Lake Winnipesaukee Monster

[Hillcountry]

Originally Posted by Descant

Are they protected? If they stink when out of the water is the turtle soup not good?

They don’t “stink” per se, perhaps any mud may have been the odiferous, culprit. I have them in my yard every year laying eggs (beaver swamp on my property line)
I once caught one in the yard as a youth (per order of my dear mother) who wanted me to put it in the trunk of her car whereupon she took it to a local Chinese restaurant.
They were very excited to see it and they offered her $20 which she happily took as they all shouted “tortor soup”!
Biggest one I ever saw was near the Merrimack River in Methuen, MA
I would fish and bow fish for carp in the backwaters along route 110 known as the Lowell/Lawrence Boulevard. The snapper was ensconced in a nasty brush filled section of the backwater and his hiding place was beneath a half sheet of discarded plywood. It’s head had to be 4-5” wide as that was all that was exposed. Try as I might, I couldn’t get it to bite my bait offerings...although I have no idea how I would have been able to haul such a beast up the bank...
Just a little turtle anecdote from my youth (circa late 1950’s)

[Hillcountry]

Originally Posted by Top-Water

@ Hillcountry

Thank you for your story.

When I was a kid before we started coming up the lake (here) I can remember all the aduts get excited about two snapping turtles fighting (probably mating) out in the middle of the lake when I was very little. Not sure why but it promted the male adults to load there guns and dispatch of them. Something I have never forgotten even after 55 - 60 years from my families early days at Northwood Lake.

Ha! Perhaps they liked to go skinny dipping at night and didn’t want to attract any attention to their “turtle baits”