friend used a fishing net to distract him (he left some good marks/dents on it)

I'm with you on not leaving the hook in him but these big old ones are hard to handle.

I'm assuming if your bringing him on the boat so they're much smaller but I still wouldn't tempt to go near his face. Luckily the few experiences I've had, once the weigh of the turtle was off the hook, it came out on its own.

If it didn't I suppose you'd have to pin his head (fishing net suggestion) and use long nose pliers to get that hook free.
 

RicMic

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
431
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Personally, I wouldn't mess with them much, unless they were going in the soup pot! They are covered in some nasty bacteria, so if you do get scatched it could end up as a bad infection AND if they get ahold of you, there is a good chance you will lose that body part. As was said above, if you just cut the line the hook will likely just fall out, if not, the turtle will get rid of it, very quickly. If it swallows the hook, its stomach acid will disolve it in no time. I have caught snappers, chopped off their heads and put them in the cooler, the next day, they were still walking around and would still try to claw me if I touched them. Snappers are really good eating, but a bit of work to clean. I don't really have a lot of sympathy for the turtles, there are places I fish that they watch for your bobbers, because they know the bait is right below it, so if they get hooked, I don't feel bad if its unpleasant for them!
 

gonefishie

Commander
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
2,624
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

I have caught snappers, chopped off their heads and put them in the cooler, the next day, they were still walking around and would still try to claw me if I touched them.

No way :eek: :eek:!
 

RicMic

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
431
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Oh yeah and then try to clean them, with the legs still going, you can take the heart out and it will still beat for a LONG time and this is 24 hours after the head was taken off. The only time, I saw one just instantly dead, limp, my buddy removed its head with a 12 guage shotgun, from about 12 INCHES away as the snapper sat in about 6" of water. Otherwise you have to take the head off and drop them into a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes or stick them in a freezer for a few hours to get them to stop moving.
 

reelfishin

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
3,047
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

A few years back I was driving along a back road that crosses the dam of a lake here, there was a huge alligator snapper sitting right in the middle of the road. I pulled over figuring I'd coax it off the road before it got run over. Walking up to it only drew a few nasty hisses and a few quick snaps in my direction. I went back to the truck, grabbed a broom stick with a rubber squeegee on it and tried to get the thing to either latch on so I could drag him off the road, or just push him to the shoulder. He wanted no part of it, and refused to move. To my surprise those things can move pretty quick when they want too. I put the handle end of the 6' pole in front of it, he did nothing but turn away. I then took the other end and tried to push him a bit from behind, the turtle nearly did a back flip, came around and grabbed the pole about a foot above the squeegee and held on. I tried to drag him and he let right go, and went right back to the middle of the road. At this point there's about 5 other cars stopped, one guy tried to grab hold of the turtle but ended up nearly loosing his hand as it again did a snap turn around and snapped at him. A state trooper came along finally, and called in someone from animal control in that town, who came out with a huge net and a metal box and hauled it away for release away from the road. They estimated it was around 40 or so lbs. It ruined the pole it bit down on, it all but cut through it, it snapped right off when I tossed it back in the truck.

The turtles we see here that get hooked are usually spiny soft shells, red bellies, or red ears, with the occasional painted turtle or snapper here and there. The soft shells have super sharp claws, sharper then the rest. They look like needles not claws and will even get through some gloves. A buddy brought a smaller one in the boat one day, had it hooked pretty good, there was no sign of the hook at all. Yet the thing was fighting the whole ordeal. There was no way to unhook it, it had the hook all the way down it's throat. We just wanted to make sure it could still eat or open it's mouth before releasing it. We cut the line off about two inches from it's mouth, figuring that when the hook rusted out, it could get rid of the line. A buddy had his rod lying on the deck, about a foot from where the turtle was sitting while we unhooked it, the instant it realized it was free, and at about the same time he grabbed the rod to move it so it didn't get knelt on when I put the turtle over the side, the turtle then snapped and grabbed the rod tip as he moved it, instantly shearing off about the last 4" of rod. The turtle was no more than 10" long, and it cut dead clean through a 3/16" thick rod blank. I have no doubt it would take a finger if it could get it's mouth around it, if not, it would at least do some serious damage to flesh.

When I finally put the turtle overboard, it just sat there for a while, then moved about 10' from the boat and disappeared. After I released the turtle, I noticed the hook and cut leader stuck in the broken rod end's tattered fibers. It had fallen right out when it grabbed the rod. The leader got caught in the rough broken fibers of the rod blank and come out.

