Using Hands As Bait, "Noodlers" Stalk Giant Catfish

Using Hands As Bait, "Noodlers" Stalk Giant Catfish: "Using Hands As Bait, 'Noodlers' Stalk Giant Catfish
Yancey Hall
for National Geographic News
September 8, 2005

See Photos of Handfishers and Giant Catfish >>

Some people call it the Mount Everest of fishing. But most everyone else describes 'noodling,' or handfishing, as just plain crazy.

The sport's disciples wade river and lake bottoms, probing and prodding for the holes where monster flathead catfish lurk during breeding season. Handfishers then dive down and reach into the underwater lairs, hoping that a monster 'cat' will chomp on the proffered bait—the noodler's hand.

What ensues next is a judo match of sorts as the angler wrestles the fish to the surface. Never mind the occasional snapping turtle or snake that gets in the way. Or for that matter, the toothy jaws of the huge fish that can bloody hands and forearms.

First practiced by Native Americans, noodling takes place during the warm summer months when catfish spawn in the southern and midwestern United States.

Depending on the region, the sport goes by many names. In Nebraska, it's known as 'stumping.' In other places it's called 'grabbling,' 'hogging,' 'dogging,' 'graveling,' or 'tickling.'

In Oklahoma, the pastime is known as noodling, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary, describes 'a stupid person.' Coincidence? Perhaps."