Catfish noodle

Well I guess it had to happen. The catfish noodles are so popular that Walmart is selling them now. They want about $5 for them and they appear to be well made. (better than my home made models)
They may have been around before now but I haven't seen any before except the home brew designs.

I can make eight for the price of four of those and mine are just as good... well better IMHO. haha

I am with you brother. I am way too cheap to pay for what I can make. When they put the noodles on clearance for 50 cents I will buy a couple more and start bending wire for more noodle floats!

The walmart in Warner Robins has the pool noodles on sale for 25 cents. I bought quite a few of them.

The walmarts around here do not seem to carry the big fat noodles anymore. Only have the thinner ones. Are most of you using the thin ones or are you finding the fatter ones in your area?

Has anybody made some from the thinner ones? I was concerned they would not be bouyant enough.

I've made a bunch from the thinner ones and they do get taken under occasionaly but then they do always come up.

Length

What length are you making them?

Can someone show me what a Catfish Noodle looks like???

Here is a neat-o engineering diagram I found at the 2coolfishing forum the other day. This is pretty much the "Cadillac" version. The rebar let's it lay flat if no bite has been received, but when the fish pulls on it, the end tips down in the water causing the rebar to slide down and the "noodle" will then float up instead of laying flat.



Here is a link to the site where I found that diagram. This thread also includes "how to - step by step" construction photos for these noodle "jugs".

http://www.fishingacrosstx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=841

I also found a set of photos of how they work - this is an example of one set out, but with no "bite" yet.



And once the fish pulls on the line, the rebar tips to one end and this is what a "bite" looks like. Another big clue is the "noodle" may be bobbing up and down and swimming around the cove as your boat gets near. Half the fun is chasing the noodle especially if you have kids on board. The fish will try and stay away from the boat, so it can get interesting. Just use your mooring hook to snag the line and then reel 'em in.



I always thought it was GA law you had to mark your jug with your name and other info, but I just checked the GA DNR site and you have to label "trotline" jug floats, but they now have a seperate section for jug fishing like this and it does not say anything about labeling the jug. It's at the bottom of the page

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/node/1299

Set hooks and Jugs:

• Only channel catfish, flathead catfish, American shad, hickory shad , and nongame fish (those not listed under freshwater game fish daily limits) may be taken with set hooks and jugs.

• You must possess a valid sport fishing license when fishing set hooks and jugs.

• It is illegal to use jugs on Lake Tobesofkee and state park lakes.

• There are no other restrictions on the use of set hooks and jugs (number of, season, dimensions, materials, etc.). However, DNR encourages anglers using these methods to check them regularly, remove them at the end of the fishing day, and avoid areas popular with recreational boaters.

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I just want to know how you keep a blue cat from taking a bait in lakes with all 3 types?

Why not blue cats? That makes no sense. If you catch one, do you just throw it back? And what about gar?

i can make 12 noodles for the price of the wallyworld noodles. i just cut mine into 4 sections run the line thru the hole tie it on one end (this way it stands up on the knot end) wrap it with silver duct tape and add split shot and hook. never had one to cut thru the noodle when pulling it under either. caught em up to 47#'s on them. may have .60 in each one.

never have paid attention to the species you can take on a jug until now. makes no sense why you cant keep blues.

Cricket Chunker said:

The walmarts around here do not seem to carry the big fat noodles anymore. Only have the thinner ones. Are most of you using the thin ones or are you finding the fatter ones in your area?

Has anybody made some from the thinner ones? I was concerned they would not be bouyant enough.

Click to expand...

yes they work fine . you can find some at biglots and dollar general stores as well. sometimes they will have the thick foam ones. oh and there cheaper than wally world

the thin ones work great and mine are made with the clothes hanger design and they work very well. Only problem I have is other folks checking my stuff and even had one with the hook cut off. The nerve of some folks just plain bother me.

but noodle fishing is fun and very enjoyable nothing like chasing those things all over the lake when you get a big one.

vagrantprodigy said:

Why not blue cats? That makes no sense. If you catch one, do you just throw it back? And what about gar?

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I pulled up the 2010 GA DNR fishing regulations PDF and it looks like Channel and Flathead are listed as "game fish", but there is no listing for Blue cats. I guess this makes them a non-game fish?

On the other hand on page 17, it lists the Blue along with the Channel and Flathead as speicies you can catch on methods other than rod and line. They also list the blue in the guidelines for limiting consumption charts.

I think it's an typing oversight and they are the same as the other two species.

I also found some youtube video's on how to make those type "noodles". Dimensions are a little different, but the concept is the same. Gives the general idea.

<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/im89sa-gfrk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/im89sa-gfrk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object>

Wal mart in Valdosta had their pool noodles on clearance for 10 cent and they only had one left when I seen them.

i always thought that the chanel cat and the blue cat were the same fish with diffrent names. like the flathead is sometimes called a mud cat

bander_TC50 said:

i always thought that the chanel cat and the blue cat were the same fish with diffrent names. like the flathead is sometimes called a mud cat

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I think Blue cats get alot bigger than channels.