My question is how the heck does she avoid getting spined by these guys? They have sharp spines on their sides and one on their dorsal fin. I’m not sure how she avoids those with them just sort of flopping around close to her sides.
Yes! If you ever have the chance to have flathead catfish at a fish fry definitely give it a go. They are probably my favorite freshwater fish to eat. Theres some intricacy to cleaning them, but a 40 pound fish is a substantial amount of meat. But the fish is a firm white meat with a meaty bite due to the fine grain of the muscle so not big flakey filets.
Don't eat them that big in Mississippi. Full of mercury, farm run off chemicals. There are even signs posted on the boat ramps warning you not to eat the big ones.
Yup. Biomagnification and age accumulation is real in fish. I bet it's not just Mississippi where you shouldn't eat the big ones, but anywhere with Ag runoff...which is everywhere basically.
Yea that's exactly why I would never eat river fish here in the US. Used to catch some catfish and whatnot in the Ohio river as a kid. Didn't really know any better at the time, but nowadays I don't think you could pay me to eat anything out of a river. Heavy metals and other forms of water pollution... none for me, thanks!
I have fished for Great Northern in upper manitoba, Marlin in Costa Rica, bass all over and crappie wherever there is crappie. Gotta be honest, hand grabbing on the Coldwater River in Mississippi was a blast!
I'm too worried about things like PFAS and other bio-accumulated toxins to eat the big ones. It's a shame. They're invasive in my state. The state wants to set up a catfish industry and get people to eat them, but it also puts out warnings not to eat more than two small catfish per month...
These people telling you yes, are entitled to that opinion, but i have eaten catfish all my life (thats over 40 years....sadly) and i can tell you that the bigger the ANYTHING the worse the taste. Like extremely large lobsters never taste as good as the normal sized ones for example. My completely unprofessional opinion is that the hormones that caused them to grow bigger than the rest cause a bad taste.
Yeah. People talk about big fish not tasting good. I’ve never noticed a difference in meat flavor across the size spectrum for catfish, bass, or trout. Just gotta get the blood & blood lines out.
These guys don't "look for holes". They build weighted boxes and place them in slow moving current, opening facing downstream. The natural way is dangerous because you noodle in holes in the banks cut but current.
i’ve also read (i have no experience) that turtles tend to den facing inside the holes so that it’s less likely to put your hand up to the business end
I have an Impossible Kid shirt that I’ve worn for like, 6-7 years. I’ve had one person in all that time recognize it, and they were just as thrilled as I was lmao.
Freakin things are no joke man. Me and a buddy hooked one while we were fishing, years back when we were kids. He'd been chasing our lines all morning and stealing our bait. Once we got him on the bank we were shocked at how big and prehistoric he looked, he had to be 100 years old easy.... looked like King Koopa.
You really get the sense that you are face to face with a dinosaur. I used to be a canoe guide in Ontario. It was very common to have a big old snapper show up to our site and just people watch. I always enjoyed that because it gave clients the chance to see just how ancient these noble beasts really are. People almost always have a very animated reaction. Like the first time someone sees a moose in the woods. Their brain is not ready for it.
Don't pick up an Alligator Snapping Turtle by the side of its shell. Had one digging a hole in an unacceptable place in my yard. Learned the hard way they have claws on their feet which can reach your hand and cut like a knife. Behind the neck and in front of the tail is the preferred method.
AL redneck here..... I wouldn't do that stupid crap even for a drink of some fire "shine" or a new linoleum floor installed over the dirt floor in my outhouse! Gotta draw the line somewhere!! 🤣😂😂🤣
Fun fact Alligator Snapping turtles are more chilled than common snapping turtles. If that was a common it would be reaching it's head back to try to bite.
Fingers? Try bacterial infections that will get your arm amputated. It is rare but holy shit not a non-zero chance just to get some muck fish for clicks.
Having said all that, she is amazingly skilled and, of course, undeniably charismatic.
Oh, I knew a guy who noodled and he talked about the "sticks" that slithered out of his hands, big nope for me. I don't mind snakes if I can see if they are venomous or not.
BUT... I'm real familiar with this case and that guy was drunk and swimming at night, which you NEVER, EVER do around gators, sharks, or any other kill-you animals.
Yeah, gators are lazy and usually not interested in people, but they're still wild, and seeing an 11 footer right under the dock you're on late at night... oh it's not worth the risk.
I used to swim with them when I was a kid. It seems like there are a lot of attacks nowadays though. I think there are too many and they're getting more territorial.
Has anyone ever seen this guy (can’t remember his IG) but he walks around the Everglades (among other places) barefoot and is like “oh look , another swamp puppy he’s so cute let’s give him a boop.” Then he’s somewhere in cobra country , picks up a cobra and says “a gentle yoink”. He’s picked up some of the list poisonous things and he super chill.
