# Noodelin'



## steve ypsi (Nov 24, 2002)

this is a thread from 2003, those fish are in Spain and France , Germany, not the U-S


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## fishing addict (Mar 15, 2003)

My Grandfather,(God rest his soul)used to talk about catching Eels by hand here in,Michigan.Alot of times they would feel under the bank with their feet.One time he got a Snapping Turtle on his big toe,and had to chop the head off with an ax before he could get it out.
He said that ended his Eel hunting.

I,think I'll,stick to rods & reels,Thank-You.


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## Headhunter (Feb 6, 2002)

Worked with an older guy from Missouri that talked to me about noodling. I never believed him until he brought in a picture. The catfish he was holding was almost as big as he was. He told me that they walked along the bank and stuck their hands in the holes in the side of the bank. If they felt a catfish, they would ball up their hands, let the fish swallow their hands and then rip them out. Told me that snappers were a risk but normally sat backwards in the banks so you would feel the tail first. I still didn't believe him until....

I saw a show a few years ago where guys were noodling. It was hilarious, they were on some river in the south and caught 4 or 5 fish. Funniest part was when the host had about a 30 pound fish on and tried to swing the fish into the flat bottom boat they were using. Must have spilled a 12 pack of empty beer cans into the river. Guess that is where their courage came from.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

The statement about the snappers generally facing into the holes with their tails outward was demonstrated in another program I saw specific to turtle grabbing. A segment of a old Fred Trost program also had a segment where the turtle grabber made the same statement grabbing the snapper's tails. If you don't mind losing a finger to the 5% meanies facing outward, then go for it.


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## mkroulik (Jan 14, 2003)

This article is pretty entertaining.

http://www.cabelas.com/information/...r-Catfish-The-Ultimate-Thrill-in-Fishing.html

Mike


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

That was one of the better written humorist articles I've read in a long time.


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## therapy (Jan 5, 2005)

I sure hope someday i get the chance to do that.It looks very intense!! I've read about it but never seen them that huge,Better take a extra pair of underwear with me,With a fish that big i just might mess myself:lol:


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Georgia looks to legalize noodling
House passes bill allowing fishermen to catch catfish using their hands

If Georgia legislators have their way, by the end of the current legislative session it will be legal for fishermen to dive out of their boats and blindly stick their hands into underwater holes in search of giant catfish.
It still won't be smart, necessarily. But it will be legal.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/11046361.htm


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## Molson (Apr 18, 2003)

Spoon3234 said:


> What happens when they stick their hand in a bucket that a snappin' turtle has taking a liking to!  What do those huge cats eat!?


Although I never personally witnessed anyone noodling, I heard about it. They did say that big snappers could be an issue. I did see a few of those monster flatheads caught on rod and reel below some of the more popular dams where I fished for stripers. They used goldfish or large gizzard shad in the 2# to 4# range.

When you see 2 guys carrying a fish, with tip of the snout at armpit level, and the tail drags on the ground, you know its a biggie... doesn't matter how vertically challenged the guys might be. :tdo12:


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Missourians not hooked by passes for hand-fishing

Published Sunday, May 22, 2005

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/May/20050522News021.asp

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Who could resist the urge to jump into a river and use bare hands to wrestle fish with teeth - or snakes, snapping turtles or whatever else you happen to grab? 

Apparently, nearly everyone, at least in Missouri. 

The states first catfish hand-fishing season is less than two weeks away, and so far, just 19 people have purchased permits, Missouri Department of Conservation officials said this week. 

Nearly half of those permits were issued to one family. 

The practice of hand-fishing, known as "noodling," is a misdemeanor in Missouri except for the season that runs sunrise to sunset June 1 through July 15, though it is believed to be practiced by a couple thousand enthusiasts around the state. 

Noodlers hold their breath as they go under water and reach into the kinds of crevices where catfish nest. Their blind foray into the murky water can result in a handful of just about anything, from snakes to beavers to catfish. 

