Shiane Mann, the 2026 Okie Noodling Queen, wants everyone to participate in noodling and other outdoor activities.
“I want to see this get bigger and see more women participate in this stuff,” Mann said. “The outdoors are for everybody.”
Mann and her partner Cole Grimley, who currently live in Florida, attended and competed in their first Okie Noodling Tournament Saturday.
“It was a very pleasant experience,” Mann said. “I’ve been to a lot of hunting and fishing festivals and tournaments across the country, and this one was top-notch. Everyone was so kind and so excited to have people visiting their town.”
Mann hopes to grow interest in noodling nationwide, specifically among women. She was disappointed that the separate division for women was eliminated from this year’s tournament and hopes the division returns for future tournaments.
“I’m trying to bring back the women’s division. I think it could bring more women to the table,” Mann said. “If a 100-pound fish bit my hand versus Cole’s, it would be easier for him. I won’t be able to hold on like he could.”
Mann has already begun talking to other women in the hunting and fishing community to gauge interest in competing in Okie Noodling if there was a specific women’s division again.
“Most are happy to travel,” Mann said. “I would like to see more women from all over the world. People want to bring their daughters to compete and do this.” As a young girl growing up in Virginia, Mann’s father inspired her interest in outdoor activities.
“I would do anything where I could go out with my dad,” she said. “I loved to spend time with my dad. He’s my role model.”
In addition to her dad sharing his own knowledge, Mann was a Girl Scout, read survival stories, watched shows like Duck Dynasty and Hillbilly Handfishin‘ and attended archery camps and NRA events.
She grew up to be a teacher but left due to burnout. Mann transitioned to helping Grimley with his nationwide hunting and fishing business and has enrolled in law school.
She enjoys arranging hunting opportunities for kids with disabilities and terminal illnesses.
“I want everyone to have a safe place to participate in the outdoors,” she said.
Turkey hunting has been a major activity for Mann as an adult.
During her first turkey hunt, she had given up for the day. She and Grimley were headed back to the vehicle when Grimley recognized the sound of an Osceola turkey.
“I thought it sounded like a velociraptor and started running,” Mann said.
Once Grimley corrected her understanding of the situation, Mann successfully got the turkey, an Osceola with 2-inch spurs. Osceola turkeys are the most difficult of the four turkey subspecies of the Grand Slam challenge because they are only found in Florida.
With one turkey down, she and Grimley took off across country so she could complete the rest of the Grand Slam. Mann finished it in 13 days, bagging turkeys in Missouri, Kansas and New Mexico.
“Cole is my biggest supporter, and I couldn’t be happier,” Mann said.
Mann is now working to be the youngest woman to complete the Super Slam, a challenge to tag a turkey in each of the 49 states that have turkeys to hunt. (Alaska does not have turkeys.) After three years of working towards it, she has completed 28 states.
While hunting a turkey in Georgia, Mann wandered across the Appalachian Trail. The following summer, she hiked the southern end from Georgia to Virginia.
Living in Florida, Mann also enjoys deep-sea fishing and other ocean activities.
“Stone crabbing made me think noodling would be fun,” Mann said. “It’s about being outside and doing something different.”
Between that comparison and remembering those episodes of Hillbilly Handfishin‘ that she used to watch, Mann found herself joining a noodling trip.
Nathan Williams from Shawnee took Mann and Grimley on their first noodling trip. His wife, Miley Williams, is one of Mann’s best friends.
Nathan Williams has won the Okie Noodling Tournament several times over the years, including weighing in a record-setting 85-pound catfish in 2019. This year he took the top prize of Big Fish and won the Scuba Division with a 79-pound fish.
On that first noodling adventure, Mann ended up using her leg to pull out a 52-pound catfish.
“Catfish do deathrolls like alligators,” she said. “I had burns on my leg, but it would have broken my wrist.”
She reports that it was as long as her feet to her neck and heavier than the fish Grimley caught that day.
“After that experience, I was hooked for life on noodling,” Mann said.
According to Mann, the key to a good first experience in a new outdoor activity is who you go with. She credits Williams and his family for being excellent teachers.
“Nathan is so good at what he does. He made the whole thing so wonderful,” Mann said. “The camaraderie around it is so important, and that’s why I fell in love with it.”
Like many, she has also had concerns thrown her direction when she tells family and friends about her noodling adventures.
“They think I’m insane, but I say don’t knock it until you try it,” Mann said. “Hunting and fishing weren’t a thing where I grew up. It was a miracle I knew how to swim.”
Mann had nothing but great things to say about the noodling community.
“It’s all about the experience,” Mann said. “The community of people is amazing, and Nathan and Miley are big pillars in this community.”
That community made Mann very excited to attend the Okie Noodling Festival. Normally, the queen goes through numerous challenges on the noodling stage at the festival, such as gathering donations and answering noodling and Oklahoma trivia. Queen candidates do not have to enter the noodling tournament to compete.
However, Mann was the only contestant who signed up for the annual queen contest this year.
“It made me sad,” Mann said. “I like the camaraderie of women supporting other women, and I care about the chance to do something fun.”
During her reign, she plans to encourage more women to give noodling a try.
“We can do noodling,” she said. “I don’t just have to be a queen. We can hunt and fish, too. We can surprise anybody.”
She plans to attend some other noodling tournaments and just have fun with the title and tiara.
“Cole has turned into a pageant mom,” said Mann, who explains that Grimley has encouraged her to practice her walk and wave.
She, however, has her own take on the crown.
“For me, it’s the memories,” she said. “Knowing I had fun made it worth it.”
