ANGLER Daryl Start got more than he bargained for when he went fishing for carp at Earlswood Lakes.
He ended up catching something much rarer - this angry alligator snapping-turtle.
He was standing with his rod on a platform on the banks of the Engine House lake last Thursday when he got a bite and felt a heavy weight on his line.
"I've got something big here," Daryl shouted at the two pals he was with and Pete Cherry and David Wills rushed to help him haul in the catch with a landing net.
"I thought it was a log with a fish attached to it," said keen angler Daryl, who is in his forties and lives at Wythall.
"Then when I saw what I'd hooked I got the surprise of my life - it was like the creature from the black lagoon. We got it on to the platform and I weighed it on my scales.
"The scales go up to 44lb and the turtle was heavier than that - I reckon it must have been at least 60lb.
"It didn't like being out of the water one bit and was aggressive, thrashing around - apparently an alligator snapping-turtle can bite your finger off.
"It made a lunge for the lake and we weren't able to stop it going back in. If we had been able to keep it on the platform we would have called in the RSPCA to take it away."
Daryl added that judging by its size he thought the turtle had been in the lake for many years and could be a discarded exotic pet."
"There may be a whole family of them in there for all I know," he said. "I've looked it up on the web and it was definitely an alligator snapping-turtle."
This is the largest freshwater turtle in America and is normally found in the waters of the southern US states. Some creatures live up to 150 years and can weigh up to 200lb.
Earlswood Lakes are owned by British Waterways are used to feed the canal system. No-one from British Waterways was available for comment as the Times went to press.
