Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places their hand inside a discovered catfish hole. Many other names 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 and 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 twelve states, sometimes with restrictions on the species or sizes of fish, and on the specific methods that may be employed: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 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 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 40Â lb (18Â kg).
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 (at least to outsiders) it is most definitely an extreme sport, which tend to draw a disproportionate number of male followers.
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?"
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 premiere 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.
In Ben 10 Omniverse, the alien character Rook used this method in the episode Gone Fishin'.
See also
- The Southerner (1945 film)
- Hillbilly Handfishin' (reality TV)
- Okie Noodling (film)
- Trout tickling
Notes
References
- Brunvand, Jan Harold (1996) American Folklore: An Encyclopedia Taylor & Francis, page 130f. ISBN 978-0-8153-3350-0
- Hall, Yancey (2005) Using Hands As Bait, "Noodlers" Stalk Giant Catfish National Geographic News.
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1738350/
- http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Fishing/documents/FishingRegs12-13_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