Noodling....

[Outdoorsfool]

...is in. Heard this morning that MDC is going to allow a "test" season in 2005 to assess impact on breeding-age fish. Can they really tell in one season what the long-range impact will be on the overall population?

[Rafe Hollister]

YES. They can tell in just one season. How dare you to question the authority of the MDC?! Now go sit on your hands in the corner until MOCraig tells you it's okay to come out.

[Outdoorsfool]

Rafe - So let me see if I got this straight. You're tellin' me that MDC knows EXACTLY how many fish are in the "test" zone and have it quarantined so no fish leave or new ones come in. And MDC...in it's infinite wisdom...also knows EXACTLY how many eggs each of those fish will have. They also know exactly how many of those eggs actually become fish and survive to become breeding-age fish. Therefore they know exactly how many fish can be taken without any effect on future breeding and are prepared to close the season as soon as that number of fish are taken. Is that what you're trying to tell me? Hmmm...I might owe fish an apology. If he knows all this, then he's a lot smarter than he looks.

[Warmouth]

Is the test state wide, or is specific lakes or regions?

I've been waiting for this for quite a while, and I'd like to try it.

[Rafe Hollister]

Here's my honest take on it, if it is actually being allowed.

The MDC isn't really going to be monitoring specific crap like egg production, success of the hatch, number of fish taken, yadda yadda yadda. They'll just assume catch rates based on the number of people that get out there and do it. I don't really think the number of fishermen that take advantage of this will be that large, so that's why it's on a one year trial basis. If they're right, and the number of noodlers is low, they'll continue it. If they're wrong, and the number of noodlers is high, they'll discontinue it to prevent high numbers of spawning cats from being taken.

It's all about population models. It isn't an exact science, but is a bit of art and assumptions.

[BornBad]

Ah, every man's dream to roam their fingers around in dark strange holes.

[Rafe Hollister]

Honestly, you used too many commas in that sentence.

[Outdoorsfool]

@ BornBad

I couldn't find any info on MDC website yet. From what little I heard, it was going to be on a very limited basis/area for the trial period. There is no way they can establish any worthwhile information from this method. Let's say they do this on an area in NW Missouri. Do you think noodlers from other areas are going to drive up there just to hand fish? If they are old-timers, they're going to keep doing it the way they have been for years. Others that may want to try it may not drive to try it, but will if/when regulations are opened up statewide. Seems like a pretty lame donkey way to get a bunch of less-than-accurate information.

[Rafe Hollister]

Jeez, MOCraig, I know what you mean. I HATE it when I get AIDS.

[Rafe Hollister]

BTW, back in central IL, we called it "loggin'." I'd never heard of noodling until coming to MO. You all need to start calling it loggin and be more like me.

[Outdoorsfool]

Rafe - where I come from, "loggin" is what you do to the forest. Somehow, I have a feeling in Central IL "loggin" was something your "buddy" did to you on a snipe hunt.

[Tigerhaze]

This is taken from a post on another site-I am not sure which paper it is from.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Next summer, it will be legal to plunge into some Missouri rivers and grab catfish by hand - a type of fishing that is not for the faint of heart.

Known variously as noodling or hogging, handfishing has long been a misdemeanor punishable by fines, because state officials fear it depletes breeding-age catfish. It can also be dangerous: Noodlers hold their breath for long periods under water and sometimes come up with fistfuls of agitated snakes or snapping turtles instead of fish.

That does not discourage enthusiasts, who insist there is great sportsmanship in fishing with your bare hands.

So after years of urging by noodlers, and lopsided legislative support for easing up on handfishers, the Missouri Conservation Commission has approved an experimental handfishing season next summer. Forms of handfishing are already legal in 11 states, including neighboring Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois.

"It's a start," John Smith, deputy director of the Conservation Department, said Tuesday. "We are moving forward in good faith to answer the legitimate biological concerns that we have, and balance that with the requests for making this process legal."

Missouri's biological concerns are that handfishers, who go for the biggest fish they can wrestle from riverbanks or hollow logs, will take too many sexually mature fish from their underwater nests.

The commission agreed to a June 1-July 15 season, during which handfishers who have bought a $7 permit can use only their bare hands and feet to catch a daily total of five catfish. Fish under 22 inches long must be thrown back.

Handfishing will be legal only along specified stretches of the Fabius, St. Francis and Mississippi rivers.

So secretive are handfishers that they have formed a club called Noodlers Anonymous. A University of Missouri-Columbia professor who got the group's cooperation in surveying its members found that most are men, average age about 40, living in rural areas.

Howard Ramsey of Paris, Mo., president of Noodlers Anonymous, said the season is a "very positive step."

"I hope this is the first step toward a statewide noodling season," Ramsey said. "Noodling is great fun and very satisfying and any lover of fishing should try it"

I think MDC has gone down the wrong path on this issue. While noodling is by no means easy, I think that the daily limit of 5 cats and no maximum length limit is going to hurt the breeding populations of cats on those rivers. I don't have data to back that up, but that is my gut feeling.

I also think the die-hard noodlers are going to use the limited season as an excuse for poaching them outside of the short season and outside of the designated river boundaries, unless MDC plans to do some aggressive enforcement. I already see evidence of noodling in areas I fish, before it became legal.

I also wouldn't be surprised if someone inexperienced at noodling gets seriously injured or killed this next season trying to be a macho man against a large cat.

[Outdoorsfool]

Is the length limit realistically going to keep fish under 24" from dying? I'm not all that familiar with noodling other than stories I've heard from my dad and grandad who used to noodle the Missouri. Generally these fish are not grabbed by their lips and pulled to the surface. They are either grabbed by the gill flaps/gills or deep in the throat. After being wrestled to the surface in this manner, can a 22" flathead be released and expected to live?

[PoisonSnake]

That is what I kindof thought OF. From what I have seen, they go deep into the fishes throat or whatever to bring him up. I can't imagine how they could live. I can tell you this; I won't be doing this crazy poopoo any too soon. I don't like the thought of big snakes, alligator snappers, or sticking my arm anywhere I cannot see.

[Tigerhaze]

Don't forget muskrats or beavers.....