The 12th Annual Okie Noodling Competition or better known as catfish fishing just your hands in Pauls Valley Oklahoma had this saying, “If You Ain’t Bleeding, You Ain’t Leading.” The reason being, noodling, more often than not ends in bleeding. That's because catfish are living creatures, too. They also have that survival impulse so that when they believe they are in danger, they bolt or fight if they need to.

Additionally, whenever you go catfish fishing with your bare hands, you have to put your hands in little marine caves and corals. So there has to be some gash involved particularly when you get hold of that fantastic catfish and it attempts to shake out of your grasp.

Plus, catfish fishing these days can’t be done in hooks and rods because have you seen the size of these things? Typically, the catfish are even bigger than an infant. It’s fantastic. But the biggest catfish recorded is a nine-meter long catfish caught in the Mekong River in Thailand.

The larger catfish are mainly found in rivers. In ponds, you will find smaller catfish that we catch through poles. Crawdads or crawfish are said to be the best lures of catfish fishing because these are also the dinner of catfish. Catfish are baited more during spring until late fall when crawfish are aplenty and the supply of nutrients for catfish. Remove the shell of the crawfish to be positioned on the hook.

When there are no crawfish available, shrimp are fine. Just dice it up in some pieces. One shrimp can be four baits in catfish fishing. Other bait suggestions are the white-meat fish like shad and mackerel.

The biggest recorded catfish caught by rod and reel was 55 pounds but the secretive James Eric Auston Jr.’s of Florida declined to show where he was catfish fishing when he caught the flathead catfish.

Auston said, “A man’s fishing hole is sacred.” It may seem dirty but he just meant that he will not tell anyone else where in the Yellow River of Florida he caught that big fish. He probably would like to return for another record. Yet another thing Auston didn’t want to do, eat the fish.

But there are numerous others who would like to dig into a 55-pound catfish. For a fish that big, it’s ideal when it’s grilled to feed the whole family and some good friends. Just thoroughly clean the fish, cut open the stomach and put in onions, garlic, ginger to remove the smell. When it’s grilled, coat each side with butter, squeeze over a bit of lemon, and enjoy.