Hogging Catfish

Origins: "Noodling" (also known as "hogging") is indeed a real pastime pursued by some sportsman, a form of fishing in which the quarry (usually catfish) are caught not with rod and reel or with nets, but by hand. Enthusiasts plunge into waterways, pulling up fish directly from the water, scooping them up from along river banks, or hauling them out of hollow logs. According to a December 2004 Associated Press article, "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."

Although handfishing is perfectly legal in some states, others have passed or retained laws against it, due to the dangers of noodlers' accidentally pulling up something harmful (like such as disgruntled snakes or snapping turtles) and because the hobby can threaten aquatic populations if handfishers remove too many sexually mature fish from their underwater nests. Nonetheless, in 2005 Missouri agreed to allow handfishing on an experimental basis, joining 11 other states in which handfishing is now lawful.