As summer heats up, many are frying up hot dogs, throwing towels down in the sand, and enjoying the relaxing sound of the ocean crashing against the beach, but River Williams is pulling on his bright pink gloves and marching into the marsh to noodle. 

Noodling is the sport of fishing for catfish with no tools but your bare hands and a little bit of bravery. 

And every day between May and July, the 17-year-old and his father, Nate Williams, 39, pull on their bathing suits, slip on hot pink gloves, and go into the Oklahoma rivers in search of hefty catfish. 

'It's when the catfish go to lay their eggs, they get in a hole, and you got to try and grab them out,' River, who recently won the Okie Noodling Competition on June 20, told the Daily Mail.

'You're wrestling big catfish, and you don't have a pole or anything, you're just grabbing them,' he explained. 

At the June 20 competition, the skinny teen managed to catch a monstrous 71-pound catfish, which he proudly displayed over his shoulder, his back arching to balance the weight, as he presented his prize winner to viewers. 

'I had a lot of nerves going up there. Every year it's a little nervous, like a little bit of stage fright, but you're just excited to go show what you caught,' he told the Daily Mail. 

The victory carried extra meaning after River missed last year's competition following a crash on the way to a noodling trip.

Their vehicle plunged into a ravine after driving over a washed-out road, and though he initially seemed fine, doctors later discovered a gallbladder injury that required emergency surgery.

He spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and watched the competition from a wheelchair.

This year, he returned to win the title.

River has been noodling since he was three years old after his dad got him into the sport, which can be dangerous, as colossal fish can pull a noodler underwater. 

Catfish teeth lack the strength to tear through flesh, but the beast can still cause bruising, minor cuts, and in rare cases, sprain the wrist. 

'Their teeth feel like sandpaper, if that makes any sense,' River said. 'The bite, it hurts sometimes.' 

'If you get a flathead, it kind of pulls you in like a vacuum,' Nate told the Daily Mail. 'If you get a blue cat, it basically feels like you're getting your hand smashed in a car door.

'Sometimes you're like: "Why would anybody want to do this?"'

River has mainly suffered minor injuries from sharp rocks or metal lurking in the water catching his skin, but luckily, he has circumvented any serious harm. 

However he said: 'My little brother almost cut off his toe while he was noodling.'

Despite wrestling massive catfish from their nests, the Williams family says they release nearly every fish they catch.

'We let go like 99 percent,' Nate said. 'It's mostly for fun.'

On the rare occasions they keep one, they either cook it at home or donate it. Last summer, the family cleaned and fried catfish for a homeless shelter after one of their trips.

However, one of River's favorite memories of the sport was when he waded into a hole behind a big boulder and netted a 48-pound catfish. 

'Dad helped me pull him out,' River, who was featured on the show River Monsters, told the Daily Mail. 

River and his father have a noodling team named Adrenaline Rush and they document their antics on their YouTube channel. The moniker represents the rush of emotions they get 'every time you catch a catfish,' the teen said. 

When River first learned to noodle, he was catching 10- to 20-pound fish, but by the age of four, he caught one that weighed a whopping 50 pounds – which is 10 to 20 pounds more than the typical four-year-old weighs. 

'When we first started, there was a little more nervousness,' Nate recalled to the Daily Mail. 'Now, it's just straight excitement. You know what the worst-case scenario could be.' 

While Nate was teaching his children the art of noodling, he taught them that you have to be 'brave' and 'gung ho' about it. 

'If you're passionate and love what you do, you're going to be a lot better,' he said.

The annual Okie Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley is considered the sport's premier event, with competitors traveling from around the world to compete.

Nate described it as 'the Super Bowl of noodling tournaments.'

This year, father and son unknowingly pulled two giant catfish from opposite ends of the same underwater hole at the exact same time.

River surfaced with his 71-pound fish while Nate emerged with an even larger 79-pound catfish.

'Neither one of us knew,' Nate told the Daily Mail. 'We both came up with a monster.'

Nate's fish won the scuba division while River claimed the natural division.

'We got to both go up there and get first-place trophies,' the proud father said.

Though noodling is relatively common in parts of Oklahoma, River said he's likely the only student at his high school who spends his summers wrestling giant catfish by hand.

When Nate tells strangers what his family does for fun, the reaction is usually the same.

'You're crazy or you're stupid,' he said with a laugh.

For the Williams family, however, that's all part of the adventure.

'I think someday he'll probably be the best noodler there ever was.'