Noodling for a big old catfish

        I haven’t been for a while, but I do enjoy fishing. I would much rather go fishing than hunting.
       My friend Rob and I used to go fishing all the time back in the day. Rob had an uncle that had a nice piece of land southeast of Tulsa near Coweta.
      The property featured a good size pond stocked with bass, crappie and snakes. The biggest bass I ever caught, a 3.5 pound beauty, was caught on that pond.
       His uncle also had a cabin on Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma between Tulsa and Joplin. Often times, we’d make the trek to his cabin and would spend the day on his uncle’s boat dock catching fish and drinking Pepsi.
        We’d stop at a deli and pick up a sandwich, chips and some worms for our fishing trip.
        The fishing trips provided lots of great memories.
         I need to get back on the water again this summer and try to reel in a big one.
        Anyway, I’ve never tried my hand at noodling for catfish. Noodling is the art of catching monster catfish with your bare hands.
        There are 17 states that legalize noodling. Iowa is not on the list. There’s been efforts as recent as 2025 to legalize noodling in the state. Any type of noodling bill typically gets shot down primarily due to conservation efforts and from safety groups.
         The concerns are that noodling targets large fish guarding their nests in the spring and summer months. In addition, conservationists argue that removing these trophy-sized fish depletes the gene pool needed for healthy procreation. And lastly, reaching into dark, underwater cavities and riverbeds exposes participants to potential injuries from struggling fish, underwater debris and other hazards. 
       However, noodling is common in my native state of Oklahoma. In fact, the state is home to the Okie Noodling Festival and Tournament held Father’s Day weekend in Pauls Valley, Okla. Pauls Valley is off I-35 south of Oklahoma City.
         This year’s event is slated for Saturday, June 20 and marks the 26th anniversary of the tournament.
         The event features family-friendly activities such as an inflatable kid’s zone, mechanical bull, watermelon crawl, the Okie Noodling Queen pageant, food trucks, live noodling demos,  and a kid’s catfish-eating contest.
      Anywhere from 70 – 100 noodling competitors compete at the event, which draws more than 6,000 spectators.
        There are various divisions of noodlers from youth to adults. Catfish can weigh 50 plus pounds and up into the 70-pound range.
         Last year’s winner, Phierce Williams, 14, who comes from a family of noodlers and had been featured on social media, caught a 53.5 pound flathead catfish, winning both the youth and adult divisions.
        According to info on the sport, noodling is an adrenaline-pumping method of hand-fishing primarily used to catch catfish. Anglers wade into murky waters, probe underwater crevices or hollow logs, and use their bare hands to provoke and wrestle the fish. It is an intense, primal practice steeped in Southern US folk tradition.
       Once a hold on a big catfish is found, the angler wiggles their fingers inside like a “wet noodle” to provoke the fish into biting their hand.
      When the fish clamps down, (usually on a thumb or fist), the angler wrestles the catfish to the surface fighting the animal’s weight and the water current.
     The best time to noodle is during the late spring and summer (May through July). This is the catfish spawning season, when the fish back themselves into holes to guard their eggs, making them highly protective and aggressive.
        It is suggested that you never noodle alone. Always have a spotter or partner ready to help pull you and the fish to the surface.
        It is also recommended that the angler checks the hole first. Submerged cavities are not just for catfish; they can harbor snapping turtles, beavers, and water moccasins.
        Large catfish have rough, sandpaper-like teeth that can cause heavy abrasions, and holding your breath for a prolonged wrestling match in deep water carries the risk of drowning.
        I’m not planning on going noodling anytime soon, but I might enjoy attending a noodling event to see how it’s all done.
         And another sport in Oklahoma that can send chills down your spine is rattlesnake hunting.
         There are several rural western Oklahoma towns that host massive, multi-day rattlesnake roundups and festivals each spring. These events offer guided snake hunts, snake-handling shows, carnivals and food stands that serve fried rattlesnake.
        I think I will stick to a tasty fried fish dinner with the fixings and skip the rattlesnake.
Remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always.