Louisiana ‘noodlers’ catch catfish by hand. These videos show how they do it. | Environment

When Vince Wozniak went noodling for the first time, the rush of adrenaline had him hooked.

“It’s the most primal fishing you can possibly do,” Wozniak, of Shreveport said. “You’re not using a pole or bait. You’re using your body and your hands to pull a big catfish out of its territory.”

Noodlers fish for catfish by sticking their hands into man-made or natural catfish holes. The goal is to get bitten by the fish — on purpose — and pull it out of the hole by its gills.

Noodling was never explicitly illegal in Louisiana, but a state law clarifying noodling as a legal fishing method went into effect Aug. 1.

Since the law went into effect, the bill’s author, state Rep. Jack McFarland, said he’s been getting the same question from Louisiana residents.

“Everywhere I go, people always ask me if this is going to require an extra license,” McFarland said. “I say no. This does not require any additional licensing.”

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While they won’t need an extra fishing license, first-time noodlers still have a lot to learn about hand-grabbing. Wozniak said it’s safest to noodle with others.

“We always try to have at least three people with us,” Wozniak said.

Going out with experienced handfishers also provides guidance. Wozniak said he learned from noodling with his family friends and Skipper Bivins, from the Animal Planet show “Hillbilly Handfishing.”

“Skipper Bivins is the one who taught me a lot on how to find natural catfish holes,” he said. ‘He and the Reagan family are the ones who taught me everything when I first started.”

Vince Wozniak shows off a catfish he noodled for. Handfishing for catfish recently became legal in Louisiana. 

Submitted by Vince Wozniak

Male catfish form nests in holes and lure female catfish to the nests to lay eggs. Then, the male catfish watches over the eggs.

Wozniak said the protective male catfish are a noodler’s main target.

“They’re very territorial about their babies,” Wozniak said. “When you stick your hand in the hole, they attack your hand because they see you as a predator trying to take their babies.”

Some handfishers make their own boxes to put in the water to try to lure a male catfish to spawn. Others look for natural nests that the catfish made themselves.

Wozniak said it may be more dangerous, but he prefers to look for natural holes.

“I like the natural way because I like finding where they might actually spawn,” Wozniak said.

The two types of catfish that noodlers in Louisiana find are blue catfish and Opelousas catfish, Wozniak said. Opelousas catfish are generally a preferred catch because their meat tastes better, but blue catfish are more of a challenge.

“I always say you’re not a real noodler until you’ve been bit by a blue catfish,” Wozniak said. “They’re like the pit bulls of the water. You can be a foot from the hole, and they’re coming out to attack you with full force and not letting go.”

Wozniak said Louisiana is his favorite place to go noodling but doesn’t want to give any of his catfish spots away.

“The biggest thing in noodling is that we don’t tell people where we go,” Wozniak said. “Even if you say a big lake, they’re going to eventually find it if they know what they’re looking for.”

Vince Wozniak holds two catfish he caught while noodling. Noodlers wait for the fish to bite them, and grab onto their gills inside their mouth to pull them out of the water. 

Submitted by Vince Wozniak

McFarland went noodling for the first time last year. He said he’s an adrenaline junkie, so the activity was immediately appealing to him.

“I love the challenge,” McFarland said. “You’re nervous with anticipation. You’ve got a little bit of fear, but I enjoyed it.”

After his first noodling experience, he was approached by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries about making noodling officially legal.

“We shouldn’t be writing people tickets for this,” McFarland said. “Not that they were, but it had been a question for Wildlife and Fisheries. Now we don’t have to worry about it.”

Wozniak got his first catch during a noodling tournament that his friend’s family put on. His friend asked if Wozniak would be on his team, even though he’d never caught a fish before. He agreed and was determined to make a catch for his team.

“I ended up getting a 27-pound catfish,” Wozniak said. “I was already hooked just going and trying to look for catfish, but when I actually got one it was even better.”

While noodling is exciting, it can also be dangerous. Adam Einck, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, said that noodlers should always go out with at least one person, wear gloves to protect their hands from catfish bites, and keep their fingers together when they reach into a catfish hole so they don’t break any fingers.

“Catfish are extremely powerful fish, so be sure you don’t underestimate their strength,” Einck said.

Wozniak said people often assume alligators and snapping turtles are the biggest risks in noodling, but it’s really the catfish themselves — and how long noodlers might have to hold their breath underwater.