Even if they catch their prey, catfish can weigh more than 100 pounds with teeth "like short little needles," said Steve Eder, administrator of the conservation departments Fisheries Division. 

Thats part of the fun, said Howard Ramsey of Paris, Mo., president of Noodlers Anonymous. He compares the adrenaline rush to that of a bull rider. 

"Why do those guys get back on that bull day after day? Its just something that gets in your blood," he said. 

That doesnt mean it doesnt hurt. 

"Youve got to put your hand in their mouth to catch them," Ramsey said. "You grab his lower jaw, pull him out of the hole, wrap both legs around his tail and then put a stringer through. 

"If you dont come up bloody, you aint hand-fishing." 

He blamed the low number of permits on the conservation departments decision to limit hand-fishing to three waterways: the Mississippi River from the mouth of the Fabius River upstream to the mouth of the Des Moines River in northeast Missouri; a 45-mile stretch of the Fabius and South Fabius in northeast Missouri; and the part of the St. Francis River that forms the boundary between Arkansas and Missouri. 

Ramsey said the fast-moving Mississippi and St. Francis are too dangerous for hand-fishing. The Fabius is fine, he said, but the limited area scared off potential noodlers worried about overcrowding. 

"Its like making one county in the whole state of Missouri legal for deer hunting. Everybodys going to be coming to that one area. Thats not fair to the landowners, and its not fair to the fish," he said. 

The number of permits would be even lower if Ramsey hadnt bought eight for his wife, son, granddaughters and himself. 

Eder said the chosen waterways are representative of Missouri as a whole. Also, additional fishing on the Mississippi and St. Francis will have minimal impact on catfish populations because those rivers are already fished by commercial anglers. 

Its possible additional areas could be added next year, Eder said. 

"We always start out with a few experimental test areas when were looking at new regulations," he said. 

Conservation department spokesman Jim Low said the agencys big concern with noodlers is that "theyre targeting not only these fish while theyre nesting, but theyre targeting the very fish that are the most efficient reproducers at the time when theyre trying to reproduce. 

"What happens to those eggs when a fish is removed? The fear is every time you pull that fish out youre losing a whole bunch of young catfish," Low said. 

Ramsey questioned the concern over the potential impact of hand-fishing, noting that the number of noodlers is minuscule compared with the nearly 500,000 licensed catfish anglers in Missouri. 

Those who hand-fish must file a report within 10 days of the end of the season detailing their catches, even if they come up empty. That data will be used in a multiyear conservation department study of catfish populations. 

"Difficulties encountered in collecting catfish are part of the reason we dont know more about catfish population dynamics," Eder said. 

"Without a solid foundation of biological data, effective management is almost impossible." 

For example, male catfish normally guard eggs laid by females, the department said. Details from noodlers could help officials learn the effects of removing male catfish from nests. 

Noodlers might take up to a combined five channel, blue or flathead catfish each day of the season. They can use their feet and bare hands only - no hooks, no fishing equipment. 

Ramsey said 12 states have legalized hand-fishing.


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## Frozenfish (Dec 20, 2004)

That is nutz!!!!! I saw that on TV as well a few years back. If I remember correctly, they didn't fight all that much. The guys made it look easy, just lift them right out. I'm sure it wasn't as easy as it looked!!!!


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## fishing addict (Mar 15, 2003)

Thanks for taking your time to submit the article.
Though I never would do it :yikes: ,I find it interesting about those who do.


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## fordraceing_man (Jan 19, 2005)

being stationed in oklahoma for 3 years i have seen a lot of people do it and i have tried but never had much luck them fish do fight to, they roll on your arm, you wiggel your fingers along the bank and the cats actually bite your arm. people i know usually went in groups of 2 so one would go down with the fish so it didn't bite up his arm too much and the other would put the guy out of the water. serious noodelers have scars all over there forearms.

i think i will just stick with the trot lines LOL


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## mich buckmaster (Nov 20, 2001)

Those things are monsters!!