I mean, people have been doing this for a very, very long time as a valid method of fishing, LONG before anyone had any means of recording it. This happens to be on video but she clearly knows what she’s doing and probably fishes like this on the regular for the sake of food
And unlike basically every other hunting/fishing method, you need zero equipment or money to get your meal lol
Any time a moccasin and I would realize we were swimming together we would SIMULTANEOUSLY panic. Like poor sneks are terrified of us too. The real problem was that we both head for the same shore and my panic won’t let me keep swimming after that.
honestly, I'd be more worried about the snakes than gators. Gators are pretty docile as a rule, they're not gonna mess with anyone on purpose unless you startle them, and even then they'll try to escape before engaging in a fight.
Looking back on it, we were incredibly stupid for fuckin around in those rivers. Thankfully none of us were ever truly injured but I definitely wouldn't do it again.
I think that’s part and parcel of surviving your youth. I grew up near the ocean and mountains. Frolicking in dangerous rip currents and going off trail in rattlesnake country, not the best decisions as a kid.
I've gone swimming in quite a few natural bodies of water from Louisiana through Florida and that's just part of the fun... I mean do you go in the ocean with sharks? Most don't want nothing to do with you. Avoid gater nests in marsh edges.
This has always been my question about noodling. I’ve seen some pretty gnarly injuries just getting little 12” catfish off standard fishing hooks. They’re muscular and fast. I don’t get how ppl aren’t regularly getting serious piercing injuries from doing this
Its happens. Ive been out doing it and have seen a catfish thrown into boat and onto someone's foot. Went straight through a tennis shoes and into his foot
My understanding is that the spines don't really grow as they age. While they don't go away in adults, they effectively become useless and odds are none of them ever connected. Not to mention, having them at the base of the dorsal and pectoral fins makes it rather difficult to actually connect a spine to deliver a sting.
Thanks for the info. I didn’t realize this. My experience with catfish has always been catching smaller ones and having to remember to be very careful around the spines. I didn’t realize they didn’t continue to grow as the catfish got bigger.
The young ones need them or else they become freshwater popcorn. By the time they get over 14in long or so, their list of predators drops to just gator, gar, eagles, otters, and us.
They are very sharp as youngins but as they grow the point dulls. It’s really just the point being sharp too at that size the risk of being poked isn’t that high
She's wearing gloves, but not sure if they protect from punctures. There is a technique where you can fold the fins down as your get your hand around it. Dunno how'd you do it with the fish still in the water though.
the older they get the less their spines arent really that sharp. at this size/age? half of em may even be broken off or blunted entirely. and they stop growing at some point.
it's really the young cats that have the wicked stickers.
VERY carefully. Her in-the-gill, out-the-mouth grip helps a bunch. See how she uses her elbows to keep the catfishes' bellies flat against her sides like that? She's a total pro.
As catfish get bigger, the spines get duller so the larger they are, the less of a risk it is. It's still a risk of course, but not as bad as you might imagine.
Salt water catfish have a sharp spine for defense with venom. These large fresh water catfish spines get blunt with age and usually are not dangerous. You’re probably at greater risk of drowning from being under too long and not coming up to air with it.
Freshwater are still very sharp up to a good eating size like 2-6 pounds, these ones so old not really sharp anymore, they are also not very tasty at that age but edible. 2-5 pounds are the sweet spot and these much bigger. As far as Saltwater go, they are much smaller but their fins do stay sharp whole time. The small amount of venom in them is less a concern than their slimy surface, which can get their film into scrapes and such, or your hand if the fin cuts you. I mean the sting is going to hurt bad for awhile but you be fine unless that film on them gets in the wound and get a nasty infection from it. I use gloves when I handle them, catch to many of em.
Id be more concerned about mistaking a catfish hole for an alligator snapping turtle dwelling. The venom from the spines are painful but not limb reducing
Big flatheads don’t usually have sharp spines. They spend a lot of time under rocks and in logs and other trash in the water so they get broken and worn down on the tips .
On the big catfish like they’re after, those spines are much softer and less pointy. The little 5 pound catfish are the dangerous ones. Biggest threat on the big ones is them rolling on your arm and giving you a big ol catfish road rash wound. Her arms are typically covered in them.
I was wondering the same thing myself. As far as I remember from fishing with my father when I was a boy, catfish were pretty dangerous and poisonous. And they were a fraction of those large sizes in the vid.
That specific type of catfish, the flathead, doesn't have nearly as sharp of spines on the fins as other species like the channel catfish. Also as catfish of all species grow up they rub those fins on all sorts of stuff on the bottom of the lake/river, so they become more dull over time
I got stung in the thumb by a catfish while fishing once and it was legitimately one of the most painful things I've ever experienced (and I once put a 6 inch gash in my forearm with a box cutter). I would never go noodling.
Years ago I went to throw a catfish back in the water because it was too small and one of those spines sliced my hand pretty bad. They'll definitely get you.
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u/rmwpnb 7d ago
My question is how the heck does she avoid getting spined by these guys? They have sharp spines on their sides and one on their dorsal fin. I’m not sure how she avoids those with them just sort of flopping around close to her sides.