Noodling

[crappieseeker]

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Next summer, it will be legal to plunge into some Missouri rivers and grab catfish by hand — a type of fishing that is not for the faint of heart.



Known variously as noodling or hogging, handfishing has long been a misdemeanor punishable by fines, because state officials fear it depletes breeding-age catfish. It can also be dangerous: Noodlers hold their breath for long periods under water and sometimes come up with fistfuls of agitated snakes or snapping turtles instead of fish.


That does not discourage enthusiasts, who insist there is great sportsmanship in fishing with your bare hands.


So after years of urging by noodlers, and lopsided legislative support for easing up on handfishers, the Missouri Conservation Commission has approved an experimental handfishing season next summer. Forms of handfishing are already legal in 11 states, including neighboring Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois.


"It's a start," John Smith, deputy director of the Conservation Department, said Tuesday. "We are moving forward in good faith to answer the legitimate biological concerns that we have, and balance that with the requests for making this process legal."


Missouri's biological concerns are that handfishers, who go for the biggest fish they can wrestle from riverbanks or hollow logs, will take too many sexually mature fish from their underwater nests.


The commission agreed to a June 1-July 15 season, during which handfishers who have bought a $7 permit can use only their bare hands and feet to catch a daily total of five catfish. Fish under 22 inches long must be thrown back.


Handfishing will be legal only along specified stretches of the Fabius, St. Francis and Mississippi rivers.


So secretive are handfishers that they have formed a club called Noodlers Anonymous. A University of Missouri-Columbia professor who got the group's cooperation in surveying its members found that most are men, average age about 40, living in rural areas.


Howard Ramsey of Paris, Mo., president of Noodlers Anonymous, said the season is a "very positive step."


"I hope this is the first step toward a statewide noodling season," Ramsey said. "Noodling is great fun and very satisfying and any lover of fishing should try it."


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[crap-king]

I have seen these guys on different outdoor programs - these are some tough dudes - we use to have guys here do something simular - i think it was called grappling for cats and carps in the rivers - taking their hands and running them under the edge of the river banks and under rocks - they do the same pulling out snakes turtles and even muscrats - I don't know anyone that does it now - I sure at tough enuff for it

[Barnacle Bill]

Look at the money they save not having to buy rods and reels. But now that I think about it, they really aren't that expensive. LOL

[Moose1am]

Wonder what the doctor charges to sew the fingers back on? LOL

Look at the money they save not having to buy rods and reels. But now that I think about it, they really aren't that expensive. LOL

[Yak pedaler]

Saw my dad do it a few times down here in Georgia when I was a kid about 45 years ago. They called it grabbing back then. If they grabbed a snake they would yell "Snake!" and throw him out and down stream. The thought was that if they tried to release them under water, they would get nailed, so the alternative was to send them flying. He never let me do it and I never asked to do it.

[Hoot]

My fathers and uncles use to do that as well. I remember about 45 years ago having some huge family fish frys.

They would always have some great stories about the "cotton mouths" they encountered.

Reckon I won't be doing any noodling soon.

Hoot

[unknown 5]

You need to make this post at The Brotherhood Of Catfishermen board at www.brotherhood-of-catfishermen.com WARNING-some of the folks on that board think of crappie as being good bait! LOL. :D

[cspen]

Its still common around catawba county, they do it for snapping turtles though.I went one time carried the sack most of the day finally got my nerve up enough to hit the banks,after a few tries I sobered up and went back to carrying the sack.I have helped clean the turtles and man they get some big ones.

[crap-king]

Its still common around catawba county, they do it for snapping turtles though.I went one time carried the sack most of the day finally got my nerve up enough to hit the banks,after a few tries I sobered up and went back to carrying the sack.I have helped clean the turtles and man they get some big ones.

Cspen that is some good stuff - turtle stew or fried or grilled them turkels are good