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## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

I didn't see if anyone mentioned this already, but there's a documentary out there called "Okie Noodling". Saw it a couple years ago on PBS during X-mas and have seen the DVD at Best Buy. It was pretty interesting viewing, including a guy who would "noodle" under the ice


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## Southend517 (Feb 18, 2004)

not much to add but here is a video for ya

http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/GGGMusicVideo300k.wmv


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## Frozenfish (Dec 20, 2004)

That video is great, giddy-up, lol.


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## Mitch (Jan 10, 2003)

TONGA said:


> I grew up with 2 guys who would get snapping turtles in much the same way,,,they would wade in , BARE FEET ! and just sort of feel around for the snappers with their BARE FEET! and when they would locate one,,they would just guide it to shore with there BARE FEET ! then when they got them to shore they would grab them with there BARE HANDS !


My grandfather told me stories about how they would catch snappers the same way. They would wade the muck with a stick probing around, when they hit a shell they would feel the shell with the stick to figure out which end was the head then follow the stick down to the tail end and grab it.

He always offered to show me how to do it but I never took him up on it! :16suspect 

Mitch


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## bedlyblaster (Jan 1, 2003)

Just saw a ad on sunday for a video for sale of Girls gone wild but they are wrestlin Hawgin with these big cats. If teenage girls down south can do it you big brawly michiganders ot to be able to do it.


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## kcud rellik (Mar 9, 2005)

I think it looks like lots of fun! You guys do know this thread was started 2 years ago right?


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## scotchass (Jul 10, 2004)

I've got the okie noodlin video at my house but it quit playing half way through....seems that the noodlers in oklahoma are angry that the bass fisherman get all the coverage and the contests, so they put on a contest. there is a guy on there talking about why he won't do it, said a guy he knew got attacked by a beaver and it did a whole lot more damage than a snapping turtle, a turtle only bites once and holds on, the guy said the beaver nearly chewed the guys arm off. Another thing to remember is that these guys are down south where there are cottonmouths, thats just plain nuts.


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## Southend517 (Feb 18, 2004)

these go with the video clip
http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/GGGMusicVideo300k.wmv


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

If youre not bleeding, youre not hand fishing

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/12214202.htm

Noodlers Anonymous, unite

By BILL GRAHAM The Kansas City Star

A 57-pound blue catfish slapped its massive tail against biologist Nathan Woodlands legs, angry at being pulled from a net in the Platte River.

Woodland struggled with both hands to lift the more than 4-foot-long catfish with a mouth big enough to swallow a volleyball. All for a state study to learn whether the river has enough catfish to allow people to grab them underwater by hand for sport and meat.

I wouldnt want to stick my hand down in a hole under the bank knowing fish this big are down there, he said, while leading a Missouri Department of Conservation crew weighing, measuring and tagging netted catfish.

But a loyal legion of noodlers  people who submerge underwater and grab flathead or blue catfish with their bare hands or hand-held hooks  feel differently about a sport thats been illegal since 1919 but often practiced.

You just get a fever for it, said Gary Webb, 61, who lives in rural Livingston County and has hand fished in the Grand River basin. If you have one bite down on your hand, you get the fever.

Webb and fellow members of Noodlers Anonymous have pushed since 2000 for the Missouri Department of Conservation to legalize hand fishing. That prompted an experimental season this summer on three eastern Missouri streams  portions of the Fabius, Mississippi and St. Francois rivers  which ended July 15.

Officials say 108 persons bought permits to hand fish. The catch is still being tallied.

But the season was too limited to gauge interest, Webb said.

We want a hand-fishing season statewide in all lakes and rivers, he said.

An ancient Native American meal-gathering method is now extreme fishing for a new generation of noodlers.

They wade in streams or lakes, feeling with their hands under root wads or banks for holes that hold blue or flathead catfish. In early to midsummer, big fish are on spawning nests in underwater cavities.

Conservation concerns made the sport illegal but still popular.

My grandpa used to do it all the time, in the Platte River and Bee Creek, said Clifford Shanks, 53, of Platte City. He always caught a lot of flatheads. I know a lot of people have done it. Ive done it.

