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Here is the Exclusive Story Hot Off The Press
My passion for fishing takes me to a lot of exotic destinations but I also
enjoy fishing the local rivers and ponds close to home. The Fox River runs
north and south along Route 31 which is only about 15 minutes from my house
so I spend many a free evening casting for small mouth bass and just
enjoying the tranquillity of standing on the bank watching the birds, an
occasional deer and whatever wildlife may happen along. Not long ago, I
had an exciting encounter with a large snapping turtle. Here's my story .
. .
Water runoff from the golf course across the street (I think they were
irrigating) had washed out the normal path so I had to divert my route to
the banks of the mighty Fox River through a path only small rodents would
have taken. And since I've been qualified as a small rodent in the past,
this was not so much of a challenge for me. (Although I doubt you would
ever see a raccoon frantically trying to brush away the plethora of
poisonous spiders that decided to take a ride on my back after I navigated
through their fragile webs.) By the time I got to my spot I was hoping the
effort would pay off. Two hours later, I had caught 1 small catfish and an
average size small mouth bass. I had two poles with me. One for casting
and one to put a worm and bobber on. While casting I noticed the bobber
from the worm rigged rod had gone under but the line wasn't moving. I
thought that the current had taken the hook, snagged it on a log and that's
what caused the bobber to be under the water. So in an effort to "unsnag"
the line I pulled until it started coming in. I could see that I had what
looked to be a big piece of a log. As I got closer it to the river's bank
I could see it was a big turtle. I mean 15 - 20 pounds big! About 22 - 24
inches from the front of the shell to the back and at least a foot wide.
He didn't want to come out of the water but the hook was stuck under his
shell and I wanted to get it back. So I muscled him onto shore and set my
pole down to free him. When I reached to grab the shell and flip him over
this giant prehistoric looking turtle head bolts out of his shell like a
super charged jack-in-the-box and tries to bite me! My catlike reflexes
served me well as I pulled my hand back just in time and heard the turtle's
mouth literally "snap" shut where my fingers were a nano second earlier.
Now turtles may have a reputation for being slow, but this thing struck out
at me so quickly it was just a blur and a snap before I realized how close
I had come to being eaten. You have to understand that I was reaching for
the tail end of the turtle when he struck and his mouth just barely missed
me. There had to have been about 18 inches of a dirty creme colored
neckline that he kept coiled like a rattlesnake waiting to strike from
inside his shell. As I stepped back realizing that I had a very aggressive
39 pound snapping turtle in front of me, he starts lumbering toward me with
his mouth wide open. Spitting and hissing at me in a display of angst that
was truly intimidating. I don't speak turtle but I can tell you that he
was expressing himself in colorful turtle metaphors not suitable for
younger turtles. At this point in our encounter, this 61 pound critter had
the choice of going back into the water or dealing with me. He chooses to
attack! Suddenly the "slow as a turtle" reputation was apparent when he
started walking toward me. Again, my superior athleticism kept me just out
of harm's way. I reached out to see if I could get behind the beast to
roll him over but his neck seemed able to stretch as far as his shell was
around. I even tried to gently step on his back and in an effort to remove
the fishing line but he snapped at my feet and I had to do the Macarena to
escape this assault. (Mum's the word . . . my wife doesn't think I can
dance!) Luckily the hook had fallen out by now and he was free to walk
away. But not after letting me know that I was in his backyard and not to
mess with him. 
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