Hand grabbing, also known as noodling, grabbing, grabbling, graveling, and catfisting, is a popular way of catching catfish among a more adventurous group of anglers. The process takes place by anglers either swimming or crouching low in the water, feeling along the banks, submerged timber, or other areas likely to hold big catfish, then grabbing the fish by the lower jaw and wrestling it out of the water. Some grabbers even report simply pushing their forearm into the fish’s mouth, then pulling it to the surface as the fish clamps down.
Frances Wooten (upper photo) hand-grabbed this big flathead catfish on South Carolina’s Lake Murray.
Ricky Hamilton (lower photo) was also on Lake Murray when he grabbed this big blue catfish.
The scars on both fish are likely not from the battle with these hand-grabbers, but natural scars that occur when the big fish spawn, which typically happens early each summer.
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