[ParrotHead]

I spent at little time near the White Oak in Stella, NC this weekend with Seabiscuit. We had intended to go fishing for catfish on the upper ,freshwater section, of the WO Saturday night, but weather, ailments and wives(the smarter halves) convinced us to postpone the trip. We have been gathering information on the best jugs around (take it easy, this is s'posed to be a family site). Anyway, we came across a fairly clever idea. Instead of using milk jugs or coke bottles, you can use pool noodles and PVC pipe.

We made up 2 dozen or more from three noodles. One of the noodles was a standard sized pool noodle with 1/2 hole thru the center of a 2 inch diameter of foam. The other 2 noodles "adult" sized, being about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter. One had a 1/2 inch hole the other 3/4. We cut the smaller noodle into 12 inch sections and the larger ones in about 8 inch sections. Then we inserted PVC pipe, sized to fit snugly in the respective holes and to a length roughly 1 1/2 times the length of the noodle sections. Glued caps on each end of the pipe, with 2 or 3 lead weights left over from an old cast net. One of the caps was drilled to fit a black coated leader thru the end. We crimped old 3/8" nuts into a loop on the inside of the cap and barrel swivels, or leaders, or just made a 2-3 foot leaders on the other side of cap. (We didn't have enough tackle to do the same thing on all the rigs.) Supposedly, after we bait the hooks, you tilt the rig upside down to let the weight slide to the top, then lay the baited rig in the water. Once you get a hit the rig will "pop-up" from a horizontal position to a vertical position, indicating a fish on or at least a strike.

To be legal in NC, we will have to place a Name, Address and Phone # on each jug, This indentification label, we're going to make out of fourescent reflective tape, to make the rigs easy to see with a spot light. Our rigs are almost fully constructed. We were waiting for the water-proofing in the drilled end of the PVC pipe to dry before completing the assembly. I hope to test these out soon and let you guys know how they worked. We'll post photos of the rigs and any cats we catch. Just thought I''d get the idea of a "Cat-Noodle" into your noodles in case anyone else wanted to try and to see if there were any thoughts.

If this idea catches on, we might have to talk NC Angler into making a Juggin' Section on the site!

 

[Topsail Angler]

That is an interesting use for those pool noodles. I don't do much fishing for cats these days but I'll keep that in mind should I decide to give it a try. Hey - maybe you could post some pics of the noodle jugs when they are done.

I hope you fill the house with cats....ummm....ur...... I mean the boat.

 

[ParrotHead]

Seabiscuit just sent me photos of the noodles. These are the complete assembly save the reflective tape (and ID info).

 

[ParrotHead]

Here's the other, I had to modify it to fit.

 

[sinker man]

That's the kinda of thing I like to make. Cheap easy to find materials taking on a new role in fish population management. I have come up with a few uses for pvc myself. Vacuum tubing is light weight cheap and has caps. It is pretty good for marker bouys, surf and trolling lure storage etc. Golf club tubes are also cheap and good lure seperators for surf fishing bags etc. AL

 

[Dave B.]

And they also work great for the kids in Taekwondo.... tell ya what, the guy that came up with the swim noodle... he's got it goin on.. many uses for them!! (See pix links below)

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QgDtAl0SjT3PRFunKpSpAoiBJ8CBUq3zuJpNiiB2CKh4z5STkEKN0vdr0w6bYPdNtj5DlGyr2mmFpKOoVX1p9!8iZCD5z3Q1!iUQol3CPYU/100_2529.JPG?dc=4675561689845167965

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QgDhAlYS*zvPRFunKpSpAkkexMH74rYgDeZGJUN3D25p2!obcbtv5QdsYqdS3MtyJWhbTBZn7Sb2XPTaLayZ5*fT6egf1felydmUuP3JSFs/100_2531.JPG?dc=4675561689871287729

There oughta be a list somewhere of all practical uses for the swim noodle!

Noodle on!

 

[fishme2death]

awesome

best idea i've seen in along time ,i used to put out jugs while bass fishing ,just so i could have something to put in the frying pan later that evening ,but it became such a pain to have a place in my boat for them i quit carrying them with me ,this idea is great i have plenty of room for three or four of those babies .....................you should market it if its your idea ,don't let someone else do it for ya .........

 

[Dave B.]

Hey guys, what's the # to the patent office????

 

[ParrotHead]

Free ideas you can do yourself....CHEAP! That's where this idea belongs. Patents, marketing....sounds too much like work. It would probably take up all my fishing time....I don't really need the money.....I just wanted to help my fellow anglers......OK, it wasn't my idea . I saw several similar designs on the internet. Seabiscuit and I pretty much just used the material we had laying around. I think the only thing we did buy was some pvc fitting. Everything else was near to hand. I think if you really wanted, you could order a "professional"-made noodle for $5 or $6 each, plus s&h, but we barely have that much tied up in 25-30 of 'em.

