Turtles can make a tasty dish (Dick Martin)

THE ADVOCATE (Newark, Ohio) 29 June 08 Turtles can make a tasty dish (Dick Martin)

Have you ever seen a snapping turtle in its natural habitat? Most outdoorsmen haven't.
During a long and checkered career, I've seen maybe a dozen, two under winter ice, one crossing a road, another plodding across a plowed field, and the rest spotted at dawn or dusk, usually in creeks and rivers.
"Out of sight, out of mind" fits the snapper well, and there's many a pond and lake owner here in Licking County who has lots of these nocturnal creatures, and no idea any are around.
There are signs if you look, of course. Clawed prints along muddy shores, droppings not of muskrat origin on rocks, dead fish that turn up missing, and baby ducklings that diminish from eight or so down to nothing.
Snappers spend their days holed up beneath cutbanks, in muskrat holes, or buried beneath thick vegetation, then come out at night to patrol the shores and open water seeking bullfrogs, fish, or anything else living or long dead that is remotely edible.
The big reptiles are slow and secretive, but very strong and more than willing to fight, hissing and snapping, which is how they get their name.
It's a good idea to thin or eliminate such turtles from your pond, lake or creek occasionally, if only to give the ducks and bullfrogs a rest. Doing so won't keep them out indefinitely, because the animals move occasionally seeking new waters, but it'll at least keep them under control and provide you with some good eating in the process.
Getting rid of them is easy. In farm ponds, I use gallon plastic jugs with about four feet of heavy trotline cord and a thick, heavy duty hook. Bait is sometimes tough old woodchuck meat, chunks of neck beef, or silver dollar sized pieces of fish caught in the same pond.
I place the rigs along shore in late evening, often with the jug on dry land and the bait in a few inches of water or half submerged on a rock. Questing turtles find the bait, swallow the hook, and drag the highly visible jug back to their daytime layup places. They're easy to find.
I've made sets in creeks and small rivers too, and you'd be surprised at how many snappers even a thin water little creek can hold. Once I made some sets on a creek I could wade across without getting my ankles wet, placing lines on willows overhanging shady pools and dangling the baits just below the surface. In one 100-yard stretch, I took four of them up to 15 pounds.
Keep in mind the Division of Wildlife has several regulations on the setting of bank lines and float lines, so read your Ohio Fishing Regulations brochure and follow its directions before you seek turtles.
Cleaning the animals always has been the hard part for me, and I'll freely admit I hate to do it. First, the turtle's head should be removed by (carefully) placing one foot on the shell, stretching the neck with your hook and trotline cord, then cutting or chopping off the head. Let it drain for a while, then dip the carcasses in boiling water to remove any leeches, algae, etc.
Next, remove the shell by cutting between each pair of side legs with a hatchet, tin snips, or whatever, cut off the four legs and neck, even the tail if it's a big turtle, skin, and remove all fat, which has a bad flavor.
After that, it's it up to you. Many fry the sections like chicken, and turtle is excellent when cooked this way. Others like to make turtle soup by dropping pieces into simmering potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery, and adding whatever seasonings they favor.
Either way, turtle is tasty, good enough to be worth the catching and cleaning.
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