Okie Noodling Guy 11 years later.

[imhntn]

No comment on that one.. I'll put it to you this way, he is well known to the game wardens... he is one of my good friends uncle..

Yep and it ain't the good kind of being known. They work him every chance they get and not because they don't like noodling.

 

[imhntn]

Yeah, I don't think I quite get the ending to that story or the game warden's comment. Kinda gives me the impression the wardens may think he is using bathtubs or barrels to catch his fish. Bout the only rule I can think of a noodler has to break, other than a hook on a stick or over the limit.

Keeping blue cats is another. If you keep your stinger tied up right to the boat, you can yank the loose end and let the whole stringer loose in the lake before the wardens can check you. I had a friend that fished with him alot.

 

[J.T.]

No comment on that one.. I'll put it to you this way, he is well known to the game wardens... he is one of my good friends uncle..

Yep and it ain't the good kind of being known. They work him every chance they get and not because they don't like noodling.

Keeping blue cats is another. If you keep your stinger tied up right to the boat, you can yank the loose end and let the whole stringer loose in the lake before the wardens can check you. I had a friend that fished with him alot.

I was hoping this was the case as sad as that might seem. The game wardens I have developed a friendship with are not the kind of guys that would harass a guy because he made them busier. They are the kind of guys that will stay up all night in a hole they dug in an area they have a habitual law breaker though so in that respect it sounds like business as usual.

 

[Sniper John]

My Grandfather in Sayre as a young man was a noodler in the Washita river area. He and a group of friends did it for years. He had me catching small catfish by hand in a local creek when I was a little kid. When I was older he offered to take me noodling or actually take me back to the home place where he knew people that would teach me. Call it older and wiser or as a teenager, young and dumb depending on how you look at it; I had the not me, that's crazy mentality and said no way. Now that he is gone, I would give anything to go back in time and instead say yes.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Why is it illegal to keep blues?

 

[Sniper John]

Blues are listed as Game fish.

Game fish - largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, black and white crappie, rainbow and brown trout, sauger, saugeye, walleye, striped bass, white bass, blue and channel catfish.

Noodling is only legal for non game fish.

NOODLING: Noodling is the taking of
nongame fish only by use of hands only.
Possession of hooks, gaffs, spears, poles
or ropes with hooks attached while in the
act of noodling shall be proof of violation
of the “hands only” noodling law. Noodling
shall be lawful year-round in all waters
unless restricted under
“Special Area
Regulations.

 

[Danny]

Just watched a show about him and noodling on OETA. Pretty cool, but you won't ever catch me doing what they do.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Blues are listed as Game fish.

Game fish - largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, black and white crappie, rainbow and brown trout, sauger, saugeye, walleye, striped bass, white bass, blue and channel catfish.

Noodling is only legal for non game fish.

Roger that - my question is WHY? What's the reasoning?

 

[AllOut]

Roger that - my question is WHY? What's the reasoning?

that is the reason just like in bow and spear fishing game fish are pretty much only legal to catch on hook and line.....
for u guys who think its crazy u need to go once and u will see its not as bad as its made out to be and gloves are the norm especially for mr cause i work with my hands and play guitar so i cant have my hands cut up all the time... kevlar titanium mesh gloves with the rubber coated palms work great and they dont get all crusty like leather after getting wet

 

[Jared]

I noodle and take it from me it doesnt matter if your totally legal or not they will hound u the entire time.... they think everyone uses hooks and are bound and determaned to catch u doing it.

The sad truth is a shocking percentage of the noodlers we contact are illegal. You are correct in "bound and determined" because another fact that might shock you is how many times we are right.