HOW MANY ON HERE NOODLE FOR TURTLES.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I USED TOO. BUT A 28 POUNDER BACKED IN HIS HOLE ONE DAY. AND HE BOUT TORE THE END OF MY MIDDLE FINGER OFF. THAT WAS QUITE ENOUGH TO MAKE ME STOP. --------- PLUS I HAVE NOT DRANK, IN 20 YEARS.

[OZZIEOHIO]

Nothing to drink in 20 years, ill bet you are thirsty.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

NOT QUITE THE RESPONSE I WAS LOOKING FOR.

[moose]

Noodlers you see nowadays wear gloves and noodle in shallow water. Noodling used to be much more hazardous.

My uncle and his two sons and I noodled in the Guyandotte River between Gilbert and Man West Virginia. We did not noodle in water less than 10 feet deep like some of the modern noodlers do. And we called it "Stumping" back then since the turtles or catfish were usually in stumps. When some stumpers started to losing hands or arms up to the elbow, we felt the "stumping" moniker was well chosen and stuck with it (some stumpers who lost a hand would get a captain "hook" attachment and continue stumping, but we called that hooking and felt it to be cheating and frowned on it). Ethical stumpers would stump left handed because we needed our right hands for signing the disability checks.

If the water was clear and the bottom smooth, we would tie a rope around the stumper so that we could pull him and the catfish or turtle up. Stumpers had to hold their breath for up to a minute without talking. There were no FEMALE stumpers. If the water was filled with rocks or logs, we could not afford to take a chance on losing the rope so a stumper was on his own and was unattached.

And there was a pecking order to the stumping. It was based on size. The little stumper would go in first. He would bring up a catfish or turtle most of the time. When that happenned, we would pat him on the head, give him a little kiss, and then put him in the livewell. Sometimes little stumper would put his hand into the stump and feel a snapping turtle. If the turtle had entered head first in the log there was no problem other than a smiling turtle. But if the snapper had entered tail first in the stump, the little stumper would sometimes lose a finger. Bigger catfish could also take a finger or two. When little stumper came up missing fingers, we would look at the wound to determine whether a catfish or a turtle was to blame. We did not want to send in the Big Stumper if there was a turtle in the stump. At that point, little stumper would be done unless he could dive down and retrieve some of the missing fingers to be used as chum later on. Enter the Big Stumper.

Big Stumper (BS) always got the catfish and the women and his picture in the papers because editors like pics of giant catfish but don't pay for pictures of fellows with bloody or missing fingers.

[Bassmaster]

That's good stuff moose

[kantuckyII]

As easy as it is to spot a catfisherman..it's even easier to pick out a noodler!

[ohbuckeye2]

As easy as it is to spot a catfisherman..it's even easier to pick out a noodler!

OUCH.......

[hilltopkid]

never noodled, but did set turtle lines for several years on Wolf Creek around Chester Hill when I was younger. You wouldnt cacth me sticking my hand in no turtle hole though. You guys are nuts.

YTB-I heard, through a good source, that when you were a rookie noodler, and a heavy drinker, you stuck something else in that turtle hole, totally misunderstanding the meaning of noodling.lol Some say your high pitched voice is due to this terrible mishap. Any truth to this?

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

we went to limb lines and juggin, so that very thing would not happen. i always wanted to noodle for catfish, also. but got my back crushed in 84.

[X8XOHIOLEGENDX7X]

my dad use to noodle the kenny creek that runs from the ohio river through garrison ky.he said only put hand in same hole 1's cause if there was a snapper they'd get ya 2nd time lol.

[The Enforcer]

I used to do it back when I was in school , but its been 11 years since.

[BRUTUS IS A BEAST]

I havnt ever been noodling but I have shot alot out of the creek by my house! I shot 6 with my shutgun one time when I unloaded it on them and none of them even moved after I shot, just thought that was alittle weird that they didnt run for there lives... Where I shoot them from is up on a cliff above the creek and it is like a 20 foot drop down to where the soft shelled snapping turtles are on the bank at and when I shoot them in the head with my 22-250 rifle their heads fly off and they go flying up in the air like 4 feet doing about 2 or 3 flips b4 they land in the creek

[thirtytrap]

I didn't go this summer but in the past a certain group of friends and I went 5 or 6 times a year. The turtles arn't the big worry, it will sound weird to some however the muskrats are the things that will EAT YOU UP. I have never had to experiance a muskrat but I have seen their work a couple of times and they are nasty little critters.