That is one big turtle ...
Posted on 06/26/2022 6:36:36 PM PDT by texas booster
The turtle weighed around 200 lbs and was likely over a 100 years old, angler Justin Broomhall estimated.
The Longview, Texas resident hooked a massive alligator snapping turtle on Father's Day, the biggest he's ever seen. "My dad was like 'Holy smokes, look at the size of that!'" Broomhall said. "My three-year-old son started panicking. He thought it was a dinosaur and kept saying, 'Let it go. Let it go. Put it back!'"
Broomhall was using dough bait in hopes of reeling in a catfish, he said. However, "from [the turtle] being so old and going blind, he's using his smell to find bait," he said. "I guess he felt it, thinking it was some other dead fish and he ate it."
When Broomhall reached behind the turtle's head and grabbed his shell to hoist the turtle, he noticed the hook was still in its mouth.
"So I just slid off in the water with him and grabbed him by his back leg and grabbed him by his tail," Broomhall said, explaining how they were able to bring the beast in and remove the hook. "My dad pulled me back on land, and I pulled him up about halfway out of the water, and then we threw a rope around his head and flipped him over on his back."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
That is one big turtle ...
One of the reasons you do not swim in Texas lakes and rivers
Justin Broomhall said the alligator snapping turtle's head was bigger than his hand.
Memo to self - do not put my hand anywhere near this alligator turtle's head.
Holy crap...
A ping out to the Texas Ping list, founded by Windflier.
Another special Texas edition for your perusal.
As always, please FReepmail me if you want on or off the Texas Ping list.
Blessings, and stay cool!
Fill the Rio Grande with ‘em.
Why does it seem like the lakes and rivers east of the Rockies have monsters whereas west of the Rockies lakes and rivers seem comparatively benign?
Oh, HECK NO! I want no part of that! Yikes!
I mean, good on him for getting the hook out, but DANG!
That’s a whopper.
Ouch....
The Stuff of Nightmares, right there.
On wrong move and your new knickname is “Hook”.
Thing looks prehistoric or a bit like the creatures in the movie Tremors.
The Fisherman is very lucky Old Senor Tortillo didn’t snap his hand off with that beak. That is a huge and heavy beast.
Little Junior wanted nothing to do with that dinosaur looking animal.
Best part after the pictures were taken and the fishing hook was removed from the turtle, was to read that the animal was set free afterward.
*Wonder what all that black stuff was coating the tops and sides of turtles’ head? Maybe it is what it looks like, mold.
Yes. That’s not the smartest way to pick up a snapper- some of them can manage to reach around and get you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyS7dqNku1U
It does look like a dinosaur.
seems to be a big difference between “Texas Man” and “Florida Man”.
That could take an arm off.
After setting up their reels and their fishing spot, Broomhall cast his line hoping to catch a catfish, when he noticed an unfamiliar stillness in the water.
“When we were out there fishing, the catfish just, like, vanished,” Broomhall said. “When it goes quiet like that and you go away, there’s normally a predator around.”
Another boat was heading in their direction and Broomhall said he thought maybe the predator was a large catfish. So, he threw in a fishing line with bait and it wasn’t long before he caught the unexpected.
“The line went tight and when I set the hook, I realized it wasn’t a catfish because it didn’t move,” Broomhall said. “When I started reeling in on it, come to find out it was a big turtle. We were fighting for a good 15-20 minutes and by the time we got him up to the shore, he broke the line.”
Broomhall estimated that the massive alligator snapping turtle weighed around 170 pounds and was likely over 100 years old. Just to pull it to shore required strength from Broomhall and his father.
“I didn’t want him to swallow that hook or it get infected. So, I slid off in the water and grabbed him and my dad grabbed me,” he said. “[The turtle] was old enough that he was starting to go blind in his eyes. His eyes got a hazing over and he had a bunch of big, old scars on him where he’d been fighting to survive from other predators.”
This dude knows wildlife and respects them. Need more like him.
A buddy of mine tells me alligator snappers are good eating.
Sign him up for the Border Patrol and release him in the Rio Grande with much fanfare and news stories!
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