Catfish noodles

In this article we are going to be looking at making noodles to catch catfish. This type of rig may not be legal in all areas, so check the local laws before you do anything.

Buy some noodles from the local china-mart. The noodles might be seasonal, and should be found in the swimming pool supplies. So far I have only found the noodles in 2 colors – blue and pink.

Cut noodle into 8 inch lengths

Get some 3/4 inch PVC pipe, caps and some PVC glue

Cut PCV pipe into 9 1/2 – 9 3/4 inch long sections. 9 3/4 seems to work better then 9 1/2.

Glue cap on 1 end of pipe

Insert PVC pipe into noodle until cap comes into contact with noodle

Drill a 1/4 – 5/16 inch hole in the end of the pipe sticking out past the end of the PVC pipe



Wrap the outside of the noodle with whatever color duct tape state law requires the noodle to be. Since I live in Texas, the noodle must be white, so I wrapped the noodle in white duct tape.

Texas state law also requires that I write a date, my name and my address on the noodle. Just for something extra, I also write my phone number. Just in case I lose a noodle, I hope the person who finds it calls me and lets me know if there was a fish on the line.

After making up 6 noodles with PVC pipe, I think a good length is to cut the pipe 1.75 inches longer then the noodle. If the noodle measures 8 inches long, cut the pipe 9 3/4 inches long. This gives you 3/4 inch to glue the cap on, and 1 inch to protrude out of the noodle.

I was using just a noodle for my drop lines. While I was at the deer camp a few weeks ago a guy told me about using PVC, so I decided to make a few up and see how they do.

In theory, when the catfish pulls on the line, the noodle is supposed to stand up. Hopefully this will make the noodle easier to grab from the boat.

For the hooks, I plan on using Circle Hooks.

Circle hooks have a bend at the end of the hook. In theory, if the fish swallows the hook, its supposed to come back out out of the stomach and hook the fish in the mouth. As opposed to the typical j-hook getting stuck in the stomach of the fish and injuring the fish.

Instead of tying the string to the hook or noodles, I tie a loop knot on both ends of the string. Insert the loop through the hole in the PVC pipe, thread the other end of the string through the loop, and then pull tight.

Do the same thing to the hook. Thread the loop through the eye of the hook, loop the end of the knot over the hook and pull.

When you are finished, it should be just about impossible for the knots to work their way loose.

One set of circle hooks I am using, the eye of the hook is too small for the large trot line string to go through it. For this noodle, I added a 70 pound safety snap and swivel.

Post your comments in this forum thread about How to make noodles to catch catfish.