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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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 Catfish licking: a new high? 
#3700188 - 01/29/05 09:35 PM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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Catfish licking: a new high?
Sat, Jan. 29, 2005
www.tallahassee.com
It could be the strangest thing anyone ever asked Tolly Van Brunt.
He was at a boat basin in Franklin County, waiting for a buddy who'd gone to the bait shop. They were headed out to the Gulf for some saltwater fishing.
A boy, maybe 17 or so, sidled up to him on the dock.
The kid wanted to make a deal. He'd buy any catfish the anglers caught that day.
"I told him they weren't any good to eat," Van Brunt said. "And he says, `Yeah, I know that, but we'd like to get some. We've found a way to get high off the slime.'"
Oh, c'mon.
Recreational use of fish goo? That has to be a joke, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Turns out, a story's been going around for years about hallucinogenic properties in the slime of a certain kind of saltwater catfish. But whether fact or urban legend is not exactly clear.
"I've heard of people licking them and getting zonked like they're on LSD," said Dr. John Hitron, with the Florida State University marine lab in St. Teresa Beach. "I'm not sure how true it is."
OK, first a few basics on the fish.
Most people call them gafftops or sailcats.
They're bottom-dwellers, comfortable in mud, usually sticking to bays and the shallow water along coastlines. Not too big, but feisty.
They have regular catfish whiskers and long, sharp spines on top. When hooked, they produce great big gobs of mucous that coat fishing lines, anglers and anything else that gets close.
And apparently, they're less than tasty.
So, what about this whole licking thing?
It's hard to tell where or how the story got started, but plenty of folks have heard it. Usually, the friend-of-a-friend version.
The anglers down at the Lanark Village Mart - a combination boat dock, bait shop and convenience store near Carrabelle - said last week that they all knew the tale. Same with the C-Quarters Marina, where the annual Big Bend Saltwater Classic is based.
Jack Rudloe's heard it, too.
He's the director of the Gulf Marine Specimen Lab in Panacea. A "hippie friend" was the first to tell him.
"He said, `Hey, I hear there's a real business there in licking catfish,'" Rudloe said.
The story's even on the Internet, especially the message boards where fishermen from around the Gulf of Mexico gather.
And Hitron, the FSU scientist, said he's heard it all over the country. In New England, the Pacific Northwest, the Florida Keys.
Not everyone's a believer.
"It's just hype," said Amy Noegel-Cohoon, whose husband runs a towboat service out of Carrabelle. "If it wasn't hype, they'd be a hot item."
Any evidence it's true?
Not much.
Rudloe was curious enough to give it a taste - in the interest of science, of course.
Nothing happened to him, but he did make a discovery.
He said the mucous of most sea life, including snails and other fish, has a fairly bland taste. The gafftop was markedly different.
"It really had a strange chemical kind of taste to it," he said.
Franklin County fisherman Mark Nolton said he did the same thing after reading something about the slime in Florida Sportsman magazine.
"I was out about a year ago, and I thought, `I'm gonna try that,'" he said. "I put a little bit on my tongue, and it went numb instantly."
Hitron said it's possible the slime - a defense mechanism that helps protect the fish from injury and disease - has some neurotoxic qualities, as most fish with spines do.
But whether that means the stuff can send someone on a mind-altering trip, he couldn't say.
"I'll find out if you want me to," offered Van Brunt, who declined to provide catfish to the teenagers. "The next time I catch one, I'll put some in my mouth."
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 13eetleJuice
the ghost with the most
Registered: 10/28/04
Posts: 2,253
Loc: 6' under pushin up shroom...
Last seen: 5 years, 4 months
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3701382 - 01/30/05 06:21 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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 I can see the headlines now...
"In the continuing effort to fight the war on drugs, 2 species of catfish, gafftops and sailcats, have been added to the U.S. list of schedule 1 controlled substances. It is in our country's best interest so as not to have thugs and criminals pushing these fish on the black market and turning our children into a generation of mucous junkies."
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shirley knott
not my real name
Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London 
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
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 Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3701699 - 01/30/05 09:05 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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i bet they said the same thing about toadlicking - then bufo alvarius proved them wrong. so who volunteers for the shroomery, seeking out every variety of animal, fish and fowl to lick, insert or rub on in search of zonko?
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buh
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gdman
badger, badger,badger...
Registered: 12/10/02
Posts: 16,286
Loc: Dancing In the Streets
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: shirley knott]
#3701710 - 01/30/05 09:09 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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you don't lick the toad, the toad is toxic. you smoke the venom, there is a diffrence.
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Got a question about a substance? Erowid might already have your answer! Have questions about the mushroom experience? The Tripper's FAQ may have your answer or someone else might have had your question before.
I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
- Theodor Seuss Geisel Dr. Suess
"I didn't come here to be easily understood" - Steve
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shirley knott
not my real name
Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: gdman]
#3701717 - 01/30/05 09:13 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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which part of the toad is 'toxic' if not the venom?
lick, smoke, insert, rub - it's the same chemical.
...er, i think  though i'm often wrong 
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buh
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gdman
badger, badger,badger...
Registered: 12/10/02
Posts: 16,286
Loc: Dancing In the Streets
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: shirley knott]
#3701741 - 01/30/05 09:28 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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probably be taking a smaller dose when smoked, but whatever.