The only way I've found to handle most turtles safely is to grab them from behind, with the tail sort of between your fingers, if not, then grab over and around the rear legs, while someone else removes the hook.

Snappers make good eating but I'm not sure their worth all the work or mess of cleaning them.
 

j_martin

Admiral
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
7,474
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Believe it or not, that big turtle was trying to make a next and lay eggs in the middle of the gravel road. That's why she didn't want to leave.
 

HappierWet

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
839
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

personally, i wouldn't mess with them much, unless they were going in the soup pot! They are covered in some nasty bacteria, so if you do get scatched it could end up as a bad infection and if they get ahold of you, there is a good chance you will lose that body part. As was said above, if you just cut the line the hook will likely just fall out, if not, the turtle will get rid of it, very quickly. If it swallows the hook, its stomach acid will disolve it in no time. I have caught snappers, chopped off their heads and put them in the cooler, the next day, they were still walking around and would still try to claw me if i touched them. Snappers are really good eating, but a bit of work to clean. I don't really have a lot of sympathy for the turtles, there are places i fish that they watch for your bobbers, because they know the bait is right below it, so if they get hooked, i don't feel bad if its unpleasant for them!



way:)
 

Ki Ki

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
292
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Personally, I wouldn't mess with them much, unless they were going in the soup pot! They are covered in some nasty bacteria, so if you do get scatched it could end up as a bad infection AND if they get ahold of you, there is a good chance you will lose that body part. As was said above, if you just cut the line the hook will likely just fall out, if not, the turtle will get rid of it, very quickly. If it swallows the hook, its stomach acid will disolve it in no time. I have caught snappers, chopped off their heads and put them in the cooler, the next day, they were still walking around and would still try to claw me if I touched them. Snappers are really good eating, but a bit of work to clean. I don't really have a lot of sympathy for the turtles, there are places I fish that they watch for your bobbers, because they know the bait is right below it, so if they get hooked, I don't feel bad if its unpleasant for them!
You serious? Wow, that's an odd statement form a fellow boater. Yah, real odd that a turtle eats too isn't it?

Snappers have a bad reputation, but definitely never heard of a snapper attack unprovoked. They do it for self defense, purely. Anyways, yes, I agree with trying to get the hook out safely as possible.

Sure, it can rust or whatever some say here, but at the same time it can impede their feeding for quite some time. We know a turtle that can't eat, or any species doesn't make it too long. So in these situations I would always try to get the hook out safely as can be, while not losing a finger.
 

gonfishn

Commander
Joined
May 16, 2002
Messages
2,390
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

I have been nipped shall we say and its an unpleasant adventure. Since then i practice detach head and then remove hook.
 

CN Spots

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
1,612
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

Keep a LONG pair of needle nose pliers in your boat for these occasions.

The softshells around here have a longer reach than the snappers. Getting chewed on by either is on my list of things to avoid.

Never chewed on them either, couldn't get over the smell :>P
 

RicMic

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
431
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

You serious? Wow, that's an odd statement form a fellow boater. Yah, real odd that a turtle eats too isn't it?

Snappers have a bad reputation, but definitely never heard of a snapper attack unprovoked. They do it for self defense, purely. Anyways, yes, I agree with trying to get the hook out safely as possible.

Sure, it can rust or whatever some say here, but at the same time it can impede their feeding for quite some time. We know a turtle that can't eat, or any species doesn't make it too long. So in these situations I would always try to get the hook out safely as can be, while not losing a finger.

Yeah, I'm dead serious, I'd unhook em with a pistol if they would let me. Turtle can and do live for MONTHS without eating. We have lots of lakes that have become vastly overpopulated with turtles and other than starvation and disease there is no population control. So good luck while you try to gently remove the hook without hurting the turtle, because I know that the turtle will do its best to hurt you AND if I was you and you get bit or scratched I would highly consider a trip to the emergency room for a shot of strong antibiotics. It would really be a shame to lose body parts to an infection for trying to be kind to an animal that has absolutely no appreciation for it.
 

starcraft1982

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
277
Re: Unhooking Turtles...

I ve been unhooking softshell turtles for years.what do i do?I take the hook out!Step on the shell,pull on the line to stretch out their neck,then grab the hook(w/pliers if youre a wuss!)and unhook them.Its a pretty simple process,really.Think about it.Youve got the line in your hand and by stretching out the neck,the line is tight and you are controlling the head.All thats left is yank out the hook and send them on their way(or chop off the heads and send them to a soup recipe!MMMMMMMMMMMM GOOD!)
 
Top