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Man vs. Catfish: Catching flatheads by hand in Mississippi's Yazoo River
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photo: Jason Sealock
We met the leader of the local band of grabblers, Bob Henderson, in a searing parking lot on the edge of town. Bob looked as tough as he had sounded on the phone a few weeks earlier when I called to see if we could tag along. "I don't give a damn who goes with us," he'd said. "Lots of people think they want to try it, 'til it's time to get in the river." Bob's shirt was torn in several places and splotched with dirt. His arms were dark from the sun, and his hands were covered in scars from both farmwork and catfish.

That evening after dinner, Bob's buddy, Rick Parsons, unabashedly bragged about Bob's grabblin' exploits.

"What makes him so good is that he can hold his breath for so long. I've seen him stay down for two minutes at a time, and then come up with a huge fish. Shoot, I've even seen him come up with two huge fish--80 pounds of catfish on one arm--his hand threaded through one's gills and into the mouth of the other."

"I can't hold my breath for two minutes," I said.

"You won't hold it for two seconds if you're scared."

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Comment on This Article

At 11:00 PM, 2008-11-18, hawk2112 said:
i think this was a great article and im from iowa i think this is cool stuff sad to hear about Bob seems like from the article and what cindy said he was a good down to earth man rip Bob. Mark comment offensive

At 1:33 PM, 2008-08-28, tim said:
i live in oklahoma an we cant use boxes Mark comment offensive

At 9:12 PM, 2008-07-28, anonymous said:
THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE I WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE LIKE IT. I ENJOY HANDFISHING MYSELF Mark comment offensive

At 10:29 AM, 2008-07-25, cindy said:
he was a hell of a man!!! he is missed by many There was only one BOB and many males will never reach the standards or ability to be a REAL MAN LIKE BOB!!! Mark comment offensive

At 6:42 PM, 2008-05-12, peter said:
sad ending Mark comment offensive


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To try your hand at grabblin', head for the river in late spring, when lengthening days and rising water temperatures trigger the catfish spawn. First, the females will move into the shallows to lay their eggs in protected locations, like under boat ramps, inside logs and holes in the bank. Then the males will guard the nests, aggressively attacking anything that comes too close. Like your unprotected hand.

Still unsure whether you're cut out for wrestling cats? let the ladies show you how it's done. Check out the Girls Gone Grabblin' video for a "Grabblin' 101" how-to segment and 30 thrilling scenes. $15; 866-238-6099; catfishgrabblers.com

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