Noodling: Fishing with Human Bait

It sounds abhorrent doesn't it, but in 5 states in the United States, hand fishing, or noodlin', is not only legal, but fairly popular. Using only their arms as bait, these fishermen seek out their catch inside of the nest.

The way it is done goes something like this; a noodler goes underwater, sometimes up to twenty feet underwater and seeks out a nest hole, Normaly one that belongs to a Catfish. He then places his gloved hand into the hole using it as bait. If he does it correctly and there is a fish in the nest, the catfish will take the "bait" and latch on tight. The noodler then tries to hook his or her thumb into the gills while avoiding the treachorous teeth of the animal. If the noodler is sucessful to this point, all that's left to do is to pull the animal from it's nest and secure the catch.

The last step is sometimes easier said than done. Trying to resurface while struggling with a sometimes very large aquatic animal attatched to the arm has caused more than a few deaths and, in most cases, at least a few injuries. Bites and cuts happen with every catch, and, even if the noodler manages not to drown, they risk finding something other than a fish living in the holes they stick their arms into. Abandoned catfish holes are often inhabited by beavers, snapping turtles, and on occasion, venomous water snakes. At least one death has been attributed to water moccasins fataly biteing a noodler.

You won't find many doctors, bankers or lawyers who regularly choose to go noodlin', no, noodlers are "men's men" if you will. Although there are indeed female noodlers, their numbers are rare and most are relitively new to the "sport". Past noodlin' champions have been plumbers, janitors, sanitation workers, and mechanics by trade.

While many point out that noodlin' was common place for native americans in the 1700's, baseing that statement on reports from trader James Adair in 1775, some suggest that it was done out of the necessity for food not the desire to wrestle a very large and aggressive fish out of a hole in a river for "sport".