The Bennett Family -- Noodling's First Dynasty at the Okie Noodling Tournament

Levi and Kodi Bennett of Coalgate, Oklahoma are the undisputed first family of competitive noodling. At the 2024 Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley -- the Super Bowl of hand-fishing, drawing competitors from 34 states, the United Kingdom, and Japan -- Levi took home the Biggest Fish prize with a 74.29-pound catfish and won the Scuba Division. His wife Kodi captured the women's title for an astonishing sixth time, a run of dominance unmatched in the tournament's history. The couple did not just win their divisions -- they helped anchor a collective haul of 54 fish totaling 2,080 pounds at the 2024 event. Levi has also noodled a 106-pound flathead catfish on a separate expedition in East Texas, though that monster was released without certified weighing. Between the two of them, the Bennetts have turned competitive noodling from a hobby into a family legacy. The Okie Noodling Tournament, founded in 2001 and featured in the documentary "Okie Noodling," is the most prestigious hand-fishing competition in the world -- and the Bennett name is written all over its record books.