Hello; This story may not be relevant but it is about snappers. When I was less than ten years old there was a creek close to my home. There was an old man (maybe he just seemed old to me) who caught snappers. The creek had dirt banks. The old man would wade in the water poking a stick in along the bank under water. Not sure what he was feeling for but I watched him. When he found what he was looking for, he would stick his hand into the bank. I guess there was a hole dug into the bank. He would pull out a snapper by the tail.
I have thought about this many times over the decades. I have made up a story line but much is just guesswork. My first guess is somehow he knew the snapper would be headfirst in the hole. Why headfirst I am hot sure. I do not know if the snapper could somehow breathe when in the hole? Did the snapper dig up at an angle so there would be an air space?
I do not have many answers as the old man never explained things to me. I would follow him quietly when I saw him and just watch. I suppose this was just another of the multitude of things adults did that one under ten years old just accepted at the time. I do often wish I had asked a lot of questions, but maybe the old man would have run me off. That was a different age when pretty much any adult could discipline a kid, not like today when you are not even supposed to look at or talk to kids.
Snappers have claws and I do figure they can dig with them. My guess (and a guess only) is the digging with those claws might be hard on a pool liner. I also never got the nerve to try to catch snappers the way that old man did. Plus they smell bad.