New personal best!

[Scott K]

Ok, this may not be what you were thinking, but my son Travis and I went fishing last night, and the only memorable catch was Travis's softshell he caught. He has never hooked one before, and he was a little less then excited when I told him I wanted him to lift it up for pictures. He has captured baby ones, and actually kept it as a pet, but this was the first time he hooked one.

Look out Ed, you have some competition now

[DTro]

The smile says it all

I have to admit when I read the title I audibly said "oh cmon are you kidding me"

[mrklean]

haha what did he do with it?

[Lowblazah]

i thought the same thing Dtro

[kittycatcher16]

I caught two of them last night fishing as well..almost seems like there are more and more of them every time i go out. Kinda frustrating but like dtro said "the smile says it all" the kids seem to get a kick out of it.

[Scott K]

I have to admit when I read the title I audibly said "oh cmon are you kidding me"

Ya, that was cruel of me

He put it back in the water to steal the next persons bait

[ec30_06]

The turtle bite is going strong right now. We need some flow to chase them back to the slack water.

[mainbutter]

Gawd I love turtles. Snappers, softshells, anything with an attitude and the choppers to back it up is always fun to handle in my book.

I'm kind of a reptile nut. Nice turtle!!

[harvey lee]

I would guess the new PB flathead will come soon enough as hot as you have been Scott.

[bobbymalone]

Any of guys keep those things? I remember a neighbor growing up that brought home a HUGE snapper and he cleaned it up for stew or something. I am not sure of the proper method for cleaning such a beast, but his involved a axe.

I always let them go and if it is a snapper, I let them go with a good several feet of power pro dental floss.

[mainbutter]

Snappers make good turtle soup, but they may be protected nowadays? They are in some states, but I don't know about MN. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if softshells are protected.

[bobbymalone]

According to page 71 of the MN DNR fishing regulation book:

Turtles: Resident licensed anglers and children under 16 may take, possess,

and transport turtles for personal use. Western painted, snapping, and

spiny softshell turtles are the only harvestable species and may be taken by

angling or by hand. Harvest by explosives, drugs, poisons, spears, bows,

lime, and other harmful substances is prohibited. Harvest by traps, nets,

or other equipment requires an additional turtle license. A separate DNR

permit is required to collect turtle eggs from natural nests. A license is

required to purchase or sell turtles, except that retail customers do not need

a license and residents under age 18 may take, possess, rent, or sell up to

25 turtles for use in a nonprofit turtle race.

• The snapping turtle possession limit is 3. Minimum

size limit is 12" in

shell length. Snapping turtles may not be taken during May and June.

• Spiny softshell minimum size limit is 12" in shell length. Spiny

softshells may not be taken June 1-July 15.

• Western painted turtle maximum size limit is 5.5" in shell length, except

that those used in turtle races may be of any length greater than 4".

[bronzeback]

good looking softy. I snagged one that was larger than that a few weeks ago muskie fishing. The thing fought like a champion-I figured for the sake of the sport I would give it a full water release and not put any more stress on the turtle after the hard fought battle, so no pictures. He got in the current and his big wide shell acted like a sail, came up slooooow and heavy.

Saw some of those big boys out earlier today too. They're pretty dang ugly when they get that big.

I get bored when the fishing is slow so I take some photographs to kill the time, here's a picture of one of the brutes that likes to haunt my spot.

[Gordie]

The smile says it all

I have to admit when I read the title I audibly said "oh cmon are you kidding me"

that turtles not smileing thou and I thought the same exact thing Dtro thought I was gonna have to come down and open the Extra large can of woop-a$$

great pics Scott. Travis and Joey might have to fish together some day

[pureinsanity]

Nice picture. Looks like you got a lot of turtles in your fishing spot. I noticed there a head poking out of the water in the right hand corner! Hopefully you do not hook into that big guy

[bronzeback]

haha yeah, I've seen probably close to 20 or so of those softshells in that spot at one time, there is an all you can eat buffet of baitfish for them there, so they've really got no reason to venture off too often.