When browsing the internet for interesting things to read over breakfast, we came across this from our American friends. Have you ever heard of ‘Noodling?’ the investigation of such a sport resulted in weet-bix being sprayed over an iPad…

Noodling, could be loosely described as ‘hand fishing’. It was made legal in the US back in 2011, and we came across it because the DPI equivalent in the US is trying to find out who these guys are, and why they choose to do it.

To explain, we’ll quote Bill Creed, a 50 year old fisherman who owns a computer store. He’s organizing the states first ever noodling tournament, but acknowledges the risks involved in such a style of fishing.
"Sticking your hand in a catfish's mouth when you can't see it is kinda risky," he said. "You may end up with a beaver. You may end up with a snake. You never know what you're going to get when you reach your hand in that hole."

You heard correctly, sticking your hand in a catfishes mouth. When we read the term ‘hand fishing’ it’s not exactly what we expected, but apparently Noodling is defined as a style of fishing, usually for flathead catfish in the northern Texas area. These fish grow to be over 100lbs, an more than four feet long, but fisherman catch them by simply sticking their hand down a hole (in which there’s a fish hiding). The fish bites their hand, the fisherman pulls the fish out, then proceeds to detach the squirming sea creature from their appendages before cooking it for dinner.

It makes you wonder… We’ll stick to our rods thanks…

Don’t believe us? Check out this video of some guys in Michigan…

#News #Fishing