There are a few outdoor adventures I've never tried and never will. Skydiving, rock climbing and bungee jumping come immediately to mind. Noodling is another.

Noodling, also called "hand-grabbing," is a form of extreme catfishing that's popular and legal in some Southern states, but not here. Early settlers learned it from Native Americans. I first learned of noodling during my Oklahoma years. I had some students that would do almost anything to put fresh meat on the table.

Noodlers use their hands to probe underwater holes, stumps and burrows. This is where large catfish -- 20 to 60 pounds -- lurk in murky water. The idea is to tempt catfish with wiggling fingers or annoy them by probing their resting areas. After the catfish bites the hand, the noodler hauls the fish up and into a boat.

It's not as easy as it sounds. There's usually a lot of blood as the catfish's teeth rake the noodler's arm and hand. And that's if everything goes according to plan -- that is, if there's a catfish in the hole and not a cottonmouth, muskrat, beaver or snapping turtle.

Hand-grabbing snapping turtles sounds even crazier than noodling catfish. A big snapper can bite a finger to the bone and even snap it off. Noodling for snappers means using your hands to feel along underwater burrows hoping for the jagged edges of the hind end of a snapper's shell.

While hand-fishing for fish is illegal in Pennsylvania, noodling aquatic reptiles and amphibians is legal with a fishing license. Regulations state those animals "... may only be taken by hand, hook, snake tongs, turtle hooks, traps and nets less than four feet square or four feet in diameter."

Snapping turtle season runs from July 1 through Oct. 31. The daily limit is 15; possession limit is 30.

If noodling sounds insane, like something you must see to believe, you're right. Plan a trip to Paul's Valley, Okla., July 11 for the 10th annual Okie Noodling Tournament (www.paulsvalley.com/noodling.html), or Google "noodling for catfish" and find a variety of YouTube videos.

First Published: June 28, 2009, 8:00 a.m.