Bullfroggin’!

 

On a late July Sunday Funday, we were invited to a friend’s suburban bass pond while the neighbors were on-vacation. Private neighborhoods with private lakes, stocked with bass and panfish, were pretty common in this part of Illinois and offered fishing opportunities for the children of these communities. The goal was to keep less-desirable citizens out, but that didn’t work this time.

The bass fishing was slow and while he caught a few bluegills, my buddy Mike quickly turned his attention to the bullfrogs that took an interest in his little popper.

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I quickly followed suit. This was spot-and-stalk at its finest and required keen vision, a stealthy approach, an accurate cast, and a well-timed hook set.

We ended up with about a dozen nice, fat bullfrogs and Mike took a “Booner” that we considered taking to the taxidermist before cooler heads prevailed.

We put the bullfrogs on ice immediately after capture and they essentially went to sleep as their metabolisms shut down. We all felt a little sorry for the poor little guys but a kid’s gotta’ eat and we prefer shopping in Mother Nature’s Store. We got them home, pulled off their “pants”, and fired up the hot oil with two kinds of batter. We broiled some of the legs in aluminum foil on the grill as well. They were all absolutely fantastic, made a full meal for both couples, and we discovered yet another way to entertain ourselves and fill our bellies in the Midwest.