How to Dive for Catfish

Diving for catfish is called catfish noodling, grabbing, hogging or hand fishing. It is basically catching catfish with your bare hands. Although illegal in Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas -- where it is considered a class C misdemeanor with up to $500 fines -- many southern states have had noodling tournaments since the 1990s. This is not a sport for wimps, and women as well as men enjoy the thrill of plunging their hands down into a nest and pulling up a monster catfish.

Things You'll Need

  • Water suit
  • Steel gloves
  • Rope
  • Stick
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate the catfish nest in spring or summer. These are the best times of year to catfish noodle because the large mature males protect the nest after the female has deposited eggs. Look in shallow, murky water in secluded areas, such as under boat ramps, in hollowed out trees, tree roots or under rocks

    • 2

      Tie a rope around you and secure it to a solid structure, such as a pier or boat. This will enable you to pull yourself up out of the water if you get stuck in mud or submerged in the water.

    • 3

      Don your gloves. Beware of other creatures, such as snapping turtles, beavers, snakes, alligators and muskrats that can be down in the catfish nest. Take a stick and poke around the nest before putting your hand in it.

    • 4

      Wriggle your hand around in the nest to irritate the male. Eventually he will attack the hand by chomping down on it. He may attempt to swallow your arm.

    • 5

      Shove one arm through the gills and get a good grasp on the catfish with the other arm.

      Hold the fish tight to your body. Noodlers typically go for flathead catfish and bluecats that weigh 20 to 30 pounds. However, some can weight as much as 60 pounds, so holding these fish can be a daunting task. These giants will attempt to thrash and roll around.

    • 6

      Wrestle the fish to the surface of the water and haul it out. Dragging it to shore is much easier than trying to drag it onto a pier.