a day ago
Come face-to-face with catfish on guided noodling trips: On the Clock
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Here in Texoma, we're blessed with a myriad of lakes and rivers, and in those bodies of water are a myriad of catfish.
In this installment of On the Clock, we traveled to one of those lakes in Texoma, where noodling tour guide Cee-Jay Blackmon introduces even the queasiest of participants, like me, to the art of catfish noodling.
'What's your favorite part about it?' I asked Cee-Jay.
'That part when they get bit and they freak out,' he answered.
Pulling up to the shore, I'm scared for a number of reasons. Between being woefully unprepared and the interesting texture of the catfish, it's safe to say I was regretting my life choices. But thankfully, that's where this noodling pro comes in.
'We take up to 10 people at a time or more. Just depends,' Cee-Jay said. 'And we'll go out on the lake all day and just look for holes under rocks and under concrete.'
It's a way of life for Cee-Jay. Getting his noodling start at age seven, he fell in love, hook, line and sinker.
'My uncles would take me out to the Red River and Cache Creek, stuff like that,' he said. 'And they'd shoved me in the hole head first by my feet and then tell me, 'If you ain't got fish and don't come out of the hole.' Ever since then, I just wanted to keep doing it.'
Turning it into a career, reeling in crowds for his noodling tours across Texoma.
But Cee-Jay says it's a competitive field.
'If there's no one noodling that day, you'll find more,' he said. 'But you could be noodling behind someone, and they could be pulling the fish out before you get to the hole.'
So much so, his fishing holes, like the one we're at today, are top secret.
'There's just people all over that noodle,' Cee-Jay said. 'And when you find a hole, you think no one knows of it, you just don't want to just blurt out where it is, because there would be multiple people going and checking it.'
That secrecy keeps his spots ripe for a post-noodling catfish fry for his clients.
'If the clients want to keep fish, we'll clean them. Usually, we don't let anyone keep anything over 30 pounds, but, you know, take pictures, release it,' Cee-Jay said. 'Anything under, skin it, clean it, bag it for them, so they can take it home with them.'
And after filleting my catch of the day…
'Okay. So obviously I've freaked out a bit, but I did it. Would you hire me?' I asked.
'I would, I'd hire you. Yes,' he said.
'Really? Okay, that's surprising, considering how much I freaked out,' I said.
'It's your first time. It takes a little while to get used to this,' Cee-Jay said. 'After going out and doing it a few times, you'd be right, and you'd be just right in motion.'
Ceejay may have a noodling assistant to join him next tour.
If you're interested in scheduling a tour with Cee-Jay, call him at (580) 860-3595.
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