Fisherman Dave Harrell catches 45-kilogram alligator snapping turtle

A FISHERMAN got the shock of his life when instead of finding a catfish on the end of his line, he hauled in a prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtle.

At loggerheads ... a giant snapping turtle was released back to the wild after astonishing an Oklahoma fisherman.

A FISHERMAN got the shock of his life when he hauled in a giant, prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtle while out catfishing.

Oklahoma man Dave Harrell was fishing when the 45kg turtle grabbed his line. With the help of friend Audey Clark, he reeled it in and hauled the creature into the boat.

A stunned-looking Harrell posed for photos with the alligator snapping turtle, which are also known as “loggerheads” because of their large heads. They then released the massive turtle back into the water unharmed.

Harrell posed the photo to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Facebook page, where it has been liked by more than 1400 people.

“While catfishing we caught and released this yesterday in Mill Creek at Eufala lake, Dave Harrell of Edmond caught it on a rod and reel and Audey Clark of Norman secured it and hauled it into the boat for pictures. It is the biggest one we had ever seen,” the photo caption says.

Make it snappy ... Dave Harrell’s monstrous catch looks to weigh around 50kg.

Wildlife experts told Tulsa World that alligator snapping turtles are much rarer than their smaller cousins, the common snapping turtle, in Oklahoma. Both types of snapper turtles have jagged shells and three keels, or ridges, on their shells. The loggerhead also has a larger head, short neck and eyes on the side of its head.

Herpetolog and aquatics curator at the Tulsa Zoo, Barry Downer, told Tulsa World that alligator snapping turtles are currently the subject of reintroduction efforts in Oklahoma, with around 300 released into the wild so far.

The largest alligator snapping turtle recorded was 93kg, said Mr Downer. Judging by the photo, Mr Harrell’s catch was likely to be between 45-50kg, he estimated.