Frog Gigging & Life Lessons

By Program Coordinator, Bobby Cole

Six youth stared at me intently as I waded out waist deep in the water with a spotlight explaining how the frogs’ eyes will glow when your light hits them.  These same kids, many of whom drove over an hour to be here, showed up with a mission to get as many frogs as they could! My mission was to make that possible with the help of Jerry Carter and Brett Heckel. We split the kids up and began our hunt!

I had three youth with me, Addison, Ira, and Payton each kid followed behind me with their parents in tow. We walked for what seemed like hours until we spotted our first mature frog.

I stopped the kids and said, “who wants this one”. I looked back and Payton said, “I do!!” With a gleam in his eye we snuck up on the frog.  As he got closer, I told him not to step in front of my light and to keep his light on the frogs’ eyes. I reminded him to get as close as he could before striking with the gig. Payton slowly moved forward and almost taped the frog on the nose before making his move. With one quick motion, Payton struck and had his first frog! He looked at me with excitement in his eyes, unable to speak but his smile said it all! We bagged the frog and moved on!

Before we knew it Ira was up! Ira’s first frog wasn’t as easy. He missed the first one and the second one went under water before we could get to it. Sometimes those misses pay off. After we watched the second frog disappear into the murky water, we looked up and spotted the boss frog! I told Ira “That’s a monster man, we better take our time with this one!” We crouched down and moved in. Ira was tensed up and ready to strike. I reminded him to put both hands on the gig then bam he struck! Ira pulled up the gig with the boss frog on the end yelling “I got it I got It!”

Up next was Addison, she was out to prove that she could hang with the boys and that she did. Within seconds of Ira’s frog, we had spotted the another frog. Addison was was paying attention to the boys’ experience because she was ready for her turn. She snuck up on that big old frog and had it on the end of her gig with no instructions from me! She was the ultimate predator. She looked at me with a smile and bagged her frog!

We waded through the lake like this for a few hours switching from kid to kid until we thought we saw the other group heading back.  When we met up with the other group we dumped the frogs and counted 19!! Not bad for a bunch of kids on their first gigging trip!

We took some group photos then started cleaning the frogs. All the kids and parents circled my truck and watched us clean them. Some asked questions and some cracked jokes. As we cleaned the frogs, I told them my favorite way to make frog legs and asked them if they had a good time! With Smiles on their faces each kid said they had a blast and would love to do it again!

As I drove home and reflected on our hunt. I realized how blessed I am to be in this position! I have been given the chance to teach the next generation, to show them the things that my parents and grandparents showed me! You see our mission here is an important one! We are teaching these youth valuable life skills.  Lessons in hard work, persistence and patience all while passing on our hunting and fishing heritage.

If you’re reading this, I strongly encourage you to get involved with our program and pass on your knowledge to the next generation!! You don’t have to be an expert, you just have to be passionate about what you do!!