“If you’re not good at holding your breath, you’ve got to get good,” Wozniak said. “We’ve been underwater for up to a minute, just trying to get a fish out. That’s the most dangerous part.”

McFarland said he’s excited for more Louisiana residents to try noodling.

“Don’t be afraid, but be smart,” McFarland said. “Like all sports, you have to practice. Especially in the water.”

The Complete Guide (Updated 2023)

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Catfish noodling takes the cake for the most unique type of fishing in America. In fact, many anglers don’t think of it as fishing at all.

Throughout the South and across the Midwest, people spend their summers waist-deep in water and elbow-deep in huge Catfish. It’s every bit as extreme as it sounds, and is illegal in most states. Unsurprisingly, it’s a controversial topic among freshwater enthusiasts.

What exactly is Catfish noodling? Who in their right mind thought of it? And why is it a hot topic among catfishers and conservationists? We waded into these muddy waters to try and make sense of the issue.

What is Noodling?

Simply put, noodling involves finding a Catfish hiding underwater, sticking your arm in its mouth, and dragging it out of the water with your bare hands. You use your own fingers as bait and the Catfish’s bite as the hook. Because of this, noodling is also known as “hand-fishing” or “grabbling,” as well as more inventive names like “gurgling” and “cat-daddling.”

Where Did Catfish Noodling Come From?

Once upon a time, someone looked at this fish and thought “I’m going to stick my hand in its mouth.”

People have probably been noodling Catfish for as long as they’ve known how to swim. Native Americans had certainly got it down by the time the first European explorers arrived. Some settlers learned how to do it, but it didn’t become common until the Great Depression when people started using it to put food on the table. Since then, noodling has grown into a family tradition in many parts of the country.

So, is it just an American thing? Not exactly. Cultures all over the world have developed some way of catching fish with your hands. Early settlers must have seen noodling as an extreme form of Trout tickling, a traditional style of hand-fishing in Europe. The difference is in the sheer size of the fish noodlers catch.

Where is Catfish Noodling Popular?

Noodling is most popular along the path of the Mississippi River, from Wisconsin all the way to Louisiana. It’s legal in 16 states, mainly in the South and the Midwest. That may not seem like a lot, but it’s up from only four states in 2001. In fact, more states are legalizing it every year – most recently West Virginia, which passed a new law on noodling in June 2018.

Catfish noodling is legal across most of the South and Midwest. That’s not the only place it’s popular, though.

And that’s just where it’s legal. “Outlaw fishing” is a genuine problem in some states. In Missouri, for example, Catfish are seen as a game fish more than in most places and illegal noodlers are caught every summer.

Why Catfish?

At first glance, Catfish seem like the last species you would want to go mano a mano with. Catfish caught by hand can weigh well over 40 pounds. On top of that, they’re aggressive, they’re slimy, and they spend their lives digging through mud. It’s a far cry from tickling a Trout in a clean mountain stream.

Catfish are many things, but pretty isn’t one of them. (USFWS, CC-BY-2.0)

However, there is a good reason people specifically noodle for Catfish: they don’t have teeth. A Catfish’s mouth is like sandpaper. It’s designed to grip anything that goes in and stop it from coming out. That’s great when Cats are hunting, but it also makes it much easier for noodlers to drag them out of their hidey-holes.

How to Noodle for Catfish

So, you know the broad strokes of what noodling entails and have a vague idea of how it all works. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye, though. Here’s a run-down of how to grab a Catfish.

Time it Right

Noodlers aren’t looking after just any Catfish. They specifically target large males guarding their eggs after breeding. Catfish spawning season runs throughout the summer. As soon as the weather turns warm, people start searching their favorite honey holes on the hunt for this year’s trophy.

Find a Hole

The smallest creeks often hold the biggest Cats.

Catfish nest just about anywhere they can easily guard their eggs. Rocks, logs, caves, banks – even boat ramps can be great places to look. Once a noodler settles on a spot, they block all the exits and stop the fish from escaping. Usually, one person takes on the fish while the others help to block its path and make sure they don’t run into any trouble.

Wear a Glove?

You can go noodling with nothing more than the shirt on your back. In fact, the first recorded sightings of Native Americans hand-grabbing fish mention them wrapping their clothes around their arms to entice the fish and protect their skin. These days, many noodlers wear special sleeves to prevent “river rash” – cuts and scrapes from the fish’s sandpaper bite.

