Tired of Tying Flies or Buying Bait?

October 21, 2005 4:53 PM

Okie Noodling... why not take it straight to the fishies! Noodling, aka tribbling, hogging, or hand fishing is the art of catching catfish using your hand as bait (or your arm for the big ones). These guys root around river banks like muskrats in search of their quarry, but sometimes encounter snakes, snapping turtles, or beavers. Imagine having a 30 to 60 pound catfish chomp on your arm! If you are ever inclined to get in touch with your animal side, this is a pretty good place to start.
posted by philmas (16 comments total)

Neat stuff! Unfortunately, a double.
posted by event at 5:02 PM on October 21, 2005

As a person who's afraid of fish...just the post description is enough to give me nightmares. I ain't clicking no link, no sir!
posted by Hildegarde at 5:54 PM on October 21, 2005

God bless the South.
posted by keswick at 5:58 PM on October 21, 2005

There must be something seriously wrong with me, I thought it sounded kinda fun :(
posted by alexst at 6:07 PM on October 21, 2005

The music for this song was written by OKC's finest, The Flaming Lips.
posted by cali at 6:22 PM on October 21, 2005

Sorry, for this movie.
posted by cali at 6:22 PM on October 21, 2005

it's been out for a while, but highly entertaining none the less. i knew some guys who were into noodlin when i was back in OK... they were always so secretive about it. i wonder if i can find some underground noodling society here in chicago.

anyway, check out the director's other film about the aforementioned Flaming Lips. (yes, the finest export from OKC by a long shot).
posted by zod at 6:52 PM on October 21, 2005

It sounds more humane than fishing.
posted by Dean Keaton at 7:34 PM on October 21, 2005

Sorry, the double didn't show up when I searched before posting.
posted by philmas at 7:48 PM on October 21, 2005

some of those fish are huge.
posted by 3.2.3 at 8:05 PM on October 21, 2005

Girls Gone Grabblin'!
posted by monju_bosatsu at 8:40 PM on October 21, 2005

The first week I moved to Joplin, the paper ran a front page story about noodling, and I was sure it was some kind of joke. Now I am dying to try it.
posted by LarryC at 8:58 PM on October 21, 2005

I wonder how many of these catfish were caught by noodling ?

Or was this catfish noodled ?
posted by troutfishing at 12:34 PM on October 22, 2005

The reason noodling tends to be secretive is that is some states it is illegal and in others there are standard hunting/fishing type restrictions on when and how many/how large (which many noodlers tend to ignore). What these people are essentially doing is pulling the large breeding males out of the nests where they are guarding eggs and the larger females that are waiting to breed. If you have people taking out the breeding population and regular fishermen taking out the younger fish, eventually you could end up with no catfish.

Personally, I just think it's insanely stupid.
posted by Orb at 1:36 PM on October 22, 2005

Noodling is also dangerous, due to the habit of folks ducking under the water to stick their hands and feet into holes...and then being unable to pull them back out again.

Noodling was also recently covered in the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs".
posted by Atreides at 8:34 AM on October 23, 2005

Though I was once a huge fan, the Flaming Lips have mutated into the Flaming Bores, the most cliche-ridden group this side of REM.

if by cliche you mean sonic experimentation, circus-like performances with costumes and inventive visuals, and an ever-evolving sound which embraces both their past and their future, then colour me passé.

Oh, and they're by no definition "OKC's finest", as they're from Norman.

squabling over details is definitely boring, but in the film Fearless Freaks, which you might want to check out if you were once such a huge fan back before trolling, there's lots of footage of Wayne Coyne's friends & family in OKC (around 23rd I believe?) plus he still lives in a HUD-era home in the same neighborhood, right down the street from his Mum.
posted by zod at 8:32 PM on October 24, 2005