Noodling: Catfishing with Your Bare Hands

[Evo]

Our new instructor at work is an absolute hoot. The other day he was telling us about being talked into going "noodling". Knowing him, it might have been true.

For those of you that don't know, "noodling" is a way of catching catfish that's mostly been practiced by hicks & hillbillies but has caught on with other less than intelligent groups of people.

To "noodle", you wade into a shallow area of a river and start groping around underwater for holes that a catfish might hide in. You use only your bare hands. When you feel what you think is a catfish biting down on your hand, you pull whatever it is out of the hole with all your strength and hope that you still have all of your fingers afterwards (which isn't always the case). Sometimes it's a snake or other nasty critter.

Here are some pictures of some successful noodlers and their catch. I think this would be a fine PF event.

 

[cefarix]

ive heard of noodling before...some PBS show i think

 

[zoobyshoe]

I'm going to guess "noodling" was discovered by a flyfisherman or canoist who dropped something. I bet they still have nightmares.

 

[Smurf]

that looks awsome.

 

[Townsend]

that looks awsome.

My father in law tells me stories about when he was a kid. He was born and razed in Nebraska and his family was very poor. They used to have to hunt and fish just to survive. Anyhow, he used to go noodling as a kid.

 

[zoobyshoe]

He was born and razed in Nebraska...

Cut down before he had a chance.

 

[Evo]

Wow, Townsend I can't imagine having to do this to eat. Your father in law has a lot of guts.

Those things are freeking enormous! And it's dangerous. I thought catfish were small.

How'd you like to fry one of those up?

 

[Townsend]

Wow, Townsend I can't imagine having to do this to eat. Your father has a lot of guts.

Those things are freeking enormous! And it's dangerous. I thought catfish were small.

I doubt they ever caught any fish that size...

 

[Townsend]

Cut down before he had a chance.

...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Those things are freeking enormous! And it's dangerous. I thought catfish were small.

We used to catch them when I was a kid in N.H. and there, they were small. We didn't usually call them "catfish". The more common local term was "hornpout".

 

[arildno]

This reminds me of how Gerald Durrell (brother of the author Lawrence Durrell) got a python to his zoo:

On a field trip to South Africa, the natives said that a large python was lurking beneath a tree root some distance away from the village where they were staying.
One of the brave young men even bragged how he knew to catch it:

When they arrived at the tree root, the native simply stuck his foot and leg into the hole where the python was, and swayed his leg enticingly back and forth.
Suddenly, he felt how the python wrapped itself around his leg, and he withdrew it quickly, the python following obligingly. And that is how Gerald Durrell got his python..

I guess some guys are a bit braver than me..

 

[Entropy]

DAMN! That's a real man's sport right there. Almost as manly as diving into the ocean and murdering whales with a harpoon.

 

[arildno]

DAMN! That's a real man's sport right there. Almost as manly as diving into the ocean and murdering whales with a harpoon.

Whales??
Try a school of sharks for some real action.

 

[Entropy]

Try sharks for some real action.

Whales are bigger than sharks, pal. Every read Mobby Dick (I know it's not really accurate)? Try diving into the water, stabbing a whale to death and hauling its corpes onto your boat. Also, most sharks are fished for with a rod. Whales you have to harpoon.

Plus, whales are stupid animals and deserve to die, just like dolphins and manatees. I hate manatees. All that do is float around and get hit by boats. What kind of animal gets hit by a boat? It isn't like you can't hear them coming a mile away. They purposely let themselves get hit to try and break some honest guy's motor, just out of spite.

Thats why I suggest we have a manatee hunting season. They call them the sea cow, I wonder if they taste like regular cow? Anyone up for manatee burgers?

 

[arildno]

Whale tastes good...don't know about manatee, though.

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh, we have a new sport to teach Franzbear. I think it would be an excellent bonding experience for him and his Uncle Artman (I think I'll stay home and get the frying pan seasoned ).

 

[Evo]

Great idea! Why didn't I think of that?