Big lake creature

[DeputyDog]

The county I live in has over 100 natural glacial lake with the largest being Lake James which is the fourth largest natural lake in Indiana at just over 1200 acres. It is attached to 4 other lakes so the chain is a lot larger.

I grew up on a lake that was a bit smaller at 840 acres and always kept my boat and PWC's there until my mom sold her house a couple of years ago Now I rent a slip on Lake James. I was getting the boat ready to go out on Saturday when I spotted this guy swimming by. It's hard to gauge the true size by the photo but that is the corner of my boat lift next to him which is about three inch square on the frame.

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His shell had to be every bit of 20 inches from front to back and his head and neck were at least three inches around.


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[Big Muddy]

Looks similar to our common logger-head snapping turtle.....if it is, that is a very old fella.....they grow very slowly, and that one would be in the 75-100 yr. old range.

We, also, have the alligator logger-head snapping turtle.....kissin' cousin to the common one, except the ridges on it's back are more pronounced.....local myth says if one bites down on you, it won't release you, until it thunders.....some of my older commercial fishermen friends are missing fingers from run-ins with loggerheads.

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[Thumper]

I pretty much agree with Cappy's philosophy ... all panfish are bream ... all'o those bad boy snappers are cooters to me! I've seen one as big as a small tabletop (the biggest I've ever seen in my lifetime). I was out gator hunting with Tony one night and we came up on one floating (dead) in the middle of the lake. We were both shocked by it's size. It stunk to high-heaven and we didn't mess with it. A couple days later, I was kicking myself in the ass, because there was a small island not far from there and we could have easily towed it over there with a rope and stashed it someplace to come back to after the critters and bugs cleaned up the shell. Here are a few samples of big cooters. From MY memory, the one Gator and I saw that night was bigger than any of these. It was the biggest Gator had ever seen, and he spent most of his life on the water. Yours is what I'd call a common snapper (good eating BTW) ... the big boys down here are Alligator snappers.

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[Arty]

That is some CLEAR water!!!

[BarryBobPosthole]

We see snappers when we're fishing in Canada. All I can think of when I see them is they must have to bury deep down in the mud when there's a foot and a half of ice on the lake! Those are some tough bastards!

BKB

[DeputyDog]

I pretty much agree with Cappy's philosophy ... all panfish are bream ... all'o those bad boy snappers are cooters to me! I've seen one as big as a small tabletop (the biggest I've ever seen in my lifetime). I was out gator hunting with Tony one night and we came up on one floating (dead) in the middle of the lake. We were both shocked by it's size. It stunk to high-heaven and we didn't mess with it. A couple days later, I was kicking myself in the ass, because there was a small island not far from there and we could have easily towed it over there with a rope and stashed it someplace to come back to after the critters and bugs cleaned up the shell. Here are a few samples of big cooters. From MY memory, the one Gator and I saw that night was bigger than any of these. It was the biggest Gator had ever seen, and he spent most of his life on the water. Yours is what I'd call a common snapper (good eating BTW) ... the big boys down here are Alligator snappers.

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Those guys must have taken some long arming lessons from from the Goodhunting fishing club.


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[DeputyDog]

That was the biggest snapper I've seen in a long time and the only one I've been able to get a photo of.

Eddie, that was the age I was thinking too. I'd guessed around 80 when I saw him. I will usually stop to get a big one off the road if I see one before it gets hit.

When I was a kid one of my neighbors used to trap turtles in the lake I grew up on. He got several that were larger than this one. I saw one of those bite onto a broom handle and snap it off.

We have the alligator snappers here too, as well as the Eastern box turtle, painted turtles and soft shells.


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[HideHunter]

We just have the common snappers here. Every couple years buddy and I get the traps out and catch a few to eat. We've got to where we only keep males and nothing over 15-20 pounds.. Had one lay eggs in the yard dby.. Ornery critters.

[Thumper]

Those guys must have taken some long arming lessons from from the Goodhunting fishing club.


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Ha! Yeah, but it's a little harder to long-arm a 100+ pound cooter! ;)

[Chicken Dinner]

Man, my grandmother used to make a turtle pot pie that was to die for! Those big ones must be tough as shoe leather though.

[Thumper]

Yeah, the (smaller) common snapper is good eating ... these big Alligator Snappers are protected down here. That's the main reason I didn't really want to mess with that monster I saw with Tony. Even though it was dead, I don't think you can posses ANYTHING from one of them. I'm assuming the guys in the pics are practicing "catch & release". ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

And those pictures right there, longarmed or not, are the very reason you won't ever catch this Okie boy noodling.

BKB

[Thumper]

I understand not wanting to do the noodling thing ... but I kinda enjoy canoodling. ;)

[Trav]

I understand not wanting to do the noodling thing ... but I kinda enjoy canoodling. ;)

what's his name.

[Thumper]

Mr. Bite Me! ;)

[Arty]

what's his name.

BAM!

[DeputyDog]

And those pictures right there, longarmed or not, are the very reason you won't ever catch this Okie boy noodling.

BKB

Exactly. I've stepped on enough big turtles down in the muck on lake bottoms to know that I'm not going to be reaching around holes in the banks.


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