 

[fishme2death]

reason!

The main reason that i mentioned marketing it is because most of the southern states especially arkansas mississippi and alabama are catfish crazy ,they run traps ,jugs and trot lines as a rule of thumb ,my grandfather was an avid trapper from arkansas and used his catch to feed most of the less fortunate in his home town ,just thought maybe the idea could draw in some money for ya ..........ya never know ,but thanks just the same great idea

 

[ParrotHead]

Feel free to spread the idea. Free fishing info is cool! And thanks to guys like Randy (NC Angler) we have a means to share all this good stuff!

 

[Seabiscuit]

Catfish traps

Born in Mississippi on the Yazoo and raised in Arkansas near the Big Muddy, I have to admit that catfish is my favorite freshwater fare...a little on the rich side, but soooo good. I wish I had a nickle for every old tire catfish trap I've snagged and pulled outta the water...I always tossed 'em back...but checked 'em first!

 

[ParrotHead]

1st Attempt & Lessons Learned

We finally tried the noodles this past weekend. We trailered Seabiscuit's boat up to Haywood's Landing between Stella and Maysville around about sunset and put in. The boy and the wives joined us as we set up the staging area. Had a fire going on the riverbank and roasted some weenies.

This part of the river is still affected by the tide and the tide was coming in. So, Seabiscuit, the boy and I headed down river and set out 17 noodles with various baits. We marked the noodles with the baits used so we could do a side-by-side comparison. Baits used included chicken gizzards and livers and several different flavored/scented store bought baits. We headed back to the fire and let the noodles do their job.

Best laid plans.......We tied the boat up and sat around the fire with the family as we noticed the tide had changed while we were setting the noodles. We sat there enjoying the company and the fire for about an hour until we figured we needed to go get the noodles before they made it back to Stella. The 3 of us hopped back in the boat and started spotting noodles along the bank. We picked up the first couple...nothing. Then we saw one bobbing and weaving. Our first catfish on a noodle a little 1 #er. He was on a garlic-flavored store bought bait. The next noodle we found occupied was really jerking around as the boat approached. I reached over the side and started pulling this one in, only to get a big splash of river water in the face. He was still chewing on the gizzards and the hook wasn’t set yet. We picked up the rest of the noodles without any more fish. Re-baited the 14 noodles still in service (we had some casualties, i.e. straightened hooks and broken leaders) and headed up the river, past “home base” so the river would bring the noodles to us. We set ‘em back out & headed back to base. Still sitting around the fire when we realized that we missed the tide, again. We went back out in about 45 minutes to an hour later to catch the noodles before they went to Maysville this time. No fish….and motor problems. We called it a night for noodlin’ and sat around the fire until about Midnight, then headed home.

Top Ten Lesson Learned:
10. Check the tide table before leaving the house
9. Garlic and Gizzards got all the attention
8. Noodles probably need 2 or 3 hours in the water, before checking them
7. Blue noodles are harder to see than pink or orange, even w/ reflective tape
6. Bait the hooks in advance, if possible
5. Don’t forget the 1,000,000-candle power spotlight
4. Even boat mechanics can get it wrong (boat just came outta the shop)
3. Red oak stinks when it burns
2. Weenies and Marshmallows are still good over the fire.
1. Time spent fishing is great, even better if it’s with the family.

That was longer than I intended, but that’s the whole story. I think we might put the lessons to work over Easter vacation.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Maybe not a lot of fish to show but it sounds like you had a lot of fun and that is what counts!

Wonder if catfish like.......ah never mind

 

[ParrotHead]

Wonder if catfish like.......ah never mind

Mike, that might not be a bad idea. I didn't think to try it. But I do have some used Gulp! in it's own little bag. I will try it next time we go noodlin'.

At least the smell of Gulp! will wash off my hands. I fell victim to an older and wiser Seabiscuit. He piloted the boat while I baited hooks. One bait stank sooooo bad, blood and shad, that the 3 of us were all gagging. We were sure it would draw catfish from the other end of the state, but it was still on the hook when we finished. I think I can still smell it a little, or it may just be like staring at a welding arch. It's burned into my olfactory nerve endings. Next time we're both baiting hooks at the dock, BEFORE we get in the boat.

 

[Topsail Angler]

I can't smell the bait but I can hear Seabiscuit still laughing

 

[ParrotHead]

I almost forgot to metion...Mama caught 1 bream from the bank on a nightcrawler under a cork. Papaw always said "K.I.S.S."

The boy took a picture with the disposable he keeps in his tacklebox. We'll post it eventually.