Okie Noodling Tournament, United States

Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. Many other names, such as catfistin', grabblin', gravelin', hoggin', doggin', gurglin', ticklin' and stumpin', are used in different regions for the same activity. Noodling is currently legal in eleven of the fifty United States. The term "noodling", although today used primarily towards the capture of flathead catfish, can and has been applied to all hand fishing methods, regardless of the method or species of fish sought. Noodling as a term has also been applied to various unconventional methods of fishing, such as any which do not use bait, rod & reel, speargun, etc., but this usage is much less common. Okie Noodling is a 2001 documentary examining the practice of handfishing in rural Oklahoma. As much about the subculture surrounding handfishing, the film documents this practice of wading in murky water and sticking your hand into dark holes hoping a 30lb+ catfish will latch onto your hand and arm. Missing fingers and toes on some noodlers attest to the danger and excitement of the sport, a method hundreds of years old (practiced by Native Americans).