I had a similar encounter while on a local MN lake in my 12' aluminum boat. I was fishing near an island in the lake when a huge snapping turtle surfaced right next to my boat. It didn't do anything but breathe and then it sank back down. I moved to a different location. I estimated its weight at well over 100 pounds.

I once had a beer with a fellow who owed a river-bottom salvage company. I grew up in Memphis and he worked mostly on the Mississippi River. He reported catfish "as big as cows" and other monsters thriving in the rich, Mississippi silt.

Biggest I ever caught weighed 35 lb. One day, though, I had a bite on cut bait. I set the hook, and whatever was on the end if my line took off and stripped all the line on my reel. Don't know what it was, but it was damned big.

🤣🤣🤣

I chuckled reading the headline!