[barend]

Missouri legalizes bare-hand fishing
Experimental season OK’d for ‘noodlers,’
tackle-less pursuers of big catfish

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.



>>> click for the full article <<<

legalized? it should be compulsory...

i hate swimming around only to see someone fishing nearby... i spend the whole day in fear of of stepping onto a lost hook...
further more... throwing back fishes? so, here's a scenario i want you to imagine...
you're sitting in a cafe eating, the waiter comes up and says: "would sir/madam care for a chocolate mouse?" then you take your first spoon only to feet a hook the size of your hand rip into your mouth and out your throat. you get yanked by it up into the an upper atmosphere where you cannot breath, and some giant says "nah, fuck it... too small" ripps the hook out tearinf an even bigger hole in your body's breathing equipment and drops you back down... to continue casually on with your day...

all i can say is OUCH!!!

all hunting should be bare handed...
or a knife for hunting dangerous animals

yar, that be a fine catch!!!
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thanks to J m HofMarN for this one

[Kirby]

I would love to see the people who got caught for this, how would you?
Why is it that we pass laws that are next to impassable to catch people doing let alone convict people in a court with a jury of peers?

[Ninja Duck]

If handfishing is good enough for Gollum, it's good enough for me.

[SimeSublime]

I dislike fishing in general. I find it boring, and when I do catch something, the hook just makes me feel sorry for the fish.

[J m HofMarN]

Yeah that is a pretty stupid law. I would really love to see the cop that does this crap and actually thinks hes serving the common good in some way.

And I'm pretty supportive of the method of fishing as well. If you've seen those catfish that people pick up I'm sure you can imagine that this is actually sporting.

However, on the whole I have to say that considering the title of the article was "Noodling legalized in Misouri" (sounds wrong) and the description of what these people do, I'm just going to stick to buying pre-dead catfish and cut the handfulls of agitated snakes out of the loop.

[Supes]

Of course this also bring a whole new look to big game fishing also. Lets see these boys noodle their way up a black marlin. Now that's some fishin'!

[reiner]

I would like to add, being a Missouri resident and being extremely familiar with the Mississippi and fairly familiar with the Missouri river, that anyone swimming or wading into those rivers are far braver than I. They're 200 mile long mud slicks. Places along the Mississippi are fine for swimming but the water is still fairly gross. Swim at your own risk.

There are some very lovely views of the Mississippi though. My favorite is on the top hill of a local cemetary. And during the winter, eagles fish the river. Very interesting to watch.

And yes, primarily the fish caught out of the Mississippi are catfish in particular. They get HUGE. And I dunno about hand fishing it though. The river is also teeming with Gar, a very nasty variety of carnivorous fish taht has teeth. Most people cut lines if they hook a Gar.

This post has been edited by reiner: 03 January 2005 - 08:42 AM

[SimeSublime]

Nice to see you back Reiner. What have you and AN been up to recently?

[Slade]

I mentioned it in another post. They've offered their souls up to the great gods at Blizzard and have been playing WoW nonstop. :-P