Frog Gigging

[milesvb]

We used to take turns with flashlights and an old bow and arrow. Pinned them to the ground quite nicely.

Now there aren't enough bullfrogs anymore to bother with.

 

[J7]

When I was a kid we always just used a strong stick with fishing line, a hook and something red(usually cellophane) on the hook. Frogs could resist that red floating out there. They'd latch on almost every time.

 

[MikeC]

Thought about trying to commercially raise bullfrogs once. All my research told me it couldn't be done on a large enough scale to pay. Almost all froglegs sold in restaurants etc. are from S.E. Asia and caught in the wild.

 

[grulla]

Here in FLA, we've got lots of orange groves with deep canals runnin' through them...we've gotten sacks full of frogs before.. gotta be careful of moccasins though...if you soak the legs in salted water, they don't jump in the skillet

 

[greenwillowherefords]

This was the first time I have ever went. Thomas and the boys had went down in the Ozarks back last year and the boys had to stop at the Bass Proshop on the way home to buy a gig. I went last week end and then again last night. I have to say we are not to good at it yet, but we are learning. The best I can answer cowgirls question on what gigging is. You walk slowly around a pond with a good flashlight and spot the frogs first. When you got them in your light and they can't see you sneak up on them with the gig. You get the gig about 4 inches away and then let them have it. Pop you got him. Then the fun part is skinning him and taking the legs off. This was some of the best eatting I have ever had. May someone else may be better answering this one being i have only went twice now.
Greenwillows Wife

 

[Bret]

Didn't the Schwan Frozen Food Man use to carry them on the truck? Does everyone know about the Schwan Man?

My dad use to order deep fried frog legs in Restaurants. Sometime I'm going to order them just to remember him.

Bret

 

[TUCO]

mrs greenwillow if you dont have much luck with a gig you can try to tape a brinkman maglite flashlight to a 22 rifle and then pop them frogs at nite if there aint folks living to close and you think its safe to shoot. works real good and you dont have to sneak up so close to the frogs. that flashlight will really lite up there eyes and its an easy shot to make. happy hunting to you and your boys

 

[stocky]

i use a .22 and shoot them during the day. sometimes a pond will have 50 or more and some ponds have very few. I shoot facing the frog from the opposite bank and shoot just below the throat and it throws them back up on the bank so they dont go into the water. my gigging is reserved for fish, that is the fun gigging with a bonfire and pot of grease and cook them on the creek bank, now that makes a party

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Heck I thought Florida was the only people that caught and ate frogs. We run the stick marshes at night with an airboat and a long gig. Most mount a PVC pipe with a notch cut out and a sack at the bottom on the bow of the boat so you can get the frogs off and go for another without slowing down. Airboats are a blast and gigging frogs makes it even better. Some of my kin from the frozen tundra of West Virginia came down and we fixed up some frog legs. They eat just about anything that walks up there but they turned green when we started eating frogs like they were going out of style. Mind you it's only the big springers we eat.

 

[TLCfromARK]

Love frog legs, haven't been gigging in close to 20 years. I don't enjoy the wading in ponds at night as much as I used to, I guess I worry about snakes more now. Western Sizzler have frog legs on their buffet ( at least in S.W. Ark.) that are pretty good. A little on the small side but still might tasty!

;-)

 

[flaboy]

okay, i have to ask. what the heck is frog giggin? i've heard the expression, but never knew what it meant.

Don't look like anyone directly answered your question. Frog giggin is the act of going out and sticking bullfrogs with a metal gig. This gig is sort of like a small pitch fork with little barbs to keep them from slipping off. Now with that said many folks go giggin with 22 rifles or fish for them with poles and hooks with some sort of bait. Bottom line is you go get frog legs by any means available.

When I was a youngster we used a 22 rifle or pistol and we used to get bull frogs the size of wide rabbits. I am sure there are some here that can attest to this. ;-)

 

[greenwillowherefords]

I have never in my life seen a frog a big as a rabbit. :shock: Now thats one big frog! do the legs get tough when they get that big.
Greenwillows wife

 

[MikeC]

I have never in my life seen a frog a big as a rabbit. :shock: Now thats one big frog! do the legs get tough when they get that big.
Greenwillows wife

Gigged a frog one night that had eaten a baby duck. :shock:

 

[greenwillowherefords]

did you see the duck inside it! :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[MikeC]

did you see the duck inside it! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Yup! When we cleaned it. No kidding. It's amazing what a big bullfrog can eat. Most times they would be full of crawfish. 3-4 BIG ones. Sometimes small snakes and fish.

 

[flaboy]

I have never in my life seen a frog a big as a rabbit. :shock: Now thats one big frog! do the legs get tough when they get that big.
Greenwillows wife

Ya see that is the difference between a frog and a bullfrog. Size does matter and no the legs were no tougher than any others. I don't see the good old big ones around anymore. These things had legs the size of chicken legs. Wish I had a picture.

 

[cowgirl580]

okay, i have to ask. what the heck is frog giggin? i've heard the expression, but never knew what it meant.

Don't look like anyone directly answered your question. Frog giggin is the act of going out and sticking bullfrogs with a metal gig. This gig is sort of like a small pitch fork with little barbs to keep them from slipping off. Now with that said many folks go giggin with 22 rifles or fish for them with poles and hooks with some sort of bait. Bottom line is you go get frog legs by any means available.

When I was a youngster we used a 22 rifle or pistol and we used to get bull frogs the size of wide rabbits. I am sure there are some here that can attest to this. ;-)

thanks for answerin'. i was sorta gettin the pic, but just to make sure..... thanks again.

 

[Medic24]

hey flaboy.... you ruined it for me........my wife has been swearing all these years that size really didn't matter.....now you have blown my ego out of the water.

Oddly enuff we go to a seafod buffet regularly, and they sometimes put frog legs on the menu, and I get a plate full, kinda tastes like chicken, but with a bit of a hop to it. just friday as a matter of fact. good with a bit of old Bay seasoning on it.

I can attest to the fact that a big ol bullfrog will eat just about anything, as a kid, I fianlly got one pulled in, and when i gutted it , out popped a 3 month old calf.........maybe that explains the lost calves over the years. ;-) :cboy:

 

[Susie David]

Dave here...many years ago when I was a younger man in the Marine Corps stationed in North Carolina some friends and I got hooked on frog gigging...all was well and acquired a taste for the legs...until one night we had a belly full of beer and took my john boat out to the creek to gather a sack full of frogs. Why we let Art bring his 410ga along for protection (he is deathly afraid of snakes) I don't know. Well to make a beer joint story short..Wayne (good o'l Georgia boy)was in the front manning the gig sticking anything that showed a pair of eyeballs in the light. So happened that a water snake crossed our path and o'l Wayne went and gigged that snake, to make things worse he raised his gig (on about a 8 foot pole) over the boat and sure enough the sanke was wiggling so hard that it flopped off the gig and right in front of Art who started screaming like a little girl; a little girl with a 410gs pump shotgun...oh yeah...three rounds through the bottom of my boat. Thank God we were only up to our chests in the creek. Didn't see Art until we got back to the truck (he was locked inside) Wayne and I had to pull the boat to shore and walk through the muck....just a story that I alwasy recall when frog gigging is mentioned....Dave Mc

 

[Beefy]

i once caught a largemouth bass with a baby duck in it. i also had a rat staring at me when i went to take the hook out of a bass's mouth one time.