Day14 Memphis TN – May 24

Still camped at Arkabutla Lake Corps of Engineers (COE) campground in MS, just south of Memphis.  Camped in the site next to me is a small group of Noodlers.  Ronald and his son JC I met when I first got here.  We started talking right away and Ronald was going on about all the catfish he was planning on catching this weekend and I suddenly came to the realization that they were Noodlers.  If you don’t know what that is, look it up.  JC saw the look of excitement on my face and immediately starting laughing.  They are not actually noodling this weekend, but laying lines and using rod and reel as the water is very very high and too dangerous to noodle.

Okay, not everyone is going to look it up, so here are a couple of clips from Wikipedia.

‘Noodling is the practice and sport of fishing for catfish using only one’s bare hands.’

‘Flathead catfish live in holes or under brush in rivers and lakes and thus are easy to capture due to the static nature of their dwelling. To begin, a noodler goes underwater to depths ranging from only a few feet to up to twenty feet, placing his hand inside a discovered catfish hole. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim forward and latch onto the fisherman’s hand, usually as a defensive maneuver in order to try to escape the hole. If the fish is particularly large, the noodler can hook the head around its gills.’

‘The largest danger posed to noodlers are other forms of aquatic life found in catfish holes. Far more dangerous than catfish are alligators, snakes, beavers and snapping turtles, who will take over abandoned catfish holes as homes of their own. These animals are always on the mind of experienced noodlers.’

  Flatheads and BlueCats

So there you have it.  You have now been educated and have something to discuss at your next cocktail party.  For reference sake, a moderately successful trip is something like 200 lbs of catfish or so per trip out to the river.

Did a 3-1/2 mile walk this morning and saw plenty of wildlife.  Saw four White-tailed Deer, two different groups of Wild Turkey, a cottontail rabbit, a Painted Turtle and a bluebird.  Also, a couple of other birding opportunities that I failed to identify in time.

By the way, it is currently 3:30a here and the Noodlers just got in.  I can hear the pop tops snapping . . .

Went in to Memphis for the afternoon and to enjoy my usual Saturday night Rib Night at a new locale.  Got my rib fix at the Memphis City Grill and they were excellent.  Then cruised up and down Beale Street for a couple of hours mostly listening to whatever live Blues was playing on the street corners.  There are certainly some lively personalities as you can imagine.  Dropped in at BB Kings for a beer as well as a couple of other establishments.  For me, this was definitely worth the lay over.  So much so, that I will definitely return some day.  So much Blues, so little time.

Three chords, and a real sad story.  It’s all about the Blues, baby!