Hey Chick and boomers
I don't know if it's on everywhere, but here the noodlin' for catfish documentary is on. It's crazy.
All the guys and me to a much smaller degree did it when I was growing up on the Arkansas River.

Chick, this is REAL fishing.

smile

Smile, the 6th Annual Okie Noodlin Tournament is June 25th in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. I LOVE to fish as you know, but I am afraid of what could be in one of those holes besides catfish! Tell us about one of your experiences. It must be quite the adrenaline rush. Would you do it now? All this talk makes me want to try it...at least once.

chick

Hey chick, If those grizzly guys can do it, you can too. My noodlin was only when I was a kid and the ponds overflowed into the gullies and ditches. My cousins (one of whom noodles big fish now) and I would wade in the gullies and catch fish with out hands then take them to my grandpa's forge and roast them and eat them.

Best way is to telephone them though. Loved that.
smile

Smile,
Is telephoning stil legal in Oklahoma? Some states won't allow it. Are there any remnants or tools of your Grandpa's forge left? I can see you and I sitting on a riverbank soon, sharing Fish stories. I got a million!

Have you ever heard of the baking soda bomb?

chick

[ May 20, 2005, 02:08 AM: Message edited by: chickadee ]

What in the world are you gals talking about? Telephoning?

Hey Chick,
No I never heard of the baking soda bomb. Is that the same as dynamiting the pond?? We did some of that, but not much.
Telephoning is sooo much more fun. Very illegal, but when I was a kid, my family controlled access to the Arkansas river for several miles so we locked the game ranger out and telephoned and noodled our way to a huge fish fry every summer. Telephoning is like fishing rodeo. WILD!!
Dianne, you gotta' watch the fish noodling show on PBS. Actually I think it's on video at blockbuster too, but not sure. Anyway these crazy men go under water into these caves and wrestle 40 and 60 pound catfish to the surface. You gotta watch.
Telephoning is almost as crazy, but not quite as dangerous as long as you don't get beaned by a dipnet. You produce a slight shock in the water with an old telephone ringer and the fish come to the surface. They are kind of addled and they swim around like crazy in every direction. People in speeding boats with long dip nets catch them kind of like calf roping on water. There's all kinds of craziness going on and screaming and crashing and people being knocked into the water and it's a blast. Just like a huge fish rodeo.
FUN!! But if they catch you it's a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. Game rangers have no sense of humor!!
smile

P.S. The forge went up in smoke when the fort burned. Long story.
smile

I definitely have to chalk this conversation up to my "learned something new today" category. ha!

How do you do the baking soda bomb?

I just love this topic!!! Smile, I have seen the OKIE NOODLING documentary twice and I hope to purchase it when I find it in a video store. The movie also has a website, by the way, from which the documentary may be purchased.
ARI

Well, well, well talk about learning something new every day. I just called my brother in Canada to get the baking soda "recipe". He laughed and said "I told you it was baking soda because I didn't want you to know". It was LIME. You put lime in a mason jar,poke holes in the top, throw it in the water and get outta the way. It takes a minute or two before it explodes and stuns the fish.
Imagine all these years, thinking it was b soda. When my cousin and I tried it(soda), we couldn't figure out why it didn't work for us but always did for our brothers. I'm stunned

Dallas, Dianne Ari, u all like to fish?

chick