I’m working to get noodling outlawed in Texas. Pulling big fish off the spawning nest thrashes the eggs and destroys the nest. Even if they are returned immediately, the damage is already done done.

Yep, there are YouTubers in Alabama that build nests and sink them during the spawn just so they can noodle them.

I think they should have bubble gum flavored gloves, or even cheddar flavored!

Stinky gloves tm

Outlaw noodling? The number of fisherman noodling catfish in Texas is .10 percent. I would like to see some scientific evidence showing a decline in catfish numbers since it was made legal in 2011.

Lol. I knew that would ruffle some feathers. The evidence in big Flathead decline is easy to see on my home lake of Lewisville. It went from the world record holding lake chuck full of world class fish and 70 and 80 lbrs coming out of it frequently to what it is now which is terrible. Back then snag lines we’re legal means and guys ran strings of snag lines all over the lake. Eventually they were outlawed but the damage was already done. The monster genetics were removed out of the lake and Lewisville never recovered. Add on top of that nest thrashing noodles these days and it’s easy for me to see why they should be protected more. Just like snag lines, someday noodling will be outlawed. I see that very few people care much about protecting flatheads and i hear guys say the bigger the better to eat and I think it’s sad but it is what it is. I think all big fish should be respected and protected and we teach that to every angler and kid that comes on our boat.

https://thinkingafield.org/2020/10/...odling-can-hurt-catfish-populations.html

Besides the fact that Berkley smoked a lot of people on April Fool's day, I will stand behind my boy Gato. The only time of the year that noodling is effective is during the spawn. Regardless of what your opinion is about noodling, protecting trophy class fish isn't just about protecting the female. It's also about protecting her offspring. If you pull a 70 pound female out of her nesting hole, the damage is done. If she hasn't dropped her eggs, she might get stressed and not even drop them, or she may have just laid them and then you've trashed the nest and destroyed that years spawn. It's a known fact that the bigger and more experienced the animal or fish is, the better the genetics of that individual's offspring are. hopefully, one of these days, people will recognize that protecting trophies is good for everyone's future.

thanks for sharing

I'm still waiting on someone to tell me that the Catfish Sumo Gollywhopper rod was an April fool. Lots of hype leading up to it, how it was a product that was going to change fishing, and help you catch more fish. Then, it ends up being a rod you can lengthen the handle on.

I’m with you on noodling. I don’t like the thought of ripping a big catfish out of their spawning hole. I’ll admit, flatheads are fantastic eating, but for a rod and reel angler, I might catch 3-4 in a year that I keep. It’s a whole lot different than the massive hauls people bring in from noodling and set lines. If I had my way I’d have both outlawed, I’m sick of having to cut illegal trot lines because I snag them in my trolling motor while crappie fishing.

Way more rod and reel, jugline and trotline guys out there catching and keeping trophy flatheads during the spawn than noodlers. You are singling out one group of fisherman.

Flathead become increasingly more difficult to target during the spawn as well as Blues. All the Flathead anglers I know don’t even fish for them during spawn and nether do trophy Bluecatrs. I’m sure your going to say you hammer them during the spawn but for most other anglers that isn’t the case. I’m in a large community of high level anglers and 100% of us don’t agree with Noodeling. A certain percent of juggers and noodlers just seem to have a different mindset than trophy anglers. Trophy anglers respect big fish and want to protect that resource for our future generations. Fortunately more and more people are respecting the big fish these days and the paradigm is rapidly shifting. I’m hosting a Jr Angler event this weekend and we’ll be teaching the kids the importance of big fish conservation and responsible harvest. Older guys seem to resist change but through educating the youth, change is coming.

I have been on the CPR band wagon, especially big blues for over 25 years. It was once a big problem with some of the ones who said if they don't fit in your box get a bigger box. Thankfully the ones like Albert King are no longer active on this forum. After a long enough time maybe the older catch and keep all the fish folks, will fade away and the more conservatives will become the norm. Hopefully.