Gone Fishin’

Last weekend, our family joined friends for a fishing excursion on their pontoon.  Our first boating and fishing trip of the year lasted all afternoon and evening; we even brought along a small griddle to cook hot dogs for dinner right on the boat!  Our family loves a little competition, so we created contests for the first fish caught, the biggest fish caught, and the most fish caught. My husband, Dale, was the winner with 9 fish. I managed to catch three, despite casting my line into the trees, not once but twice!

Mary Monday Pool Noodle MemeThe most interesting part of the day was learning something new from our friends. They showed us how to noodle catfish. Now hold on–it’s not what you’re thinking! Regular noodling is a method of catching catfish using only your bare hands. Crazy folks stick their arms into catfish holes, let a catfish ‘bite’ their arm, and then wrestle it off. The practice, which has been common down South for years, is so dangerous most southern states have outlawed it.

Pool noodling, on the other hand, is much safer. That’s right. I’m talking about those foam noodles kids play with in the pools. Some ingenious fisherman came up with the idea of rigging pool noodles for catfish to latch onto instead of human arms and hands. You can see how it’s done here.

You have to admit it, pool noodles are pretty darn cool. I wish I’d come up with the idea. If you’re not the type to pool noodle catfish, you might enjoy using noodles to make your very own $1.98 beverage chest instead:

Pool Noodle Beverage Boat
Photo Source: Internet Meme and WikiHow