# How bad are snapping turtles on fish



## Broadheadstiffshaft (Jan 24, 2015)

Wondering if any of y'all had any experience with snapping turtles in your ponds? Two years ago we stocked our little pond with 200 fingerling catfish, and in those two years I've probably caught 5 catfish total. When we fish for bream I always put out bait for catfish and we never catch anything, we've tried stink bait, chicken livers, worms and crickets, the ones we have caught were on worms. Can't figure out what has happened to them. No dead ones floating, no sign of trespassers and no sightings of otters. There has always been a good sized snapping turtle in the pond but I thought it was cool to look at so I never messed with it. Actually I have seen two. One would come up when we would feed the fish and we have accidentally caught it while trying to catch catfish, so I was wondering how bad those turtles work on catfish, I've looked on line and some biologists say they eat weeds and stuff primarily but will eat other stuff, some people say they eat ducks ,fish and anything they can get ahold of. Kinda makes sense to me while the turtle lies on bottom with his mouth open and wiggles that nasty worm thing on it's tongue that he could easily sit there and just eat up some fish, but not 200 ofem, I wouldn't think, so just wondering if anybody has had any experience with these turtles in their ponds.


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)




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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

They aren't too bad. Probably good for the pond to have a few.


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## Wugitus (Oct 16, 2008)

*pond rodents*

all turtles are bad on fish, snappers and soft shell by far the worse..get rid of them....


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Loggerheads and soft-shells can devastate a pond. Put out some jugs and catch them all. They're good eating too, especially soft-shells. 
Also, when you put the fingerlings in, did you feed them regularly, or was there an ample supply of food (baby bream,minnows,frogs) in the pond for them to eat? If not, they may have perished at that early age. Try using some shiners at dusk-dark, early night or early morning while they are actively feeding. If you still don't catch any, you may consider adding some more and add some small brim so they'll have something to eat. We use deer feeders in the ponds, set-up on the docks, filled with floating catfish food, timers set at 6am and 7pm. They sell fish feeders that are the same as deer feeders, they have a shield near the spinner to keep food from being dispensed onto the deck. But a piece of "flashing" does the same thing on a deer feeder. g/l


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

I say he ain't eating much - I think they have a pretty slow metabolism and don't have to eat much. Loggerheads and soft shells are another issue


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## FishinSpot (Oct 16, 2007)

I've got a couple big snapping turtles, gators, catfish, bass, brim, and bluegill, and assorted other small fish. I haven't had any issues catching any of the fish. I've caught the snappers a few times and they are fairly large.


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