noodlers anonymous
Noodling is the practice and sport of fishing for catfish using only one's bare hands. Noodling may be called grabbling, graveling, hogging, or tickling, depending on what southern state you're in (Kentuckians call it dogging, while Nebraskans prefer stumping.) Despite these colorful names, it's better explained by the name handfishing; however, this term is less popular among those who participate in noodling. Only five states in the United States have laws explicitly permitting handfishing: Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee; and since 2005, Georgia. Missouri has an experimental noodling season in 2005 on sections of three rivers, from June 1 through July 15. Noodlers Anonymous argues that the season is doomed to fail, though, because these river sections are too dangerous, too crowded, or otherwise not desirable for the sport.
The term "noodling", although today used primarily towards the capture of flathead catfish, can and has been applied to all hand-based fishing methods, regardless of the method or species of fish sought. Noodling as a term has also been applied to various unconventional methods of fishing, such as any which do not use bait, rod & reel, speargun, etc.; but this usage is much less common.
How to noodle
Although the concept is simple enough – noodling fish with only the use of your hands – the process of noodling is more complicated. The choice of catfish as the prey is not arbitrary, but comes from the circumstances of their habitat. Flathead catfish live in holes or under brush in rivers and lakes and thus are easy to capture due to the static nature of their dwelling. To begin, a noodler goes underwater to depths ranging from only a few feet to up to twenty feet. Placing his hand inside a discovered catfish hole, a noodler uses his arm as bait to entice the fish. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim forward and latch onto the fisherman's hand and arm.
From here most noodlers have spotters who help them bring the catfish in, either to shore or to their boat. The first order of business after catching a catfish is to get them unstuck. When a catfish bites onto a noodler it holds on for quite a while, believing it has caught some food. With gills and teeth scraping and cutting into the fisherman's skin, the spotters helps to secure the fish by other means and then proceed to ease the catfish's grip off of the noodler's arm.
With some of the biggest fish caught weighing in at up to 50-60 pounds, very few noodlers are strong enough (or brave enough) to attempt noodling by themselves. Although carrying the fish after they have been subdued is little problem, trying to secure the fish and remove them from one's arm at the same time can be a challenge.
(Source, Wikipedia 2006 www.wikipedia.com)
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