400th Carp of the Year; Turtles on the Rampage

This is my 400th carp for 2014.

Today I landed my 400th carp of the year. It was a common that weighed about 15 lbs. and was caught on pineapple butternut flavored maize, a real hot flavor this summer. I am on a roll this July with over 100 carp landed just this month making it one of the better Julys in the last few years. That's the good news.

Suddenly these beasts are everywhere.
I've landed 8 of them this week and
they ranged from about 10-60 lbs.

The bad news is that the snapping turtles are on the rampage.  In  the last three outings I have landed more snappers than carp as I have gotten 8 of the beasts to shore.  Yesterday I had a brute that I would estimate went 60-70 lbs.  It looked like a prehistoric dinosaur.  There is just no getting away from these pests.  They seem to be everywhere and their activity level has skyrocketed in the heat of this week.  My warning to most carp fishermen is to not mess with these things.  Get them close to shore and cut the line.  One of our guys was bitten by a small one last year.  Fortunately, it just nicked him, but a big one can easily take off a finger.