Noodling

Has anyone ever heard of people noddling in our region at all? I always wondered if it was possible or if anyone was crazy enuff to do it. Always wanted to try it but figured we didnt have the right conditions.

I thought it was illegal to noodle here in PA. http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/violations.html The PA regulations say that handfishing is not allowed. I guess Pennsylvania doesnt want anybody to have any fun.
 
hey Sam, if you want to catch turtles at Twin Lakes just use a piece of hotdog. fish the shallow areas (which pretty much means anywhere in either lake) and you will catch both softshell and snapping turtles.

sorry for the confusion,in our area noodeling meant catching snapping turtles by hand. never had a prob. with the fish comm.,as a matter of fact I had a article published in the Angler on grabbing turtles a few years back.if you meant catfish that is a different story,they even have girls do that.  lol   sam

We never called it noodlin', just turtle hunting

Hey, that sounds like fun but can't those things bite off your fingers?  This sounds like something I want to do.

Two friends of mine(Crazy Eddy and Aint-right RIP) set lines with chicken livers in the Tunagawant Creek before it goes into the Alleghanny River in Limestone NY.
They would come into the bar I was working at with a bag of snapping turtles trying to get someone to reach inside.
I don't remember anyone doint it.
They would buy their new little friends shots and pour down their throat-said it marinated the meat.
Ed was a chef and the turtle soup was great.

Du ud,
 
Turtle soup, with fresh veggies from the garden, is as good of eating as you can find. It's been awhile, but cleaning them WASN"T exactly pleasant.

Me and my brother caught two this year of average size. We caught them in a log jam on a local stream. Seems like everytime we set lines down at this strip mine pond/swamp we get skunked every single time. I caught one small one there last year and let it go, definetly wasn't worth cleaning. I've caught the majority of mine on frogs, small bluegills and creek chubs work to. Just yank the guts out, hook 'em up and throw the lines out. Any opinions on what the best baits are? Rather set lines in deep holes on streams, lake shallows or swamps?

Keep on turtle'ing!!!

Drippin!

snapping turtles are amazing creatures that do not get the respect that they deserve. consider how they hibrinate under water or mud for approx. 6 months.they are more benifit than harm & help clean up the waterways by eating a lot of the dead fish & animals that end up on the shoreline. can't understand why we still have morons that will kill them for no reason. for you beginers to turtle hunting,best to read the regulations on seasons & equipment regs. before you start.there are a couplr of good paperback books on the subject that were written by Rich Faler of Beaver Pond Pub.,p.o.box224, greenville,pa.,16125. in them he covers diff. ways to catch them & how to prepare them. there are a lot of old wives tales on them,such as breaking broomsticks in 1/2,& cutting fingers off etc. we have caught hundreds of them & the biggest that I have caught or seen was 31# actual live weight. we had all been bitten,never seen any amputations. not to say that it couldn't happen, just to  say it would be rare. never heard of putting them in ice water ,but we would put them in a barrel of water to let them flush out with clean water since they seem to like the nastyest water they can find. I will send a copy of instructions on how to catch them by hand to anyone that sends $1 to cover postage. Sam Petrill, 607 lowry ave., jeannette,pa. 15644 if you have any ? e-mail me at :suesam6276@peoplepc.com