I was down in Kansas the other day and a few of the guys were going noodling and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them. I think I’ll be visiting there off and on so I said sure and ran down and bought a license. In Kansas they also make you buy a hand fishing license as well as a general fishing license.
Instead of hitting some of the big rivers I thought they would, they hit a smaller one. Hmmm, that provided a slightly different twist. Or maybe it’s just that it’d been raining and was flooded up in the grass and the water was all muddy. It looked a lot more snaky to me than I like. In fact, as we were checking around one brushy log jam, we kicked out a snake, but luckily he swam to shore. Then later on another one swam across the river in front of us.
Brandonn is a noodling fanatic. He is crazy. We’d walk along the mud banks and he’d feel for holes going back into them. We’d be out in chest deep water and he’d find a hole and start feeling around. Then he’d dive under and swim up in the hole. One hole was so big he could get his whole body in it. He said hold my foot and if I shake it pull me out. That means I have hold of a big one and can’t handle it on my own.
In one hole he came up and said you want to see some eggs? Wow, he had a whole handful of catfish eggs. You could see the little catfish swimming around in the egg. That was pretty cool. He then stuck them back in the hole.
I don’t know what the deal was but we didn’t bump but one or two fish. Maybe it’s better if the water is low so they’re congregated better. After a bit Matt and Chase said it was dinner time and I didn’t argue. Brandonn, he could go all night. He’s like a river otter.
One hole he came out and said not good. If you go up in a hole and it curls upward out of the water that’s not a good deal. That means you’re in a beaver den. Time to punch out and crawdad out of there!
After what I’ve learned down there I got wondering. I bet noodling would work fine in Idaho on some of the slower moving rivers, I just don’t know if I want to do it or if it’s even legal. I’ll have to check the regs.
I know noodling sounds crazy, AND it is, but you have to try it once. You can’t believe the rush you get when you feel up under a concrete slab and suddenly you touch a catfish. You feel his slick body and run your hand one way and then the other trying to find his head. Then you realize that his body is nearly 30 inches long and you haven’t even found his head or tail yet. Wow, how big is this one? 30 pounds? 40?
I don’t claim to be a world-famous noodler. Nor am I willing to do what it takes to become one, but at least down there it seems like the best spots are in a slow moving part of the river. We find them in old beaver holes back into the bank or under concrete slabs or rocks. If you can find where a farmer or rancher dumped some concrete slabs to prevent erosion that’s a perfect spot. Just feel under them in the crevices and caves.
I don’t keep any. We just catch them, take a pic and throw them back for another day. As a general rule, big fish aren’t good eating anyway. Smaller ones are always better. Think it over, you have to try noodling once. The gear is simple. All you’ll need is a pair of tennis shoes and shorts. Always carry a knife in case you run into a setline or trotline. I bet we ran into at least five the other night. Then in case a turtle bites you, you’ll need a knife to cut his head off.