Soft shell turtles, problems

[Paddy]

I've been fishing for catfish and all I'm getting are big softshell turtles. I fish on a large state lake. Years past, I'd get one here and there but not so often. This year, it is all I get!
I have tried Zote soap as bait, they say Cats eat this Mexican soap, go figure, but turtles prefer other things like, CATFISH bait. No luck yet.

So now I'm thinking we may have a in balance of Cats vs. turtles. Poor cats.

Any Ideas?

 

[MotorSeven]

turtle soup....mmmmm

 

[Paddy]

I have never eaten turtles. I saw a you tube vid on cleaning one and it looks like a major project. I fish from my dock with 4 or 5 drop lines. So I just set the lines and check on them every few hours. I work from home so I can do this pretty much any time I want. Cut fish appears to be the best turtle bait. I throw a cast net and get a bucket full of chad, 3 to 6". The big one get cut up. With in the hour, here come the turtles.

All I can hope for is "hybernation". I assume at some point all the turtles will find a nice cozy place the sleep the winter over and I can resume fishing. Other wise, relocation or catch and sell to the local china market?

 

[texasjohn]

Been watching TV and know that there is only one thing to do when you have a turtle problem:

CALL TURTLE MAN :cool2::shocked:

Your problem seems it would keep him busy all season!

I assume you remove each turtle you catch from the lake...don't know how long it would be before you reduce the population, but can't hurt to try. Maybe some Cajun will be able to tell us how to prepare for the dinner table???

 

[RobertBrown]

I don't think "Live Action" would take on a soft shell turtle. Not if it's like a Florida softshell turtle. You don't want to put yout hands on one of those for very long. They can be cantankerous and will not tolerate handeling. Unlike a snapper they have a very long neck, a bad attitude and even if you have them by the back leg your still vulnerable. I don't know of a safe way to handle one. When they get a hold of you it ain't no fun.
Your better off just cutting the line and your losses first chance you get.
I would think you need to change fishing locations if possible.

 

[dusty3030]

Best if you got an old trough you can put some clean water in. Let them bast@%$s set in some clean water a couple of three days helps get the fishy out of them. Kind of like purging crawfish.
To kill cut his head off.
Hang it by tail or back leg to bleed it out.
Tricky part is splitting top and bottom off, you will find the seam and trick after a couple.
Legs aint worth skinnin unless hes real big. Quarter out the rest of the meat. Trim off ALL the fat you can find, it's gamey.
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, flour the meat chunks and brown them up in a pot. Cast iron dutch oven best. Add a little flour and some butter or oil after they brown to the pot and scrape and stir good to make the roux. Add in a little cajun season at this point to make it spicy. If more more seafood taste you want add some Old Bay season instead.
Take the meat out and leave the roux. Add a chopped up sweet onion and chopped up bell pepper and saute them in the roux, add a little butter if needed for veggies, not much though.
Take the heat down a notch and add in a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of Rotel. Add back in the meat. Cover and simmer a good little while, stirring the pot every few to get that roux off the bottom and cooked in it good.
Serve over rice.

 

[lockhaven]

eat more possom

 

[/pine]

I've been fishing for catfish and all I'm getting are big softshell turtles. I fish on a large state lake. Years past, I'd get one here and there but not so often. This year, it is all I get!
I have tried Zote soap as bait, they say Cats eat this Mexican soap, go figure, but turtles prefer other things like, CATFISH bait. No luck yet.

So now I'm thinking we may have a in balance of Cats vs. turtles. Poor cats.

Any Ideas?

Fried soft-shell is some of the best eating there is from the wild...if you can get past that killing any turtle is some of the worst Karma there is...

set your baits deeper for catfish and higher for soft-shell turtles..

 

[MotorSeven]

Best if you got an old trough you can put some clean water in. Let them bast@%$s set in some clean water a couple of three days helps get the fishy out of them. Kind of like purging crawfish.
To kill cut his head off.
Hang it by tail or back leg to bleed it out.
Tricky part is splitting top and bottom off, you will find the seam and trick after a couple.
Legs aint worth skinnin unless hes real big. Quarter out the rest of the meat. Trim off ALL the fat you can find, it's gamey.
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, flour the meat chunks and brown them up in a pot. Cast iron dutch oven best. Add a little flour and some butter or oil after they brown to the pot and scrape and stir good to make the roux. Add in a little cajun season at this point to make it spicy. If more more seafood taste you want add some Old Bay season instead.
Take the meat out and leave the roux. Add a chopped up sweet onion and chopped up bell pepper and saute them in the roux, add a little butter if needed for veggies, not much though.
Take the heat down a notch and add in a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of Rotel. Add back in the meat. Cover and simmer a good little while, stirring the pot every few to get that roux off the bottom and cooked in it good.
Serve over rice.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Really, cleaning a turtle is not much more involved than a catfish so give it a try. By eating them you get two things accomplished, reducing their population and filling your stomach.

 

[Bird]

When I was a kid, we could usually get mother to try cooking most things, but she refused to cook a turtle. However she let me try making turtle soup with 2 soft shelled turtles I caught. They weren't very big; little more than saucer sized maybe, but it turned out quite well. So later, I caught a much bigger soft shelled turtle; lots more meat, and I made soup again. The soup was good, but the meat was so tough it was inedible.:laughing:

I've heard that both soft shelled and snapping turtles are good fried, but those two times were the extent of my experience with eating turtle.