Learned Something New This Morning...

When someone starts talking about "noodling" for catfish, you'd better find out what kind of noodling they're talking about. Here's why I say so.

Was reading an item (titled "Lake Prince resident a local catfish whisperer") in this morning's edition of the Bayside Beacon supplement to The Virginian-Pilot. Seems that Lake Prince resident, 63-year-old Terry Goodall (top left), has been experimenting with a fishing technique called jugging. I'm familiar with this technique, where bottles or jugs are used as floats, from which baited hooks are rigged--either weighted or allowed to drift.

As explained in the Bayside Beacon item, though, Goodall calls his method "noodling," which cast an altogether different image in my mind. Noodling, as I've always known it, dating back to the same time I became familiar with jugging, involves a person wading into a river or creek, reaching into a submerged catfish hole in the the bank with your arm, and pulling the catfish from its hiding place.

Suffice it to say that this old-fashioned type of noodling involves its fair share of risks. Some victims have been severely injured and/or lost limbs and appendages in the process. That, however, is not the process Goodall was talking about.

With his process, you can buy ready-made noodles (or bobbers) (right), or build your own. If you choose the latter, you'll need a piece of half-inch PVC 12 inches long, a half-inch PVC "T" joint, some PVC glue, 30- or 40-pound nylon cord, a three-eighths or half-inch egg sinker, a No. 1 barrel swivel, a No. 5 circle hook, and some reflective tape (for easily spotting the noodle at night with a flashlight). You glue the PVC "T" joint to one end of the PVC pipe and run the other end of the PVC pipe through the swim noodle. Next, drill a hold in that end of the PVC pipe, tie a 4-foot piece of the cord to the drilled hole, slip on the egg sinker, and then tie on the swivel. Tie a 3-foot piece of cord to the other end of the swivel, and then tie on the circle hook. To complete the construction, wrap the noodle with the noodle with the reflective tape.

You're now ready to bait all the noodles and take them to the area you plan to fish. You might want to drop eight to 12 noodles, then just sit back in your boat and wait for an old catfish to take one.

Said Goodall, "You know you've got one when you see the noodle go under and take off." He goes on to explain that "each noodle must be permanently marked with the owner's name, address and phone number, as well as wrapped with reflective tape for visibility at night." A Virginia fishing license also is required.

To read the whole Bayside Beacon article (from page B9), click on this link: https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/outdoors/vp-br-jugging-fisherman-1101-20201027-ocwkzhlq4vcldnwp7mt7l4ykdm-story.html.