GETTIN' FROGGY WITH IT

Kermit wouldn't have had much fun in Harvey County last weekend.  In fact, he would have been running and jumping for his life.  An entire herd of frog-catching enthusiasts that included kids as young as 7 years old to adults descended upon several ponds for a frog grabbing fiesta.

This get-together has become somewhat of an annual event organized by several friends.  Since my boys were old enough to wander around much they've invited us to participate.  It's a great time with anywhere from 15-30 people most years.  The evening starts with a wonderful beast feast of fried fish, frog legs, duck kabobs and all the fixin's.  Tall tales are told and the kids run around fishing, playing washers and enjoying the great outdoors.

The main event starts shortly after dark.  Armed with flashlights and mesh sacks, teams of froggers head off into the darkness.  Only hand to web-footed combat is allowed with no gigs or nets used. Adults, high school and college-aged kids are on their own and head to a huge watershed pond.   Youngsters like my twin 12-year-old boys and a couple others still have adult supervision.  They've been dubbed the FFA (Future Froggers of America) and get to hunt their own smaller pond. 

The evening was a huge success.  Drought conditions made visuals on bullfrogs easy and some grabbed were nearly as big as a Chihuahua.  It was discovered the next day when they were cleaned that one of the larger ones had a baby bird in its stomach!  Dozens of frogs were bagged and sacks grew heavy.  My two boys were proud of their catch of eight frogs with plenty more that got away. 

A few run-ins with snapping turtles and giant water snakes added even more excitement to a truly fun-filled evening.  Sure, some participants lost tennis shoes, got cut-up, bug-bit and bruised.  Anything wrong with the evening will soon be forgotten when they all remember how much fun it was to chase Kermit's relatives all over the pond.

CARP QUEEN

A trip to the lake is always fun and when you catch the species you're after it's even better.  However, when that species doesn't cooperate it's not all bad if something else fills the fish-less void.  And even if a giant carp has to make the trip more tolerable I guess I have to deal with it. 

I recently took my sister and her family to Marion Reservoir for a catfishing adventure.  Reports were good and anticipation was high, despite an early morning departure of 6 a.m.  But after only a couple catfish would cooperate it was obvious my crew was losing interest. 

So enter a few big ol' carp.  They're nasty critters as far as I'm concerned but to novice anglers they put a whopper of a bend in a rod and fight like crazy.  That's really all one could expect and half the fun is in the battle no matter what's on the end of the line.

My sister caught a monstrous carp and my niece and nephew caught a few smaller ones, too.  It was the only saving grace to a day filled with little catfish success.  And even though it's considered a "trash fish" by some there's one giant member of the minnow family in particular that will be remembered for a long time.  It trashed my boat and earned my sister the title of "carp queen" for a day...maybe longer. 

QUICK STUDY

Walleye fishing comes easy to some, but often it's a matter of finding a successful pattern and duplicating it.  But to those new to jig-and-nightcrawler fishing, trolling crankbaits or pulling spinner rigs, none are easy methods to learn.  It often takes plenty of practice and the fun of fishing for anything is figuring things out.  My 14-year-old nephew, Dylan, got a crash course in one popular walleye fishing technique this past weekend. 

The walleye bite at Clinton Reservoir had been going strong since the first of July.  A buddy had been catching plenty of 'eyes and didn't mind Dylan and I joining him last weekend for an early morning trip.  We were on the water by 6:30 a.m. hoping for the best.  I sat in the middle of the boat and instructed Dylan on the finer points of pulling spinners.  He took charge of our two rods in the back.  He got hands-on experience as I left most of the responsibility up to him.  He soon learned what to look for in a hit, how much line to let out and when to check his bait. 

But for the first two hours he learned nothing of actually CATCHING a fish.  Not even a dink.  It didn't look good and my buddy wondered aloud if a good thing had come to an end.  But we were planning to fish at least 'til noon anyway and kept after it.  Dylan probably wasn't real impressed with this "new to him" way of fishing.

But as is the case sometimes, for whatever reason, the fish started biting.  And they bit well.  Over the course of the next three hours we kept 12 walleye and a sauger between 15 inches and 5 pounds.  Dylan was digging it and admitted he liked this way of fishing.  I don't know if he meant pulling spinners or catching big, mouth-watering-sized walleye.  Didn't matter what he meant as we were having fun.

Dylan got the hang of running the rods, net and baiting hooks.  He learned a lot in a short time.  He never complained once about the heat, slow start or being hungry.  He was a good student for sure and he's looking forward to the next class no matter the lesson.

OLD DOG, NEW TRICK

If I added up all the hours of my free time I spend hunting or fishing, I'd have several Ph. D's-worth of experience.  But despite all those hours I'll be the first to admit I don't know everything.  Not even close and I have plenty of room for improvement.  I've found when you talk about or join others hunting or fishing there's plenty to learn and I'm always eager to do so.  Such was the case recently when I jumped in the boat with Nick Neff, an avid angler from Springhill, for a crash-course in spider rigging crappie. 

Nick Neff and Eric Sher with some spider-rigged Hillsdale crappie

Nick admits he fishes only to have something to do between duck seasons.  There's obviously plenty of time in that "off-season." He's taken advantage of it and his livewell is rarely empty when he chooses to keep a few tasty slabs.  His buddy, Eric Sher, joined us one afternoon last weekend as we jumped in the boat at Hillsdale Reservoir with the temperature hovering around 103 degrees.

