Oodles of Noodles!!

Once again, PBS fails to disappoint me!!

I spent an hour of my time last night watching a documentary about "Okie Noodling!" For those unfamiliar with the term, Noodling is basically hand fishing, or catching flathead catfish with your bare hands! This ain't your every day okie dokie noodlin' all the day either! This so made me want to jump in the car and hop on over to the Oklahoma waters for their annual Noodling Tournament. Alas, I seem to have just missed it as the 2007 tournament was held on June 30th! Darn, who'd a noodled it?

For additional information, check out the following:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling

A Field Guide at Cabela's (Outdoor Sportsman gear - great catalog!!)

Noodling for Catfish: The Ultimate Thrill in Fishing by Keith Sutton

The Okie Noodling Tournament Link

Oh, and for those who like to check out the latest "Girls Gone Wild" there's now apparently such a sport as "Girls Gone Grabblin" - http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/


If you'd like to see me participate in the next "Girls Gone Grabblin" please place your comments and vote for me now! For certain this should be some sort of Simon Cowell sponsored competition for the next greatest "American Grabbler." Simon's already had some practice as here he is grabbing some fur, at Celebrity Dog Watch. Look at that grip! He's a natural! Dog. Cat. Catfish? I mean, this sport is brutal, isn't it?

Now, this whole Noodling notion has my macaroni brain all excited! I'm thinking for sure that here around Kerr Lake this has got to be something crazy for me to just rush right on out and try! Right? Especially, since the first fish I ever caught in the lake was a catfish...and well, I ran all the way home line in tow screaming because I had never seen or heard a singing gurgling fish with a twitching mustache and I sure as hell wasn't going to touch it! But, since then I've been a Future Homemakers of America and I know quite a few Future Farmers of America, so perhaps a venture in joining the Future Grabblers of America wasn't that far fetched of an idea.

Then I started talking to some of the locals who catfish at the John H. Kerr Dam. Now, there are certainly some sizable cats in these here parts. Yet, the whopper of all tales that I've recently heard recounted has to do with a plane crash that occurred a number of years ago near the dam. As I was told, after the plane crash they sent in some professional divers to look for wreckage and human remains. The divers didn't stay down there long. When they surfaced the divers stated that they weren't looking for remains anymore and that the wreckage could stay at the bottom for they had seen catfish large enough to swallow a human whole.

If you think that there's no way that's possible, be sure to check out the Giant Catfish from Thailand (article courtesy of National Geographic) - Giant Catfish May Be World's Largest Freshwater Fish


Anyone still up for grabblin' at the dam?
Or are you Chicken?
You...you...Chicken Noodles, you?

Well, I'm slightly more hesitant. A number of the reliable town elders recall reading about the giant catfish story in our small local newspaper, and they certainly don't give a dam about trying out grabblin' anywhere near John H. Kerr!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the "noodling all the day" that I've recently been up to in addition to the only noodles that I could find in my house...lol!

My toddler and I have decided that it's much safer to be a "Chicken Noodler." For those of you interested in learning how to Chicken Noodle, see the photos below.

First, find yourself a good fishin' hole and climb on up!

Next, always make sure ya know where the fish are bitin' at.

Then, go grabblin' on in there with yer bare hands and git dat sucker!




















"Chicken Noodle" tournament - same time next year, okie dokie?
Ya'll come back now, ya hear?