Going noodling!!!!

I love fishing. Fishing for all species and using all styles and tactics. I have threatened to go noodling for years now and haven't got it done yet. My Christmas present from my wife is a guided noodling trip on the upper brazos this summer. I'm super excited to get this knocked off the bucket list!!

Didn't think It was legal in Texas? Might have changed. Not my thing

It is legal in Texas now.

Handfishing
Fishing by the use of hands only. The use of any other fishing device while handfishing (including but not limited to gaff, pole hook, trap, spear or stick) is unlawful.
No person may intentionally place a trap (including such devices as boxes, barrels or pipes) in public fresh water for the purpose of taking catfish by handfishing.
May be used to take channel, blue and flathead catfish in fresh water only.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdo...evices-for-fish

Cool. Still won't do it

Noodling is kind of a "hold my beer and watch this" sport.
Actually a lot of fun. Even girls do it:)

Yeah, have watched lots of video of people noodling. I've also watched video of people like Steve Irwin handling deadly animals and getting bit in the process.

I ain't doing either one, legal or not.

Does anyone know if it is legal to noodle for bass, or would I be better off asking in the bass forum?

Just catfish. It would be best not to ask such things in the bass section (they can be a mite touchy on certain subjects in there).

I'd like to do it just to say I have but someone else is gonna have to reach in first to make sure there's no snapping turtle in there!

OT section for that one.

Telephoning catfish can be fun also, it is more work than you think

I have noodled in Texoma several times and have caught two one got away, and from that I learned what to do. My Wifes Family members do it a lot, and are very good. I don't go Deep and I do not do Creeks. My PB is a 14lb from Texoma.

I heard some guys in Florida they were noodling for grouper. I think that would be awesome! go down there with some scuba gear and noodle up some grouper! I myself have went noodling several times on the Brazos River and particularly in Lake Whitney where there is a lot of rocks. I have never seen a big catfish down there personally I've got a lot of good size live bait but no big catfish I've had a few break the line but I didn't know if it was a diver or a gar or catfish or what. I always catch big catfish at Lake Tawakoni and Cedar Creek but never down that way I think that place is fished out.

..........

I did this when I was younger, mostly at Eagle Mountain and Lake Worth around boat ramps. Pulled a few mud cats out biggest one was just under 35lbs. Had a 10lb (guessing) blue cat nearly break my finger off.... after some scary moments and finding holes big enough to drive a VW beetle into I decided to stick with the rod and reel.

It definitely gets your blood going!

You ever heard of moray eels?

I had a buddy who used to feed one almost daily, He went out one day during a windy day and was feeding it. He thinks the cloudy water got the eel confused, It bit him in the pinky area. They couldn't get the infection to settle down, eventually he had to have 2 fingers removed and a little part of his hand.

Now the best part, He did go back after he was healed and feed the eel again.

water moccasins can bite under water. used to do it in 1950's until this boy dove into a wad of snakes breeding and was dead from bites on neck and head. brrrrrr!

Did this several years ago when I still lived in TN. Never again. I grabbed/it grabbed me, then I got jerked under the water while I was trying to pull it out of the hole. Not very fun.

Bahahahaha

We were diving a channel edge in The Keys and I saw a moray eyeing my buddy's foot in front of him. I swatted it in the head with my speargun and told my buddy. Don't know if it was actually about to grab the foot, but it sure looked that way. After losing a tug of war with one (the ONLY one) I had ignorantly speared, I'd hate to think about one grabbing my foot and pulling back into the coral..

Jim, I've caught moray eels on rod & reel while fishing out of Ensenada, Baja California. They are STRONG! Something tells me you'd lose that particular tug-of-war that you describe.

We do it every year in May, June and July on eagle mountain and lake worth it's a blast.

Here is one I got

And another