http://www.fieldandstream.com/taxonomy/term/56448 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-6925 <p><!--paging_filter--></p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-6925#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:46:11 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000242276 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2888 <p><!--paging_filter--></p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2888#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:44:54 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000238026 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadnumber-nine-brman-vs-catfish-catching-flath <p><!--paging_filter-->Number Nine: Man vs. Catfish: Catching flatheads by hand in Mississippi's Yazoo River It takes a certain type of person to dive into a muddy river, stick his hand in a fish's mouth, and then wrestle the thrashing beast into a boat. The word nut comes to mind. Total Pageviews: 198,487 <a target="_blank" class="googleheadblue" href="http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/photogallery/article/0,13355,1207044,00.html"><strong>Click here to open this story in a new window.</strong></a></p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadnumber-nine-brman-vs-catfish-catching-flath#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:49 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234778 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadsevenspan-hr-target_blank-classxlink-hrefht <p><!--paging_filter-->Seven <a target="_blank" class="xlink" href="http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/photogallery/article/0,13355,1207044,00.html">Man vs. Catfish: Catching flatheads by hand in Mississippi's Yazoo River</a> (22-June-2006) It takes a certain type of person to dive into a muddy river, stick his hand in a fish's mouth, and then wrestle the thrashing beast into a boat. The word nut comes to mind</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadsevenspan-hr-target_blank-classxlink-hrefht#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:48 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234767 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/pby-will-brantley-pspan-classreadheadwhen-i-was-sixth-gradesp <p><!--paging_filter-->By Will Brantley When I was in the sixth grade, there was a know-it-all kid in my class who had a whipping coming all year, until one morning after a little jawing back and forth, I met him halfway across the room and busted his lip. I landed one or two more punches and he caught me in my right eye before the teacher pulled us apart. It was tough to say who the winner was, but nonetheless, I tasted sweet satisfaction. Grabblin' has a similar outcome. With your forearm laced in bruises and scrapes after you've muscled a big, slimy cat from its dark hole to the river's surface, it's only fair to call the fight a draw, and yet you walk away grinning like a wild man.</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/pby-will-brantley-pspan-classreadheadwhen-i-was-sixth-gradesp#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233551 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/late-last-june-my-friend-photographer-jason-sealock-and-i-too <p><!--paging_filter-->Late last June, my friend, photographer Jason Sealock, and I took a road trip to grabblin's mecca, the little farming community of Greenwood, Miss. The town is situated along the muddy banks of the Yazoo, Tallahatchie, and Yalobusha Rivers-"all meandering tributaries of the Mississippi, full of alligators, cottonmouths, and enough Southern lore to baffle the most skeptical Yankee. These waters also hold more nasty, pissed-off blue and flathead catfish than you're likely to encounter anywhere else in the South.</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/late-last-june-my-friend-photographer-jason-sealock-and-i-too#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233550 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/we-met-leader-local-band-grabblers-bob-henderson-searing-park <p><!--paging_filter-->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."</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/we-met-leader-local-band-grabblers-bob-henderson-searing-park#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233549 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/most-people-idea-swimming-through-maze-tree-roots-and-limbs-d <p><!--paging_filter-->For most people, the idea of swimming through a maze of tree roots and limbs in a dark, swift river is enough to evoke carnal fears. And then there are the catfish. Bob once caught a cat that weighed 90 pounds; a fish that size could grab a man's arm and hold him underwater without really trying. Losing a layer of skin to the fish's sandpaper teeth is a given, and if an ill-tempered fish decides to roll, you'll lose more than that. The larger fish can latch on north of the elbow, and getting free often means pinning the fish against the bottom. Otherwise, they'll just keep swallowing arm. I told Bob I wasn't too worried about getting scars because I had packed a pair of leather gloves. "I may wear gloves, but you ain't. You're not gonna catch your first catfish and get your picture taken with a glove on," he said. "This is the real thing."</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/most-people-idea-swimming-through-maze-tree-roots-and-limbs-d#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233548 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/next-day-i-left-my-gloves-my-bag-and-met-bobs-buddies-and-the <p><!--paging_filter-->The next day, I left my gloves in my bag and met Bob's buddies and their two mean-as-hell rat terriers on the banks of the Yazoo around noon. In four johnboats, we ran upriver for nearly an hour and a half, then began drifting downstream to check the spawning boxes strung along the banks. Bob had built the 4-foot cavities himself and sunk them with mud--sometimes 15 feet below the surface--at designated spots in the river. Each was tied to a tree or a stump with heavy cable. In really deep spots, grabblers could use the cable to pull themselves to the bottom.</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/next-day-i-left-my-gloves-my-bag-and-met-bobs-buddies-and-the#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233547 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/i-was-first-i-dove-and-waters-color-went-coffee-solid-black-b <p><!--paging_filter-->I was up first. I dove in and the water's color went from coffee to solid black. At the bottom, I swept my hands across the mud and felt nothing. I surfaced to breathe. "Can't find it," I sputtered. "Don't start that," Bob said. "Find it or get back in the boat."</p> Jason Sealock http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/i-was-first-i-dove-and-waters-color-went-coffee-solid-black-b#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:41 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000233546 at http://www.fieldandstream.com