Fishing report pier by Mead Marina 10/17

[we2fishing]

We arrived at day break and already one guy was getting set up. Nice breeze from SW.
Some one fished at night and left a mess and two bags of chovies and a bag of shrimp. Use the chovies for chum and shrimp at times for bait.
Small stuff was cleaning our hooks on the bottom. We did catch a few small ones.
Finally I changed rigging and suface cast (no sinker)
Cast out and slow retreave and started getting hits.
Hooked a TURTTLE about 20" and put him back.
About 10 am hooked a sm about 14" . Nice fight with a few jumps and then two famillies arrived with many kids and the wind was shifting so we packed up and left.
BTW the turttle was caught on a small piece of shrimp near the surface.
Can you keep turttles?
Sorry no pics.
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[4poundonly]

Nice report [cool] You can catch those bait theives with smaller hooks soon as you feel a slight tug set the hook usally does the trick. And I think turtles are protected species pretty sure you cant harvest them.
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[Sil240sxrwd]

[quote 4poundonly]Nice report [cool] You can catch those bait theives with smaller hooks soon as you feel a slight tug set the hook usally does the trick. And I think turtles are protected species pretty sure you cant harvest them.[/quote]

I believe the turtles we have at lake mead are Texas soft shelled turtles. From what I read they taste great are pretty abundant and are not protected. I myself could not kill one but to each his own lol.

I have had trips at mead where I have caught 3+ turtles in an hour. They put up one hell of a fight!
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[4poundonly]

Thanks for clearing that up [cool]
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[Sil240sxrwd]

For sure =).. also if anyone catches a turtle and eats one.. post it up!!
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[TheWhizzle]

A few years back, I was fishing the old Vegas Wash Launch ramp spot (after the launch shut down) and I was catching turtles left and right. Those things do put up a hell of a fight.

As I was reeling one in, a guy ran up to me. When he saw it was a turtle, he cheerfully opened his cooler and asked if he could have it. I hadn't even thought about someone eating them, but I shook it off the hook into his cooler. He was happy as can be.

The Whizzle
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[Sil240sxrwd]

[quote TheWhizzle]A few years back, I was fishing the old Vegas Wash Launch ramp spot (after the launch shut down) and I was catching turtles left and right. Those things do put up a hell of a fight.

As I was reeling one in, a guy ran up to me. When he saw it was a turtle, he cheerfully opened his cooler and asked if he could have it. I hadn't even thought about someone eating them, but I shook it off the hook into his cooler. He was happy as can be.

The Whizzle[/quote]

Jon we should have a fish/turtle fry!! haha
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[TheWhizzle]

Ill try anything once. We will smoke some carp fillets while we are at it.
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[4poundonly]

Cool I have yet to land a turtle at mead guess I havent been fishing enough[cool] Musta been a odd fight what did ya think it was when u hooked em?
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[vegaskid]

so there is actually a breeding population of these turtles?
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[iamthesmf]

Turtles are reported to have (7) seven different flavors. I have had Turtle from a pond in Iowa and it was real good. Only notice about four different flavor/textures. It's a lot like squirrel, very tastey.
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[Sil240sxrwd]

Vegaskid--Im 100% positive there is a huge breeding population of these turtles.. especially in the wash area. I have seen them almost everytime I have fished that area during the day.

4poundonly-- They feel like a carp or a decent striper. Last time I was out there I helped this guy get his hook out of a turtles mouth and the turtle had to have weighed over 4lbs easy. It was huge.
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[REAL_RAT_FINK]

How did you get the hook out? Special trick to de-hooking turtles?
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[TheWhizzle]

That is hard as hell. The turtle wants to pull his head inside his shell, and you can only pull back with the hook. Kinda painful looking...
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[Sil240sxrwd]

Not to mention they have one hell of a bite. Their mouths are very bony also. If you get a good hookset, it can take a while to get it out.
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[iamthesmf]

The ARC Dehooker would make a great addition to your fishing gear, works on fish and terrapins (turtles). I have one works great on deep hooked fish.

[url "http://www.dehooker4arc.com"]http://www.dehooker4arc.com[/url]
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[4poundonly]

I fired off a email to NDOW the other day to find out more about the turtles at mead heres part of the message I got from a biologist from the fisheries division.[cool]

"The soft-shelled turtle is found throughout Lake Mead and was reportedly present in the Colorado River before Lake Mead was formed. Most likely is a spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera) which is found throughout the United States. It is not protected in Nevada and you can harvest them. I spoke to a Game Warden and was told you can have 2 in possession."
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[vegaskid]

cool, great info guys. Those hook removers look sweet
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[Sil240sxrwd]

[quote 4poundonly]I fired off a email to NDOW the other day to find out more about the turtles at mead heres part of the message I got from a biologist from the fisheries division.[cool]

"The soft-shelled turtle is found throughout Lake Mead and was reportedly present in the Colorado River before Lake Mead was formed. Most likely is a spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera) which is found throughout the United States. It is not protected in Nevada and you can harvest them. I spoke to a Game Warden and was told you can have 2 in possession."[/quote]

Awesome thats good to know. I still don't think I could kill one = /
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[TheWhizzle]

You know that we will have to try if we get one. I say we have a contest to see who on this forum could catch and eat the first turtle. Must have picture proof [laugh]
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