Grab and Pull

This is where things can get dangerous. The hand-fisher tests the hole and feels for a Catfish. If they find one, they stick their arm in farther until the fish bites, then grab on. After that, it’s a case of muscling the fish out of the hole and onto land. If the noodler finds something else, they move away as quickly as possible and try a different spot – more on that later.

Catfish Controversy

The debate over catching Catfish can grow as big as the fish themselves.

You may be wondering why noodling is illegal in most states. There’s no law against catching Catfish in general, after all, and noodling is very much a niche even in states where it’s allowed. Hand-fishing has its fair share of criticism and controversy, though.

Some see noodling as unsportsmanlike, as the fish don’t have the chance to escape and are forced to bite in order to protect their eggs. However, for most people, the issue is that hand-fishing is dangerous, both for the people doing it and for the species they go after.

Impacts of Catfish Noodling

Catching fish this size always has an impact on the waters they live in.

The problem is that noodling specifically targets large, breeder males while they’re guarding their eggs. Harvesting these fish leaves the eggs defenseless. According to a spokesman from the Missouri Department of Conservation, these unguarded eggs usually develop algae and die soon afterward, wiping out thousands of the next generation of Catfish.

But it’s only a problem if they keep them, right? Surely people can just release most of the fish. Not exactly. Catching Catfish by hand tends to damage the fish. The most common places to grab hold are its jaw, its gill plate, and its guts – all things a fish needs in good working order if it’s going to survive. Even if the fish does survive, all that thrashing around can easily destroy the eggs.

Overall, it seems like noodling is a great way of harvesting fish, but a terrible way of protecting their population. The one upshot is that it could be a powerful tool against invasive Catfish populations, especially in parts of Oklahoma, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where invasive Catfish threaten local fish stocks.

Dangers of Catfish Noodling

A scraped knuckle can be the least of your worries when noodling for Catfish.

As you can imagine, wrestling a 40 lb fish out of a narrow hole while you’re half- (or even completely) submerged in water comes with a few risks. If your clothes snag while you’re underwater, you can easily drown. That’s why noodlers always work in groups, with spotters on hand in case things go wrong.

Snags aside, there are plenty of dangers hiding under the surface. Large Catfish pack a serious punch. They can knock the wind out of you and even break bones. It’s not the fish that noodlers worry about most, though, it’s what else could be hiding in the hole. Snapping turtles, muskrats, beavers, venomous snakes – even alligators, depending on where you are. All things you absolutely don’t want taking a bite out of you.

A Tradition Worth Keeping?

There are arguments for and against Catfish noodling. Most noodlers see it as a time-honored tradition which their families have been doing for generations. On the other hand, it clearly is a threat to Catfish populations, which is probably why a 2005 survey found that avid Catfishers are actually more likely to oppose noodling than your average angler.

The truth is that this strong sense of tradition and the fact that noodling happens in pretty remote places mean that many people will keep doing it even if it is illegal. According to research from the University of Missouri, around 9% of anglers in the state have tried noodling, despite it being illegal.

Noodling is one of those things that seems harmless enough at first glance, especially when only a small group of people is doing it. Learn a little more about it, though, and it starts looking like just about the least sustainable way to catch Catfish. On the flip side, it could be the key to success against invasive Catfish – if you’re not scared of meeting the business end of a snake or a snapping turtle!

What’s your take on noodling – are you for or against? Have you ever tried doing it yourself? We would love to hear your thoughts and stories, so drop us a line in the comments below!

A giant catfish attacked a woman: the victim had to seek medical attention

Komsomolskaya Pravda

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Mikhail KONTUEV

August 15, 2010 14:10

An unusual incident occurred on the U River nzha in the city of Manturovo, Kostroma region

Everyone knows that dogs and wasps bite, but that a person is seriously injured by a fish bite ?! This doesn’t happen often. Imagine how amazed the hospital staff in the Kostroma region were when a resident of Manturovo turned to them, who was bitten by … a giant catfish.

As Vera Nikiforova told the doctors, she went to the Unzhu River to swim:

– At first I thought that some kind of log was floating under the water. But suddenly it was like something scalded my leg, the pain was very strong. And then a huge almost two-meter fish rose to the surface of the water. “Catfish!!!” – shouted everyone on the beach.

With difficulty getting ashore, Vera hobbled to the hospital.

– The woman’s entire foot and a little higher were as if rubbed with a grater, – recalls Tatyana Chesnokova, a nurse in the emergency room of the city Maturov hospital. – The injury, although not very serious, but the victim went to the clinic for several days.