The fishing was just as hot.  It wasn't long and Nick, Eric and even I was catching bunches of crappie on 10-12-foot long rods.  A tail-hooked minnow was irresistible to more than 150 crappie that evening.  Most went back in the lake but we had at least 40 that exceeded the lake's 10-inch minimum length limit. 

I learned a lot about spider rigging in just five hours.  Nick was a great teacher and anxious to share his techniques and tactics which work really well.  He and Eric enjoyed catching fish and being on the water.  The only thing more impressive than their fish-catching ability was their enthusiasm for the outdoors.  They truly enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it, too.   It's all good in the end and I'm proof positive you can teach an old dog new tricks.       

KIND WORDS

It's not often people in a hustle and bustle busy world stop to chat.  More concerned with the next item on busy "to do" lists, greetings and personal exchanges are usually brief, particularly among strangers.  But every once in a while someone is out-of-the-ordinary friendly and genuine.  In a "reality television world" it's nice when someone is sincere.  I recently had an encounter that made me think there's still hope for a kinder, gentler society than what we often see or read about in today's world.

I had just picked up some catfishing supplies from a small, local sporting goods store on my lunch hour.  As I headed for the door I noticed an older, unassuming gentleman in a wheelchair sitting nearby.  I nodded and said, "Hello" as I passed.

He responded with, "How's your new puppy doing?" 

I stopped in my tracks.

I've written several articles about the passing of my beloved black Lab, Mag, last summer.  I've also chronicled the challenges of starting a puppy, one of his offspring, in the ways of retriever training.  I assumed this gentleman had read some of those articles.

"He's doing well," I said as I turned around.  "He's got a ways to go to catch up to his ol' man, though."

"I'm sorry to hear about your old dog," he said with compassion.

We chatted for a bit about dogs, fishing and the like.  Although our conversation was brief it was truly refreshing as well as rewarding.  The gentleman was pleasant and sincere.  And the fact he initiated a conversation to talk about something near-and-dear to me was indeed humbling.   

 

FAMILY FISHING

Fishing with my own kids is fun and I enjoy every minute of it.  However, it's always nice to share and after hearing lots of good fishing reports from previous trips my niece and nephew, Shyanne and Dylan, and sister, Chari Osterhaus, were anxious to join me and my boys this past weekend at Marion Reservoir.  It was our first camping trip of the summer all together so anticipation was high, despite the early wake-up call, when we launched at 6:30 a.m.

We targeted a well-known chum hole and dropped anchors.  It was a nice morning as I baited every one's hook, a task which keeps me busy with five others in my boat.  Shyanne hooked the first fish of the morning and excitement was high.  Dylan was next on the board with another feisty channel catfish. 

The fishing wasn't fast and furious by any definition.  However, we were catching enough and missing plenty more bites to keep things interesting.  Over the course of the next few hours we managed to put 19 cats in the livewell weighing between 3 and 5 pounds.  We called it a morning about 11 a.m. when the temperature started soaring, kids were getting hungry and the girls in the boat had to find a restroom.

Both Shyanne and Dylan were busy snapping photos on their cell phones to share with their friends when we got back to camp.  We took a couple groups shots and it was nice to see the smile on everyones' faces holding up a couple fish.  It's always fun to share the experience.  The kids and my sister will remember the trip each time they sit down to a fried catfish dinner.  They're already looking forward to our next outing in a couple weeks.  Hopefully, it will be worth the wait. 

RIGHTEOUS ROADTRIP

I've always liked the anticipation of looking forward to an outdoor excursion outside the usual here at home.  And my 12-year-old twin boys, Brandon and Cody, get even more fired-up as many of these junkets are their first-ever.  A buddy, Kent Dodds, was equally anxious when we departed last week headed to Lake Texoma for a little striper fishing.

Our guide, Travis Barker, picked us up at the dock at 5:30 a.m. the first morning in a boat more suited for the ocean but right at home on Texoma's 90,000 acres.  Outfitted with dual 250 hp Yamaha 4-strokes we were stylin' and it didn't take us long to get anywhere.  Our first spot didn't yield much, but it wasn't long and news of good fishing spread over the radio.  Many of the guides share information and there's usually plenty of fish to go around. 

Travis was a flurry of activity trying to keep our four rods in the water as fish bit nearly non-stop.  We used live threadfin shad he'd caught prior to picking us up and most times we fished them three to five cranks off the bottom.  Stripers typically don't mess around and sometimes hit like a freight train and then act like a runaway one when hooked.  My boys had no trouble discerning a hit and we all caught a mess of fish in a hurry.  Our limit of 40-fish (10 each) happened almost too fast as we were back at the dock, fish cleaned and headed back to our motel room by 8:30 a.m.

The next morning followed with similar results.  A large school of surfacing fish started the day and for whatever reason we caught bigger fish this day with several pushing 10 pounds.  Each angler is allowed two fish over 20 inches long in their daily creel and we had some nice ones.  Our 40-fish limit took a bit longer but we were still back at the dock well before the temperatures of 100-degree-plus days started sizzling. 

All four of us had a great time.  We spent more time on the road than we did fishing, but the overall experience was a package deal.  It's nice to do something different and I'm certain I'll have plenty of anxious participants should we do it again.