Free Republic

PAULS VALLEY — When Lucy Millsap walked onstage in a hot pink tank top with a 72-pound catfish hoisted over her shoulder, the crowd couldn't help but take notice. Several snapped pictures with the 19-year-old from Quinlan, Texas, on their cellphones. “It's nice to come to Oklahoma and be famous for a big catfish,” Millsap said. Millsap drove three hours hauling her dusty brown, whiskered catch in a red tub in her truck bed to claim the top prize at the 14th annual Okie Noodling Tournament. She beat 200 contestants to win the $1,500 prize in the “Big Fish” category...

State Noodles With Decriminalizing Fish-Grabbing; Watch Out for the Tail Brady Knowlton believes it's his inalienable right as a Texan to shove his bare hand into the mouth of a 60-pound catfish and yank it out of a river. But wrestling a flapping, whiskered giant as it latches onto your arm with its jaws isn't among Texas's accepted methods of capturing fish. It is, rather, a class C misdemeanor, with fines of up to $500. So Mr. Knowlton, a 30-year-old-private citizen, oilman and outdoor enthusiast here, is pushing a bill in the state Legislature to legalize hand fishing, also known...

Once a year, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, is home to the Okie Noodling Tournament, a 24-hour race to bring in the biggest catch using an unusual—and sometimes dangerous—technique. Unlike traditional anglers, noodlers forego the rod and reel and take on massive catfish with their hands, pulling them from holes by their toothless mouths.

It's almost time to start gettin' ready to see about fishin'!

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A record 124-pound blue catfish caught earlier this week by an Illinois man fishing in the Mississippi River died on its way to the Cabela's Outfitter store where it was to go on display. Tim Pruitt, 33, of Godfrey, Ill., caught the world-record blue catfish early Sunday near Alton. The fish, measuring 58 inches long and 44 inches around, was kept alive and was to be displayed in a tank at Cabela's in Kansas City, Kan., but it died en route to the store. ``We're baffled by this,'' Fred Cronin, a fisheries biologist for the Illinois...