For those not in the know, "noodling" is fishing without a pole, or "hand fishing." It's a pastime shared by people who are soft in the head and have a high threshold for being gross because they catch fish by fisting them. Yep. They stick their fists in the river or lake and wait for giant river rats to suction on and then yank the scuzzy beasts out of the water and into the boat.
Legislators in Texas are trying to ban people from this method of fishing and penalize them claiming it's unfair to go after catfish in this manner since some hunters will grab them right out of their little fish lairs. As grodie as all of this is I actually disagree with the ban on noodling although I wouldn't be caught dead doing it.
I feel sportsmanship of any type is all about being well matched. If you are dumb enough to plunge your appendages into a murky river and a fish is dumb enough to latch on whole hog and maybe pull you under, then we've got a fair fight. I mean dropping humongous nets into the ocean or blowing fish out of the water with dynamite seems a lot more unethical than noodling.
However, I still cannot stand to watch videos of people noodling because I must have sustained some type of catfish related trauma when I was younger. I wake up with night terrors and drenched in sweat at the thought of some bottom feeder brushing against my leg, let alone trying to swallow my arm. My worst fears in no particular order include flying kites, eating brunch, and ugly fish of all varying sizes with big mouths and fish whiskers coming near me with their gaping maws.
I am not a preachy vegetarian or animal activist. But I do believe that some order would be restored to the world again if people actually had to go out hunting for their food and kill it with their bare hands. That would render most people into being wimpy twig and berry eaters for sure. I mean, we all eat bacon, but could you actually walk up to a pig and kill it? I couldn't. I could however definitely punch a fish to death out of fear. But as far as I know that is not an approved fishing method as of yet and I am guessing Texas would quickly try to ban "Fish Punching."
It makes you think a little harder about all of the animals we mindlessly munch on. So I've gotta give it to these noodlers even if I'm not sure that you're using your noodle when you jam your fist into the mouth of a catfish. Ugh.
(Definitely click on this link below to be horrified)
Noodlers Want Texs To End Law Penalizing Those Who Nab Catfish By Hand
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