New tourism attraction for New Albany: Grabbling

Janet and Tim Burress were on an evening walk and came upon upon these two young men as they were finishing up and returning to the car.

Janet asked and got their permission to take these photos and get their names to send to NEMiss.news.

Dewayne Vandygriff on the left and Sonny Glisten on right are both holding catfish that weigh approximately 40 pounds or more. They had been grabbling in the Tallahatchie River and grabbed these two nice cats.

They are both from Dumas and are avid grabblers and come down a couple times a year to fish this area. Either of these fish could easily give either of these two young men a go in the water as was evident that they were both soaked and muddy from head to toe.

For those who do not practice the art of grabbling, it consists of getting in the water and reaching into holes that go back under the riverbank. Some people use snorkels and wear gloves but others, like these two, apparently get in the water with the bare minimum.

Hand grabbing may also be called noodling, hogging and tickling.

With luck, you grab a sizable catfish or other fish there to spawn. With less luck you may grab a sizable snapping turtle or a water moccasin.

There actually is a legal season for hand grabbling in Mississippi: May 1 through July 15. This period coincides with spawning season when catfish are looking for cavities in which to spawn.

Flathead catfish and blue catfish are the two most common species caught by hand grabbers, but channel catfish are also caught.

Some grabblers use a probe such as a wooden stick, piece of cane or broken off fishing rod to poke at the fish to make it swim toward the opening.

What might be surprising about this instance is that they caught these two monsters in the Tallahatchie by the tennis courts in BNA Bank Park, an area where one might not think the river is deep or there are many fish.