Mudcats

[jimson]

OK, for those who don't know "noodling" is fishing for giant flathead catfish by sticking your hand in their mouth getting them to bite you and dragging them out of their hole.

So I'm watching this show "Mudcats" about the Okie noodling tournaments.

While I am enjoying seeing the lakes I use to fish in, especially Eufala where I spent many a weekend on my uncles houseboat, still I can't but help think they will make a TV show about anything these days.

[Rash]

My mom's side of the family does this type of fishing.  I went a couple times when I was 12, but that was 35 years ago.  I keeped thing snakes or turtles!  They all live around lake Hudson.

One of my cousins was approached about doing a documentary on one of those shows about 4 years ago, but he declined.  In the picture, and beyond my uncles right shoulder, you can see my cousins cycle.  He was killed on that thing a few months after this picture was taken.  He is the one that noodled these cats.  We don't have as many catfish fries these days. The other guy is another uncle.



My mom and a couple of bigger cats around the same time. 

[Rash]

I think the first pic might be trout line catches.

[jimson]

We once caught a 37 pounder on a jug line.

I'm with ya, with all the snapping turtles and water moccasins I've seen, I aint sticking my hands up under any submerged rocks.

[Rash]

The trick is to cut half the end of a 55 gallon barrel and sink it in 10-20 feet of water.  Then it will always be a spawning catfish.  I'm with you, that noodling next to the bank and sticking my hands under a rock is for the birds!

[Golfer]

I think the first pic might be trout line catches.

Those are catfish. Not trout.  And I doubt they were caught using flies which is my preferred use of line for trout.

[Rash]

lol, it's Friday! 

[jimson]

I knew he meant "trot" line. Use the trout for bait lol.

[Rash]

Cassville, MO has some breeding trout stock almost the size of big cats.  It's in SW Mo.  They call it roaring river.  A huge cave spring that has been damned off.  The ones you can fish for are tiny.

[chaser]

I had family that used to to do this is the Red River between TX and OK. The biggest one they ever caught required one guy to tie rope around his waist while his buddies held the other end. He swam down and grabbed it while his buddies pulled him and the fish back up to the surface. The catfish wound up weighing just over 150lbs.

Personally though you couldn't pay me to stick my hand under a rock and hope a catfish garbs hold. Especially in the Red River. You got aligator gar, water moccasons, rattlesnakes and snapping turtles in there. No thank you!

[homersipes]

My dad and I used to do a lot of jug fishing on a private lake in colorado springs. used 100' of nylon string with about 50 hooks in each line railroad tie plates tied to bicycle tubes and a jug at the top.  Used to catch some nice channel cats bout 20-30 lbs.

[Flench]

My father did that and tried many years to get me to do it , crazy if you think I'm going to stick my hand in a hole . I stayed on the boat and took care of the fish , lol .
I do watch the show and do like it but it not something that I'm going to go out of my way to watch .