That’s using your noodle

Bill Eldridge uses noodles to catch striped bass and other fish at Lake Ouachita.
Bill Eldridge uses noodles to catch striped bass and other fish at Lake Ouachita.

Now for something different.

In addition to yo-yos, Bill Eldridge fishes open water at Lake Ouachita with noodles.

It’s another passive fishing method similar to jug fishing that is effective for catching striped bass, white bass and catfish.

A “noodle” is a hollow, foam cylinder for use in swimming pools. Eldridge cuts small lengths and wedges coat hanger wire into the hollow ends. He puts a swivel on the wire and attaches a leader, sinker and hook to the dangling end of the swivel.

He baits it with a minnow and lets it float in the lake. If a fish takes the bait, the noodle acts as a big bobber. It races through the water like the buoy attached to the shark in the film Jaws.

On Friday morning, Bill and Matthew Eldridge chased a noodle around a wide arm of the lake. When they got close, the fish sounded and dragged the noodle underwater for up to a minute. Eldridge said Matthew finally hooked the line with a crappie jig on a long pole and fought what turned out to be a bragging size striper.

“We let it go,” Bill Eldridge said. “I don’t like eating those things.”

Sports, Pages 33 on 03/23/2014

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