# Noodling the Ohio River



## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Does anyone know any good locations in the cincinnati area for noodling?


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

If you have a boat go to the mouth of the great miami, be careful it comes up on a sand bar. Get out pull your boat over the bar and noodle flat heads and blues till your hearts content. Tom (Please release em. I would'nt eat em out of there anyway)


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

if you mean Hand noodling for cats, its illegal in all but like 4-5 states, including Ohio, Ky does have a short 3 month season June 1-Aug 31, daylight hrs only. I am prety sure its illegal in Indiana as well but couldnt find any reference in the regs.

Salmonid


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

Dude, there is NO WAY I'm sticking my hands in a hole in muddy water hoping I find a fish instead of whatever else is in there. There are some things just better left for somebody else to do and that is one of them. 

Uh, uh. Not gonna do it, can't make me, can't pay me enough... :-0

UFM82


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

UFM82 said:


> Dude, there is NO WAY I'm sticking my hands in a hole in muddy water hoping I find a fish instead of whatever else is in there. There are some things just better left for somebody else to do and that is one of them.
> 
> Uh, uh. Not gonna do it, can't make me, can't pay me enough... :-0
> 
> UFM82


Agreed!! haha Plus I catch all the fish I want on rod and reel.


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## longhaulpointer (Mar 12, 2009)

LK if you find a place to do it, I'd be down. I've always wanted to try it. However, i think that the LMR would probably be a better place to do it than the Mighty O. C and R only of course.


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## Small Town Country Boys (Feb 10, 2011)

Man i would love to learn to noodle for catfish. We noodle for snapping turtles in creeks and its a blast. Allways wanted to try for catfish.


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

Once again, Noodling, Grapplin, Handfishing or what ever else you want to call it is *ILLEGAL IN OHIO*!!!! Yes, the wardens will bust you for it too...


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## Small Town Country Boys (Feb 10, 2011)

Why is it illegal, just wondering. We are allowed to do it for snapping turtle and that is probaly more dangerous, so ill take it thats not the reason. Does anyone know why seems dumb to me.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Probably because you're taking them (numbers already limited in Ohio) during their breeding season from their nests.

Small Town Country Boys......doesn't make much sense to me.


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## Socom (Nov 3, 2005)

How exactly do you noodle for snapping turtles? Sounds pretty painful to me.


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## sbreech (Jun 6, 2010)

Socom said:


> How exactly do you noodle for snapping turtles? Sounds pretty painful to me.


I was wondering the same thing...


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## Small Town Country Boys (Feb 10, 2011)

We find a good creek that has a muddy bottom or sandy. There will be places under the bank that goes back in or you can feel around brush piles in the creek. All you do is feel around for their shell once you find the shell you run your fingers around the edge till you find the points in the back and you grab its tail and pull him out. It is a good time got some pics on my site. I am gonna film some of our hunts this summer.


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

Small Town Country Boys said:


> We find a good creek that has a muddy bottom or sandy. There will be places under the bank that goes back in or you can feel around brush piles in the creek. All you do is feel around for their shell once you find the shell you run your fingers around the edge till you find the points in the back and you grab its tail and pull him out. It is a good time got some pics on my site. I am gonna film some of our hunts this summer.


so what happens when you find its head instead of its tail? lol


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

walleyewrangler13 said:


> so what happens when you find its head instead of its tail? lol


Come up short on your finger count


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

i wouldnt do it, my hands get tore up enough already through out the year. And i wouldnt chance doing it in ohio


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## BASSINaDL (Aug 24, 2010)

when we went to visit some family tht live on an ohio rver trib me an a couple of friends went down to try it and after an hour we probably had mabey 5 small blues around 15-20 inches and a 25" flathead just watch out for the turtles haha


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## 10fish (May 12, 2005)

Not worth the risk.............. I know a guy that drowned doing that. He reached in sholder deep ,got ahold of a big one that pulled back, he lost his footing and went under...............game over. 

I'd stick with a cold beer and chicken liver.


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## Small Town Country Boys (Feb 10, 2011)

Normally they wolnt snapp till they start to move. And they can only walk one way so u let them walk out from under your hand and grab the tail.


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## sbreech (Jun 6, 2010)

Small Town Country Boys said:


> NormallyQUOTE]
> 
> hehehe... The last thing I want to do is throw up a peace sign only to realize I'm flipping off someone behind me.


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

sbreech said:


> Small Town Country Boys said:
> 
> 
> > NormallyQUOTE]
> ...


