Want to noodle?
Catfish noodling has been around for hundreds of years in Appalachia. It is the practice of catching catfish, mainly flathead catfish, with using nothing other than your bare hands and backwoods knowledge. Many people carry out this practice, however, in many counties it is outlawed because it is extremely dangerous. I wanted to dig deeper into the history of this type of fishing.
This style of fishing originated with Native Americans. According to ESPN, “They pull off their red breeches, or their long slip of Stroud cloth, and wrapping it around their arm, so as to reach the lower part of the palm of their right hand, they dive under the rock where the cat-fish lie to shelter themselves from the scorching beams of the sun, and to watch for prey: as soon as those fierce aquatic animals see that tempting bait, they immediately seize it with the greatest violence, in order to swallow it. Then is the time for the diver to improve the favorable opportunity: he accordingly opens his hand, seizes the voracious fish by his tender parts, hath a sharp struggle with it … and at last brings it safe ashore.” Needless to say, noodling doesn’t require you taking your pants off to go catfish anymore, but its still just your hand.
Even though people go catfishing all over, its not always legal. A man in Texas was fined $500 for noodling. Many counties in Appalachia have also banned the practice, however, for the ones where you can noodle many companies offer day trips for the adventurous traveler. These trips can be a bit pricey ranging from 1000 to 5000 dollars per trip.
As we can see, this business of noodling not only has been around for hundreds of years but has remained relevant through the tourist industry. People of all ages enjoy this simple, yet challenging pastime. I need to get out there and do it myself to fully understand it.
