I recall that after it was made illigal, there was discussion of having a short noodling season to see what the results would be on the cat population. The Missouri Department of Conservation objected so it went nowhere.
Yes, well the Missouri DNR has their priorities and my friend and his fellow noolers have their’s. I think they’re all crazy myself - wandering around in water, sticking your hands into blind holes in the riverbank, then haning on to whatever you happen to find doesn’t sound like fun to me.