Shanks always came up empty-handed, although hes watched others grab fish.

Im no good at it, he said. Im too jumpy. Id stick my hand in the hole and when theyd bump it, Id move, and boom, that fish would be out of there.

A true hand fisherman likes to grab the lower jaw of a big catfish by sticking both hands inside a mouth lined with rows of sharp, teethlike cartilage.

If youre not bleeding, youre not hand fishing, said Howard Ramsey, 59, president of Noodlers Anonymous. My hands are all scarred up.

Ramsey lives and fishes near Paris, a hamlet in eastern Missouri.

Missouris first modern noodling season made him a news celebrity. National news crews, from ABC News to the Discovery Channel, filmed him hand fishing in the Fabius River.

His technique is to grab the mouth, pull the fish out of its hiding place, straddle the powerful tail with his legs so it cant swim and shove himself toward the waters surface so friends can grab him and the fish.

We release a lot of fish, Ramsey said. Were not in it for the meat. Were in it for the sport.

Missouri has about 2,000 hand fishermen, he said, compared with several hundred thousand people who fish with rod and reel or baited set lines.

Hook-and-line fishing reduces catfish populations far more, Ramsey said, and legalizing fish grabbing wouldnt attract many newcomers.

After that 60-pound blue cat grabs a hold of their arm for the first time, most of them are not going to come back, he said.

But conservation officials want better data on fish populations before they open more streams to hand fishing, said Steve Eder, fisheries division administrator for the Department of Conservation.

The Platte River in the Northland and the South Grand River in Cass County are among eight rivers being studied as potential sites for legal hand fishing, perhaps by 2007. Biologists want to know how many fish are in the river, how frequently they get caught and how far they travel.

Anyone turning in a tag from a caught fish gets a $25 reward, and the department gets research data.

Catfish populations in many streams are already low because of damage from channelization and other habitat problems, Eder said. So officials are cautious.

Ramsey said conservation officials are suppressing his sport needlessly.

Im sure there will be a few people try it, he said. But its an elite few that go full time.

First glance 
&#9632; Missouri and Kansas forbid noodling, or grabbing catfish underwater by hand, because the largest fish are targeted and they are usually trapped on spawning nests in cavities under banks or logs.

&#9632; But Missouri just concluded an experimental season on three rivers and is conducting studies on whether to allow more, including on the Platte River and the South Grand River in the Kansas City area.


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## PackerFan (Sep 7, 2004)

If youre not bleeding, youre not hand fishingLMAO! :lol:


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

I emailed the If youre not bleeding, youre not hand fishing to a friend and the following is his reply:

What a coincidence. Dad had a cottage on the Tippecanoe River in north central Indiana. The locals did exactly this, but called it "hand-gaffing". They walked the river along the banks looking for tree roots, etc. where there were holes. If the silt was in place at the mouth, they passed it by. If the silt was cleared and gravel showing they reached in. The fish's tail movement would cause the water to "sweep" away the silt indicating the hole was in use. The neighbor on our east line was a hog farmer named Walters and they called him 'Hog'. He had all of his small finger, 1/3 of his ring finger and half his digit missing from sticking his hand in a bank hole where a huge 'snapper happened to take over the hole. He was such a diehard 'gaffer', he reached in with the 'snapper clamped to his hand, grabbed the shell and pulled it out, finally got his hand out and threw the turtle upside down on the bank and laid a log over it. When he got back from being stitched up, he went back with his kid and butchered the 'snapper. Another neighbor who owned a farm down the road lost his youngest brother who stuck his arm in a hole occupied by a cottonmouth. They were just showing up in the area then and they thought it was a water snake bite and did nothing. He was dead by suppertime. The rest of the coincidence is the size mentioned here. Dad and my uncle Walt wanted to do some "gaffing", but were not going to stick their hands in any hole. They made a net hoop out of steel rod that was flat across the end and about 16" wide so it would sit flat against the riverbed. They made a "net" out of 1/4" mesh and made the thing about 3-1/2' deep. They would walk the banks, find the holes and one would put the "net" across the opening. The other would use a broomstick and prod around in the hole. The fish would come shooting out and into the net which would be lifted immediately. On one trip, just 100 yards from our place, they pulled a Blue Catfish out that weighed in at 58 pounds, 15 ounces. How close is that?


