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 ...
Biggest one I ever caught the shell measured 38 inches and the head was 4 inches wide. He tasted good.
Probably some. They’re pretty retiring animals.
When I was younger, back in pa; I caught a 41 lber which I thought was a monster. I was in about a foot of water and once I saw his head and tail, I grabbed him by tail; he almost got my knee. Took him home in big ice chest which he broke. I let him go in a local pond, he was a local attraction for about a dozen years there.
Tastes like crocagator.
they make damn fine soup, I used to catch them as a child and sell them to the skylark diner
my old friend larry fiddler used to ask in monday mornings
“so, did you get any mud for your turtle?
alligator is like fishy poke chops, turtle is succulent
The other article I found said that he thought it was around 170 lbs. I would suspect that the headline writers goosed the number, and it was picked up as gospel from there.
Also mentioned that he lifted free weights in HS, and was pretty good at estimating weights.
Still a big’un.
I learned long ago the God puts shells and thorns on tasty things
Broomhall mentioned in another article that “his eyes got a hazing over”.
These bigger turtles have eyes closer to the snout so they can see when they pull their head back into the shell.
Any vets up for a voluntary lens replacement for this old guy?
East of the rockies is old
West of the rockies is new
Way back in the 60’s and 70’s, turtle soup was a common lunch special seen on the chalk board in country bars and taverns across Pennsylvania. Good stuff, very much like a stew. Brings back good memories.
dats de area, ne ohio
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