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Got a question about a substance? Erowid might already have your answer! Have questions about the mushroom experience? The Tripper's FAQ may have your answer or someone else might have had your question before.
I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
- Theodor Seuss Geisel Dr. Suess
"I didn't come here to be easily understood" - Steve
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vinsue
Grand Old Fart
Registered: 02/17/04
Posts: 17,953
Loc: The Garden State(NJ) 
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 Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: shirley knott]
#3702345 - 01/30/05 01:27 PM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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Insert toad??? Not me. But lick a catfish....I LOVE catfish! This belongs in the Pub!!
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"All mushrooms are edible; but some only once." Croatian proverb. BTW ...
Have You Rated Ythans Mom Yet ?? ...  ... HERE'S HOW ... (be nice) .  ... 
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UnclePhil
Lurker
Registered: 06/02/04
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Loc: TN
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: vinsue]
#3702450 - 01/30/05 02:04 PM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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I've caught these catfish while fishing on beaches in the St. Petersburg area, they're pretty common from what I've seen...but I don't know if I would lick one without getting a second opinion.
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3703695 - 01/30/05 06:44 PM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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boxtop703
ThesaurusLinguae Graecae
Registered: 06/26/01
Posts: 5,011
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3705985 - 01/31/05 02:23 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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Imagine the party...............
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The_Red_Crayon
Exposer of Truth
Registered: 08/13/03
Posts: 13,673
Loc: Smokey Mtns. TN
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3710378 - 01/31/05 09:18 PM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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ive got sea cats before and they do have a toxic slime. If you are pricked with their fins it will make you very sick.
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Cosm
Questioning
Registered: 05/07/04
Posts: 448
Loc: somewhere
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if you lick bufo alvarius chances are you ill die.i know dogs do when they play with the toad.
Edited by Cosm (02/01/05 01:12 AM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,212
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3711493 - 02/01/05 01:44 AM (19 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
"It's just hype," said Amy Noegel-Cohoon, whose husband runs a towboat service out of Carrabelle. "If it wasn't hype, they'd be a hot item."
That's the bottom line for so many drugs.
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Mp3 of the month: Sons Of Adam - Feathered Fish
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3896287 - 03/10/05 01:04 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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The dope on the catfish-slime-licking phenomenon.
March 10, 2005
Field & Stream
Big news for catfish lickers and their parents: No doubt many of you have heard (or tried to discover firsthand) that licking saltwater catfish -commonly called sailcats- can produce a hallucinogenic high, and that hooked teenagers along the Gulf Coast are paying up to $200 for the opportunity to lap up the gooey substance that oozes from the skin of a freshly caught specimen.
News of catfish licking first broke five years ago in a Florida sportfishing magazine, but a more recent article in the Tallahassee Democrat ("Catfish Licking: A New High?") quickly spread over the Internet and became a hot topic among fishermen, teenagers, and concerned parents. In it, Dr. John Hitron of the Florida State University marine lab is quoted as saying, "I've heard of people licking ["catfish"] and getting zoned like they're on LSD."
Reportedly, when ingested, sailcat slime produces the sensation of being underwater. I should note, however, that the cats I have licked for journalistic purposes only have merely produced the sensation of having whiskers. And in fact, I do have whiskers.
The Democrat article doubtless informed many otherwise ignorant or skeptical parents, who were made aware of the need to investigate fishy odors, to periodically check teenagers' bedroom closets for saltwater fishing tackle, and to discourage unchaperoned parties at piers and beaches. Since then, uncorroborated anecdotal evidence seemed to suggest that parents might also check dresser drawers and book bags for doughballs, which, supposedly coated with the hallucinogenic slime, may go by the street names "dopeballs" and "cat-nips."
With the practice widely known, the question of how long people have been secretly licking catfish became a topic of some speculation. Several anonymous and unaccredited linguists took a second look at the slang term cat. Thought to mean "happening dude" and widely used during the freewheeling jazz era of the 1920s and revived during the drug-induced years of the late 60s and early 70s, some believed it to be a reference to early catfish lickers.
These people and others, however, were no doubt shocked by the latest development: In a follow-up article, the Democrat has revealed that catfish licking is a hoax. Staff writer Tony Bridges announced:
OK, listen up catfish lickers.
You've been punked. There's no hallucinogen in the slime.
According to the article, Doug Olander, editor-in-chief of Sport Fishing Magazine, made the story up for an annual April Fool's special in 2000. Parents who suspected their teenagers of catfish licking are breathing a collective sigh of relief, while some would-be catfish lickers are likely breathing a collective sigh of disappointment. Despite the revelation, however, there is concern that it may do little to discourage the practice now that it has caught on.
Siding with caution, sportfishing authorities continue to discourage catfish licking, though with the news that catfish slime is actually harmless, they have since softened their stance. For those anglers who just can't help themselves, authorities merely recommend that if they intend to only lick, and not eat, a given sailcat, they should lick it as quickly as possible and return it to the water immediately thereafter.
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers
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Re: Catfish licking: a new high? [Re: veggie]
#3898225 - 03/10/05 03:00 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Franklin County fisherman Mark Nolton said he did the same thing after reading something about the slime in Florida Sportsman magazine.
"I was out about a year ago, and I thought, `I'm gonna try that,'" he said. "I put a little bit on my tongue, and it went numb instantly."
This guys an amateur psychonaut. Someone should direct him to to the Shroomery.
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After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway
If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy
He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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