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## Brownsdown (Jan 7, 2005)

:tdo12: No way man No way i aint doing it:yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:


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## PackerFan (Sep 7, 2004)

I did like the video clip of the girls doing it. I wonder if they "accidently" lose their tops to the big fish and act all surprised. If so - I'll order 20 copies.


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## Southend517 (Feb 18, 2004)

Girls gone Wild _Noddlen' Edition_


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## Duck-Hunter (Mar 31, 2005)

lol it looks like a lot of fun.

You can go swimming and fishin at the same time.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

MO - Senate votes to extend hand fishing

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The hand-fishing season that was limited to certain days and waterways last summer would be expanded under a bill the Senate passed Thursday.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14336443.htm


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## MrBluegill (Dec 8, 2005)

i once watch a video call girls gone grappling it was all about chicks grabing these cats out of the rivor crazy stuff


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## enfield (Apr 13, 2003)

You just KNOW there's alcohol involved here, especially for the first-timers!

I have blue cats and flatheads in the pond behind my house, but I'll use chicken livers and a stout pole, thank you!


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Oklahoma noodlers use hands on approach in annual fishing tourney
2006 winner catches 61-pound catfish in Okie Noodling Tournament

Oklahoma native Don Brewer took home the biggest fish overall at the Okie Noodling Tournament after using scuba gear to dive underwater and catch a 61-pound catfish with his bare hands.

Brewer took home a $500 prize for the catch along with bragging rights for the biggest fish yet.

http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/07/29/44bba2dba1b7d


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Missouri: Noodlers decry plan to end hand-fishing experiment

http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_081003326.html

March 22, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo.  A five-year experiment to determine whether to legalize noodling in Missouri could end three years early.

Citing renewed threats to breeding-age fish, state conservation officials are no longer issuing permits to fish for catfish by hand, a practice known as noodling. The suspension could be made permanent as soon as next month.

Theyre catching too many, so we cant catch any, said Howard Ramsey, of Paris, Mo., president of Noodlers Anonymous, in a reference to Missourians who prefer to keep their hands outside the water when fishing.

Noodlers use their bare hands to poke around underwater caves and crevices for fish with sharp teeth that can weigh up to 100 pounds. As often as not, they come up with a handful of snakes, beavers or snapping turtles by mistake.

The way Ramsey sees it, If you dont come up bloody, you aint hand fishing.

State law allows those who fish using lines, jugs or rods and reels to catch and keep up to 20 catfish daily. Noodlers are asking the state to allow hand-fishers to keep only five fish each season  compared with the experimental limit of five each day.

An estimated 2,000 Missourians fish by hand, according to Ramsey, compared with nearly half a million who fish using traditional methods.

Steve Eder, fisheries division chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said the experiment should end early because scientists have found higher-than-expected mortality rates among catfish in state waters. He also suggested that further limits could be imposed on all types of catfish harvests.

Were probably going to be more conservative in our harvest restrictions on catfish, he said.

The Missouri Conservation Commission approved an experimental hand-fishing season for six weeks during summer 2005, limiting such fishing to specific parts of the Fabius, St. Francis and Mississippi rivers.

Ramsey said 159 permits have been issued over the past two years, with a total of 27 catfish caught by hand. State officials alerted permit-holders to the proposed changes in a March 16 letter.

Noodling is legal in at least a dozen states, including neighboring Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois. Elsewhere, the practice is a misdemeanor crime.

Legislation to lengthen Missouris hand-fishing season and expand it to other bodies of water has previously passed both the state House and Senate but never made it into law.

State Rep. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, said he plans to renew those legislative efforts and take his complaints directly to Gov. Matt Blunt once the Legislature returns next week from its spring recess.


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