The Ultimate Thrill in Fishing - Catfish Noodling

[all4tribal1414779019]

Noodling for Catfish: The Ultimate Thrill in Fishing by Keith Sutton

Let me put you in my shoes for a minute, so you can really get the gist of this.

You drive to the river one day, to do a little catfishing. A pickup is parked there, but you don't see anyone around. When you mosey to the bank with all your tackle, though, you see this guy's head sticking out of the water.

"Whassup?" the head asks.

"Nuttin," you fire back, trying to hide your amazement.

"Whassup wit you?" The guy grunts, then submerges. When he reappears, he says, rather matter-of-factly, "I got a big one down there. But he ain't budging."

You blurt out the next question that crosses your mind. "A big WHAT?"

"A big catfish," the guy replies. "What'd you think I had?"

Tactfully, you answer. "Well, I wasn't really sure. What happened? Did he get you wrapped up in some timber?"

"No, you knucklehead. I'm noodling."

Noodling, Noodling? You search the nether reaches of your brain trying to remember what that is. But it's no use; you have to ask. "Noodling? What the hell is that?"

Now, before I continue, let me tell you about noodling. Noodling, I learned that day, is catching catfish with your bare hands. That's right; I said bare hands. No hooks. No lines. No rods. No reels. Just hands. "Caveman fishing," a buddy of mine calls it. In some areas, folks call it by other names, such as hogging, tickling, grabbling or dogging.

The person doing the noodling wades into a body of water where catfish are known to lurk, then reaches underwater and starts feeling for holes in the bank, in logs, under rocks and so forth. Catfish get in holes like this when spawning. Female catfish lay their eggs, then a male cat moves in to guard the eggs. The noodler feels for these holes because he knows when he reaches in, if a cat is on guard, it'll bite him. Then he can grab the fish--maybe--and pull it out.

more on this here...

http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelas-field-guides/Catfish-Techniques/Noodling-for-Catfish-The-Ultimate-Thrill-in-Fishing.html

[Guest junglesmacks]

What the holy fk dumb cracker sht is this..

I dunno how many of you have seen a catfish, but they have this reaaaaaaaaaal nice spine on their back with venom loaded in it.. kinda like a stingray spine.. grab one wrong and you are hating it..

I'll stick to tuna in a can thank-you-very much (or a nice 50" redfish out on the Cape.. )

[V. Barbarino]

i went to school in nc, i've seen this done and they also have frog gigging...

[Guest coach]

I dunno how many of you have seen a catfish, but they have this reaaaaaaaaaal nice spine on their back with venom loaded in it.. kinda like a stingray spine.. grab one wrong and you are hating it..

Had this happen to me as a kid catching channel cat in the pond behind our apts. Flung that fucker about a mile. And no, I wasn't noodling him.

Though, I am glad that story was not about what I was imagining it might be.

[Guest junglesmacks]

I dunno how many of you have seen a catfish, but they have this reaaaaaaaaaal nice spine on their back with venom loaded in it.. kinda like a stingray spine.. grab one wrong and you are hating it..

Had this happen to me as a kid catching channel cat in the pond behind our apts. Flung that fucker about a mile. And no, I wasn't noodling him.

Though, I am glad that story was not about what I was imagining it might be.

owwwwwwwwww..... yeah those suckers make me nervous.. when we go fishing off the boat at Cape Canaveral we catch 15 lb-ers regularly.. they stick that huge spine up and flop around on the deck barking at you.. makes me nervous as hell.. i need some extra long needle nose pliers to get that damn hook out..

*spittin chew and feelin like a redneck*

[all4tribal1414779019]

I dunno how many of you have seen a catfish, but they have this reaaaaaaaaaal nice spine on their back with venom loaded in it.. kinda like a stingray spine.. grab one wrong and you are hating it..

Had this happen to me as a kid catching channel cat in the pond behind our apts. Flung that fucker about a mile. And no, I wasn't noodling him.

Though, I am glad that story was not about what I was imagining it might be.

owwwwwwwwww..... yeah those suckers make me nervous.. when we go fishing off the boat at Cape Canaveral we catch 15 lb-ers regularly.. they stick that huge spine up and flop around on the deck barking at you.. makes me nervous as hell.. i need some extra long needle nose pliers to get that damn hook out..

*spittin chew and feelin like a redneck*

haaaaaaaa