Longview man hooks alligator snapping turtle

LAKE CHEROKEE — A Longview man who was fishing for catfish ended up hooking something far bigger — not to mention more dangerous. It was a huge alligator snapping turtle. Justin Broomhall and his fiancee’s father were fishing at Lake Cherokee on Father’s Day when he felt something tug on his line. “That’s when everything went crazy,” the 25-year-old says. For the next 20 minutes, the two men fought the mysterious bait taker until they were finally able to reel it close enough to see what Broomhall had hooked: a 160-pound alligator snapping turtle. Knowing that alligator snapping turtles are an endangered species, Broomhall removed the hook from the giant creature’s mouth and let it go. But he says he looks forward to hopefully seeing him again near that same cove.