Animal Planet has greenlit a series called “Hillbilly Handfishin’,” about an Oklahoma man who teaches city dwellers the excitement catching catfish without the aid of a hook or fishing line, according to Inside TV. The practice is more commonly called “noodling” or, more accurately, “noodlin’.” From the delightful Wikipedia page for noodling:
Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. Many other names, such as catfisting, grabbling, graveling, hogging,dogging, gurgling, tickling and stumping, are used in different regions for the same activity. Noodling is currently legal in eleven of the fifty United States.
Whoa, “catfisting” is legal in eleven states? That’s great news for your lonely aunt.
Noodling has also been featured in the New York Times on more than one occasion (2007, 2006). It requires the fisherman to submerge himself in a river, stick his arm into a muddy hole, and hope for the best:
Catfish are hardly the only creatures that burrow or inhabit holes in rivers or lakes. Beavers are common residents, as are snapping turtles and deadly cottonmouth snakes. [NYT]
So basically, it’s not so much a sport as it is a glory hole for your arm.
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Real and Chance did it first.
“stick (his) arm into a muddy hole, and hope for the best.”
/buzzes in
What is: “Charlie Sheen’s Tuesday night appointment book entry”?
catfisting, grabbling, graveling, hogging, dogging, gurgling, tickling and stumping
These all sound like things I would enjoy. Banner pic, not related.
The headline image for this post is also used as the cover of my friend and old classmate, Alex Taylor’s book of short stories, “The Name of the Nearest River.” It is so, so, so good.
Those catfisted have been known to wake up with their crotches burnin’ … red … like the fires o’ hell.
“Beavers are common residents”
I’ve been known to stick my hand in a beaver or two.
As an actual hillbilly (from Appalachia and everything) I’ve done something similar with turtles. When you turtle trap you tie a hook to a milk jug via a long cord. When the turtle bites the meat on the hook he has to drag this inlfated jug behind him. You find the jug, you find the turtle. To get the turtle you have to climb into the pond (usually a strip-mine pond, full of chemical and industrial waste)and find the hollow spot in the bank that the big scary bastard has dug for himself. Then you stick your arms in that hole, about shoulder deep, and wrestle him out. If you’re lucky, he’s facing away from you. If you’re not lucky you get his business end. A snapping turtle usually doesn’t let go once it’s bitten down on something. You have to cut its head off. There’s usually a lot of drinking involved in the whole process.
@Jethro, best comment ever.
They did this on King of the Hill actually, the episode where Khan becomes a redneck. Check it out.
catfish will fucking eat you alive…. nasty little bastards
@ jethro
Hillbillies have computers now?! What a country!
@la schoom
the proper term is high-tech redneck. fishing for alligator snapping turtles was either done or discussed on wildboyz with manny puig.
Next up: Stickin’
(2×4 fights behind the lumbar yard)
Hell, back where I come from, we used to do the same thing, ‘cept with waffle waitresses.
This is actually already a show and has been on for a while. I do a double-take every time I see it on the listings.
They are just ripping off this guy: [www.catfishgrabblers.com]
@Elvin see, you get it
Is “greenlit” a metaphor for “already aired”? Because this was on TV already. I’m not kidding. This show with this name was already on because I stopped dead in my couch-surfing when I saw the name of the show come up on the screen and watched for 10 minutes while a guy dangled his foot in a hole then complained that it was going to rip his toes right off. He talked about the “adrenaline rush” you get when it bites you and then once he’d caught it, he released it. Yup. Catch-n-release.
I couldn’t help but think that this is the same rush I got from baiting and releasing Thai hookers. Though they’re harder to pull off your extremities.
You could have used the right picture of the person actually starring in Hillbilly Handfishin’.
this so crazzzzzzyyyyyyyyyyy!
If anyone wants to go noodling / hillbilly handfishin check out my website I am a catfish guide from TN [www.bigtncats.com]