Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in
the southern United States. The noodler places his hand inside a discovered
catfish hole. Many other names, such as catfisting, grabbling, graveling,
hand-grabbing, hogging, cat-daddling, dogging, deepthroating, gurgling,
tickling and stumping, are used in different regions for the same activity.
The term "noodling", although today used primarily towards the capture of
flathead catfish, can and has been applied to all hand fishing methods,
regardless of the method or species of fish sought. Where the name "noodling"
originated is not actually known, but the name is not at all illustrative of
the dangerous craft. 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.
Due to concerns over the safety of noodlers and sustainability of fish
populations, the technique is illegal in some states where it was once
traditionally practiced. As of 2002, it was legal in some form in eleven states,
sometimes with restrictions on the species or sizes of fish, and on the
specific methods that may be employed: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois,
Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and
Wisconsin. It has since been legalized in Texas.
Method Although the concept of catching fish
with only the use of the arm in the water is simple enough, 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 easier 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 and places his hand
inside a discovered catfish hole. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim
forward and latch onto the fisherman's hand, usually as a defensive maneuver,
in order to try to escape the hole. If the fish is particularly large, the
noodler can hook the hand around its gills.
Most noodlers have spotters who help them bring the catfish in, either to
shore or to their boat; noodling in pairs is considered important for
safety, and also makes it a more social activity, with noodling partners often
forming long-term partnerships. A typical weight for a flathead catfish
caught by noodling is 40 lb. Noodling as a sport
On Late Night with David Letterman in 1989, Jerry Rider climbed into a tank
with a catfish and caught it using his bare hands. For a time Rider became the
face of noodling, and appeared in countless news stories and numerous
newspaper articles around this time as well. Though he is no longer considered
the "face of noodling", Rider is still a prominent and active noodler, appearing
in both a Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs pilot episode and in the History
Channel's current television series Mudcats. Rider even traveled to India to
demonstrate noodling while visiting the country for the weekend. Most of these
stories were light-hearted variety pieces with little information — very
few of them looked at the practice as a serious sport, as noodlers may have
wanted. The closest thing to a serious
examination of noodling accessible to popular culture was a documentary
released in 2001 called Okie Noodling, directed by local documentarian Bradley
Beesley. The documentary covers the history and current practice of noodling
as it is practiced in Oklahoma. During the course of the documentary the
realization that there were no official noodling contests spawned the First
Annual Okie Noodling Tournament held in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. The tournament
brought in young people from across Oklahoma to a sport mostly passed down
from father to son. The release of the documentary and its subsequent airing on
PBS affiliates has, if not made the sport more popular, raised its profile
to more than just a local phenomenon. Although not mentioning women in
noodling explicitly, through interviews Okie Noodling helps to explain women's
relationship to the sport. Although some women relate stories of times they have
noodled, the majority of practicing noodlers were and are men. Many of the
male noodlers explained how they began noodling when their father took them
out, and how they planned to bring their sons into the world of noodling. Also,
as others who have written on noodling have expressed, if noodling is to be
considered a sport, then it is most definitely an extreme sport, which tend
to draw a disproportionate number of male followers.
Noodling was featured in a pilot episode of the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs,
which premiered on November 14, 2003. In this episode, host Mike Rowe joins two
men from Oklahoma as they noodle for flatheads. The segment ends after Rowe
noodles a fish and the men clean and enjoy the catch.
Noodling was also shown on the King of the Hill episode "The Redneck on Rainey
Street", and featured on an episode of the TV series Cougar Town.
Noodling was also featured in the 2009 movie Leaves of Grass, starring Edward
Norton, and featuring Keri Russell as the noodler.
Noodling was also featured in the 2009 film "Fish Tank' starring Michael
Fassbender Noodling is also featured in the
television series "Mudcats", which premiered on The History Channel on
Thursday, February 9, 2012. This series follows a group of Oklahoma noodlers.
In 2010, Animal Planet premiered the series Hillbilly Handfishin', a show
dedicated to the sport. The sport is also celebrated in the song "Hillbilly
Hand", released in August 2011. In April 2012, the season premier of
Animal Planet's River Monsters featured host Jeremy Wade noodling in Oklahoma
and, along with his local guides, winning first place in a flathead
catfish weigh-in. Noodling outside of the Southern US
The Argungu Fishing Festival in northern Nigeria has been compared to noodling.
The fish are caught using a combination of bare handed methods, nets and
floating gourds. Practiced widely in France, Italy and Spain.
Dangers Noodling can result in superficial cuts
and minor wounds to the noodler. This can be reduced by wearing gloves and
other protective clothing. Losing fingers is also a risk, whether from the
bite or infection. Most holes are deep enough that diving is needed, so there
can be a danger of drowning. A person with confident swimming abilities may be
caught off guard by the sudden added strain of carrying a large fish to the
surface. Spotters can alleviate this danger, but it is still present. A
wounded noodler ten to twenty feet underwater might not be able to return
safely to the surface and may drown. Clothes may get tangled or snagged on
roots or rocks, so some noodlers wear only denim shorts.
The greatest physical threat posed to noodlers, however, comes from other
forms of aquatic life found in catfish holes. Far more dangerous than catfish
are alligators, snakes, beavers, muskrats and snapping turtles, who will
take over abandoned catfish holes as homes of their own.
In Popular Culture Fabio Lanzoni was featured in an Old
Spice segment called "Mano a Mano in el Bano" where he was asked if he noodled.
Fabio misinterpreted noodling to mean cooking pasta noodles using your bare
hands in boiling water, which he promptly demonstrated while shouting
"Ah, I hate this! Why you do this to Fabio?"
See also The Southerner
Hillbilly Handfishin' Okie Noodling
Trout tickling Notes
^ Waterman, Todd. "Bitter Sweet". N.D. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
^ a b c Deborah A. Salazar. "Noodling: An American Folk Fishing Technique". The
Journal of Popular Culture 35: 145–155. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.2002.3504_145.x.
laws-take-effect-on-Thursday-2145235.php ^ de Moraes, Lisa. "Animal Planet
unveils noodling with 'Hillbilly Handfishin'". The Washington Post.
Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
^ Dupler, Bryan. "Hillbilly Hand: A Tribute to Okie Noodlers.". Audio file.
Big Time Jingle. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
^ Dupler, Bryan. "Hillbilly Hand". Audio file. Big Time Jingle.
^ "American Killers". River Monsters episode guide. Animal Planet-Discovery
Channel. Retrieved 22 May 2012. References
Brunvand, Jan Harold American Folklore: An Encyclopedia Taylor & Francis, page
130f. ISBN 978-0-8153-3350-0 Hall, Yancey Using Hands As Bait,
"Noodlers" Stalk Giant Catfish National Geographic News.
http:www.imdb.comtt1738350/ nr.wi.govFishingFishingRegs12-13_web.pdf
** Rough fish may be caught by hand in Wisconsin... Catfish are considered a
Gamefish and may not be caught by hand. External links
New York Times article on noodling and anecdote from the writer
Okie Noodling Documentary Website ESPN Article on Noodling
Long Arm of the Law Penalizes Texans Who Nab Catfish by Hand Wall Street Journal