Some other good pictures of warm water

The next day I got a huge softshell on the same dittypole, two bits says they burrow into the mud there for winter. Ive still got a couple packages of turtle in the freezer to be fried up.

wow

You keep some nifty pets Mossy.

And hes in the freezer too,,,

Color me ignorant, but what does a guy do with a huge snapper? I’ve always heard “turtle soup”, but … Please explain lol

Teach it to fetch your slippers and roll over?

I believe Mossy will be back with the answer…soup and frying up the tenderloins.

Snapper and gator are not on my bucket list. But I have heard it’s good…I guess.

Mossy, while your at it, how do you clean a snapper? And are the soft shells any good eating? Or to they taste like bass?

Turtle steaks and turtle soup are awesome

Spiny softshells, especially the big ones, smell like microwaved death fresh out of the water. I couldn’t eat one of those things!

They might be protected in MN. That’s why I was asking Mossy…nothing is protected in IA.

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Color me ignorant, but what does a guy do with a huge snapper? I’ve always heard “turtle soup”, but … Please explain lol

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Seperate the shell and cut the meat off the bone,fry up like any other meat.Make sure to use a cover or a chunk of meat will crawl out on you when you turn your back on it.( Not a joke)

Reason #15377 why Iowans stink.

Sorry Stuart, forgot you were from IA and would know.

Back in the day,these old timers at a shore spot I used to frequent for cats would ask me for the snappers that we’d catch to make turtle soup. After getting sick of losing so many hooks We got real good at managing to get our hooks back from the snappers mouth fishen that spot. It seemed like we’d catch just as many turtles as cats there.

Don’t worry Brain your also protected here too lol, ya thier good!!, you can fry all of the meat and my old man used to say theres 7 diffrent kinds of meat on a snapper. Its all about the same color so when it comes to which is which I don’t really know forsure. Theres the meat on the neck, the breast, front legs, rear legs, the tail which is like neck bones and the meat on the back. Are they hard to kill like they say they are, you bet they are.

Me and a friend took the head off the late afternoon befor and the next morning it would still clamp down on the net handle. When I cleaned it each foot came up independently and tried to force the knife away from that immediate area, not all the legs came up, just that leg, and thier difficult to skin, harder then a coon, and thier not easy… Just roll the meat in flour and fry in hot oil in a pan, never deepfried them but that wouldn’t matter. Turtle soup is great and very hardy. I don’t think you can cook a turtle wrong they taste so good, alot like a mild roast beef. Soft shells are also good to eat and this summer I’ll probably get a few on my lines and get some pictures and I’ll try to post them with taste buds so you can try the meat.

Wanted to make a couple turtle traps last year but never got around to it, maybe this year. Yep-thier good eating.

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Sorry Stuart, forgot you were from IA and would know.

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Grew up with parents that grew up during the depression when food was scarce.Don’t feel like I have a God Damn thing to be ashamed of.
Didn’t say it was good though.

Stuart, I remember your story about how you used to fry them and the meat would actually move in the pan. So far just soup but I’ll give the pan frying method a try like my mom used to do when I was a kid, it was a house favorite for everybody. It is one of those meats the longer you cook it the more tender it gets, its not that tough though.

You basicially skin them Brian and seperate the top shell from the bottom by hitting that joint, between the front and back leg with a hammer and a sharp knife cutting through the thinner shell right in that area. There is some meat on the back but not much, its mostly on the legs and the breast bone that connects the two front legs. The rear legs are held together the same as the front legs with dense meat and bone connecting both rear legs. Skining one isn’t easy and I’m going to try the air jet method with my air hose and compressor. You insert the 10″ x 1/4″ copper pipe air jet back up under the skin and hit the air valve, its supposed to seperate the skin from the meat alot easier, got that from an oldtimer. A very sharp knife is a must and its some work to clean a snapper but not that bad, the taste is worth it. The old timer I talked too said he used to make lamps shades out of the top shell and use the bottom shell for the base of the lamp, pretty cool.

He said, when you make the lamp when the turtles in heat, it will come on and off by itself without being plugged in.

I think soft shells are protected in WIS?

Neigther snappers or softshells are protected here and theres lots of them on the river bottoms and in the lakes and ponds. You see them 4,5,6 or more laying up on logs warming themselves at all age groups. Theres no shortage of eigther types here. The box and a few other turtles are protected though. What theres plenty of, is not protected here but does have limits and thats the way it should be. The biggest softshell I’ve ever seen was about 20-22″ across. Thier thinner from belly shell to the top of the top shell, just like the smaller ones. Each type looks the same proportion wise no matter what the size. The snapper far outweighs the softshell though, no matter what the size is.

18
Spearing and Netting Regulations
2012-2013
Persons may collect or possess up to 5 individuals of each species with the following excep
–
tions:
u
The possession limit for snapping turtles and softshell turtles is 3 each statewide. The
one exception is the Mississippi River, where the possession limit is 10 for snapping turtles
and 5 for softshell turtles. The possession limit is not more than 5 total for all other species
combined.
Possession Limit for Turtles
WI-IA/WI-MN
Inland
Species
Boundary Waters
Waters
Snapping
10
3
Softshell
5
3
Others
5 in total
5 in tota

Softshell turtles are legal in Wisconsin.

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.
Harvest by explosives, drugs, poisons, lime,
and other harmful substances is
prohibited. Harvest by traps, nets, or other commercial equipment requires a
recreational turtle license, in addition to an angling license. A
DNR permit is
required to collect turtle eggs from natural nests. 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. Min
i
mum 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 5½” in shell length, except
that those used in turtle races may be of any length greater than
4″

It looks like softshells are legal in Minnesota too.

Can a person eat the shell of a soft shell?

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nothing is protected in IA.

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Especially the sheep.

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nothing is protected in IA.

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Especially the sheep.

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And are the soft shells any good eating? Or to they taste like bass.

Its been along time since I’ve eaten softshells, but my old man cooked everything he brought home from the river and I don’t have a bad impression to remember, this summer I’ll cook some up. Maybe this spring I’ll try to gig some along the river and creek banks that are still hibernating, getting there by boat and just after the ice goes out. I went a couple times with my dad and his friend and we got a few but not many.

The good turtle hunters would supply Czech town, 16th Ave. area, with turtle and you had to be there early saturday morning or it would be gone by noon. Id leave the bass on the plate for the softshells Brian. I think sometimes people have become accustomed to eating beef, pork and poultry that they wouldn’t try anything else. How about turtle and crawfish from out of local water, those are delecious. I heard crane is awful and also illegal to kill and eat but some folks have gotten pretty hungry back in the day.

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nothing is protected in IA.

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Especially the sheep.

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heres a question for you Iowa bashers.
What do you get if you cross a prize winning Iowa boar with the most beautiful NATIVE born Mn.women?

Nobody knows.There are some things even a pig won’t screw!
Ya I’m talking about your mother!

How can you tell you have found a level headed Minnesotan?

The drool runs out both corners of their mouth.

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How can you tell you have found a level headed Minnesotan?

The drool runs out both corners of their mouth.

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You can leave any time you want and go start a wind farm. On calm days just step outside and start spewing that bs that comes out of your mouth.

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How can you tell you have found a level headed Minnesotan?

The drool runs out both corners of their mouth.

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You can leave any time you want and go start a wind farm. On calm days just step outside and start spewing that bs that comes out of your mouth.

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Be nice to him, Pug. He’s just trying to defend himself. It’s kind of cute.

Kind of like when you hold a little kid by the head and his kicks and punches fall 2′ short of their mark.

Stuart and I are tight….I know this because we are Facebook friends.