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

cat grabing is so much fun its kinda scary though i only did it at a ptiv lake nd it was channels not flathead but they were all around like 24-28inchs but it was still alota fun used gloves tho with out them they cut your fingers all up we did c n r too but i would hate to grab a turtle i would freakk out


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## lark101_1999 (Apr 12, 2004)

snapping turtles we use to all the time in the summer when was younger.was only bit once using a hook under a ledge rock to deep to reach the back by hand .dumb me put the hook threw a place to small to bring the turtle back out of so i had to unhook and finsh pulling him out by hand lost some skin on my little finger no big deal


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## Joey209 (Oct 17, 2007)

BASSINaDL said:


> when we went to visit some family tht live on an ohio rver trib me an a couple of friends went down to try it and after an hour we probably had mabey 5 small blues around 15-20 inches and a 25" flathead just watch out for the turtles haha


Like previously said..........This is illegal,so you are admitting to breaking the law.I didnt think we were allowed to talk about doin illegal stuff like POACHING on this website. And didnt think you could noodle Blues?


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Ohio regulations don't apply in the Ohio River. If you were on the Ohio shore, that would be a different matter. The Ohio River is a big river.


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

I value my appendages too much to be sticking them into dark underwater holes


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## samiam (Jan 6, 2011)

Joey209 said:


> Like previously said..........This is illegal,so you are admitting to breaking the law.I didnt think we were allowed to talk about doin illegal stuff like POACHING on this website. And didnt think you could noodle Blues?


We used to get drunk and catch steelhead with our hands in the Chagrin a few years back. Odnr stopped to talk to use and said as long as we were not using nets or spears we were fine. He also went to talk to my girlfriend (wife now) just to make sure we had someone sober to drive our drunk [email protected]#'s home. Things may have changed. I could not find anything in the rule and regulations on line. Some guys got bust a couple of year ago in Gates Mills but they were using nets and posted it on You tube


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Ohio Law pertains to all Ohio Tributaries to the Ohio and also extends out to the "official" state boundry on the Ohio River, in most cases its between 40-100 ft out from the Ohio shore. If you are in a boat and it has a GPS unit, its that line as youll notice its in straight line segments and it is what is considered the Official line when dealing with Ohio vs Ky laws. 
So as previously reported, its ILLEGAL anywhere on the Ohio River from the Ohio Side and includes all Tributaries. 
I hate when Youtube videos promote stuff like this when its only legal in a handful of states.
If you do it and a turtle bites your hand, I guess you deserved it..LOL

Salmonid


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

Could you please post where you got this info on whats Ohio's and what belongs to another state ? I would like to read that regulation if you could tell me where to find it....Thanks in advance....Pete


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I got to thinking and WV may be a completely different issue since they "own" the entire River but barring that, the info I gave is from several years of us Ohio Catfishermeen fighting the KY Commercial Netters and all the comments and direct information we continually receive from the local DNR folks as the KY guys are NOT allowed to anchor nets/trotlines in Ohio's waters ( defined by the GPS lines or you can Google map it and see how it seems to be in the center of the river in some spots and right up against the Ohio border in others) of the Ohio River and they are actually enforcing this to some degree and are always asking us catfish guys to report any nets on Ohio's boundaries. I will see if I can find the official wording for this , stay tuned, worse case is any call to any DNR officer that works along the states boundaries with KY. Like I said, i wasnt thinking about WV so that may be a different issue.

I hope this helps
Salmonid


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

Hatchetman said:


> Could you please post where you got this info on whats Ohio's and what belongs to another state ? I would like to read that regulation if you could tell me where to find it....Thanks in advance....Pete


Are you serious? They are called maps! The thread was about Cincinnati. Nobody was throwing a blanket statment over the entire river. And since its illegal to noodle in OH and WV for the purposes of this thread I'd say the only debate is where the OH/KY line is. And that can be found on any official map or GPS system as stated by Salmonid.

My problem here is this "Legend Killer" starts nothing but threads condoning illegal activities. Can somebody shut these down! First trolling eight rods at CC now noodling.


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## FSHNERIE (Mar 5, 2005)

Small Town Country Boys said:


> Normally they wolnt snapp till they start to move. And they can only walk one way so u let them walk out from under your hand and grab the tail.



Ya'll don't drink when doing this do ya ?.......


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

OK hotshot. I wouldn't have asked where he got his ownership info if I wasn't serious. He explained in his answer, which apparently you didn't read, that he was refering to Kentucky and wasn't sure about West Virginia. West Virginia owns the Ohio River and don't worry about any GPS lines. That is why Ohio has the fishing agreement with West Virginia on creel limits and licenses. If you can show me in writing where to find info for West Va./Ohio that is different from what I just stated I will apologize. 
As far as the noodling, yes it is illegal in Ohio.


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

Hatchet, this thread was about Cincinnati area not WV. You can find the information in writing at the appropriate county office you are going noodling.


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

Guys this is a illegal activity in Ohio,and I believe WVa & Kentucky as well.It's time to close it before it goes further.OGF does not condone illegal activity.The discussion of the practice was fine,but not actually reporting doing it in Ohio.


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