By the way, this incident did not frighten the holidaymakers – now Unzha is full of swimmers. And this incident even spurred local fishermen – the men now go out on daily “raids” and try to catch the villain catfish. Just in case, so as not to bite anyone else.

READ ALSO

Two-meter catfish caught in the center of Yaroslavl >>> !

Professional fisherman Andrey Maksimov:

– In general, there have been cases when catfish bite people. But this is such a rarity. Just imagine that if catfish attacked people, for example, if they fed on us, we should all have been bitten a long time ago. So this case is nonsense. It is possible that the fish are just starting to go crazy with the heat! I just don’t have any other explanation. By the way, despite the fact that the catfish does not have teeth, but brushes, it can bite very painfully.

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Scientist: catfish can only swallow

Som can
leave the High Bridge in Kaliningrad, the dean of the Faculty of Bioresources and
nature management of KSTU Konstantin Tylik. According to the scientist, the reconstruction
structures do not threaten the habitat of large fish.

catfish habitat, – declared dean
Faculty of Bioresources and Nature Management of the Kaliningrad State
Technical University, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor Konstantin Tylik .
He will find another place to live. For catfish, the place where they live
usually not the only one. catfish
refer to fish that are solitary predators. Each of them has
their hunting grounds. Looking for new places to live is part of his normal life.”

Scientist from the Kaliningrad State
Technical University questioned the version of the record weight of the catfish.

“I have already heard about his colossal weight of 200 kg, –
continued the dean of the faculty of bioresources and environmental management. – More likely,
this is wrong. I have never heard of such heavy catfish in our region before.
2 meters long. Even in the Neman River and in Sheshup, 6-10 years ago, catfish were caught
weighing about 100 kg. And these catfish had a length of about 2 meters. I have
photos with them. And in the water, fish and objects seem larger than they are on
really. Therefore, it is likely that the dimensions that they are talking about –
illusion. But still, it’s a big fish. Catfish are the largest fish in Europe and
Kaliningrad region, of course, even 2-meter catfish in our region
rare.”

Greenpeace has already refused to protect the Kaliningrad catfish. However, candidate of biological sciences Konstantin
Tylik believes that the meeting of divers with a 2-meter underwater inhabitant does not require extraordinary
measures.

“There is no need to kill him, but you will have to drive him away,” said
scientist. – To do this, just make a lot of noise. Beat with a piece of iron on a piece of iron
And of course, it will scare him away. European catfish, Silurus
glanis, does not belong to rare and protected species that are listed in the Red
book. He, by the way, is commercial. It is caught in small numbers. That’s why
there is no point in making too much noise about it.”

However, fish even one and a half meters long are found
infrequently. How could an inhabitant of Pregol be able to feed himself so much? Interlocutor of the Russian West explains this by age
bridge dweller.

“This is a long-lived fish: the age of this catfish is rather
in total, 20, maybe 30 years, which is uncharacteristic for most fish of other species,
Tylik said. – He certainly long-lived. There are cases when soms reached
and large sizes. Their age exceeded 40 years, but we simply do not give them
to live to such an age.”

In Kaliningrad
area there is no exact statistics of the record dimensions of “champion catfish”. Limiting
the length of fish of this breed, which were caught in the reservoirs of our region, is not
exceeded 2 meters, said the dean of the faculty of bioresources and nature management. divers
they assure that this catfish may well suck a limb
person.

“I don’t think this catfish can suck its hand,” objected the scientist. – Catfish –
it is a predator, but leading a crepuscular, nocturnal lifestyle. He is oriented to
a lot, by ear. Diving work certainly attracts his attention. He is studying,
where the sounds come from, who and what is doing at the bottom surface, but not with a purpose
grab someone (a large object is not his food).

Catfish cannot bite and
take a bite, he can only swallow. His teeth are small, but they are many.

Mining he
holds them, but does not bite. Catfish reaction to unusual events around him
manifests itself in care. He must sail away, and if he is there, then only
because he’s interested in what’s going on.”

In Kaliningrad they have already begun to call German catfish.
Like, he is so big, because he is old and still remembers the times of Koenigsberg.

“I doubt it, because since the time of Königsberg
70 years have passed, and at that age the catfish should be just huge, which is unlikely,
– suggested the scientist. – Even if he caught those times, he is unlikely to us
tell something (laughs – approx.