Who in their right mind would wade or swim out into a muddy river, find an old hollowed out rotten log, or pile of brush, and then stick their whole arm into it; just hoping that some monster fish would try to swallow them ?
Not me. No way. Never, period.


Yet, catfish noodling remains one of the popular southern pastimes, a sport that only a dyed-in-the-wool catfisherman would love.  Many of the catfish that are caught this way are indeed monsters; weighing close to 100 lbs, or even more.
When the female catfish lays her eggs in the spring; the male catfish guards the nest, which is hidden in some deep and murky place in the river or lake, usually an old hollow log, or under a brushy overhang in the river.
The catfish noodler then wades (or swims if the water is deep) and looks for possible catfish nesting places. When they find one, the noodler sticks his whole arm up into the hole and wiggles his finger to attract the catfish, who then attacks the intruder.
As soon as the catfish bites, the noodler grabs it by the gills and pulls the catfish out of the hole.
At least, hopefully; this is what happens. There are stories of people who have lost their fingers, or broken an arm while attempting this feat.  A chewed up arm is another likely possibility.


Catfish are the fish of choice in the southern United States, and they are also usually an easy fish to catch, and will bite on almost any smelly kind of bait.
They are also one of the UGLIEST fish in the world. There may actually be uglier fish, but they are not seen (and eaten) as often as catfish are.
I enjoy fishing, and even like to eat a catfish; but I will do my fishing with a fishing pole and hook, thank you; and something else besides ME as the bait.

Ha ha ha ha!

I have seen this too! absolutely INSANE. There could be snakes or crocodiles or anything! I would hate hate hate to be on a trip where people did that. I would sooner cut my own arm off .

"Using yourself as bait" is a scary as hell concept to comprehend....and even moreso I cannot fathom how this is considered a sane thing to do .