Catching Frogs with a cane pole....
First.....in a farm pond there is usually a little weed growth near the water line where the frogs will sit during the day in the shade. The farm ponds were fairly small.....100' to 200' across and fairly round. You could slowly walk up to the pond and spot the frogs along the bank. There would usually be enough weed cover that you could sneak up on the frog to within a "cane pole" distance. You needed to pick out a land mark to where the frog was located so you could catch it....usually without being able to see the frog hidden under the weeds.
Now you are thinking how can you catch the frog if you can not see it????
There in lies the secret. A bull frog will usually eat anything that is bright red. So the best method was to take a small piece of red cloth and put it on a small treble hook. We usually used a small sliver spoon. The extra weight of the spoon helped to keep the "bait" from swinging in the wind
Now.....after sneaking up on the frog, I would slowly lower the "bait" down in front of where the frog was and hopefully he would eat the treble hook with the red cloth.
This did not always work.....sometimes the frog would spook and "walk" across the water by jumping 4 to 6 times and then dive under the water, not to be seen again............................................. ................................................ for 5 to 15 minutes. After a while the frog would surface out in the middle of the pond, sit there for a while, and then slowly start moving back to the bank. It would usually go back to his "spot".
Other times the frog might jump up trying to catch the bait as I was lowering it. When it missed, sometime it would just wait there for a second strike as I lowered it closer to the frog.
Sometimes the frog was just not willing to bite....guess it was not hungry. Then the trick was to see where the frog was and move the bait until it was right next to the frog’s mouth....being careful not to hit the frog that might cause him to jump away. Then with the treble hook in position....jerk the pole up.
Sometimes there would be 2 frogs near each other, and the second frog would come hoping over when the bait is lowered.
Most ponds would have cat tails, and that would be a challenge to get the bait lowered down to the water. Sometimes there would be several frogs come moving in to see what was causing all the movement while trying to lower the bait.
I also use to fly fish for bream in the ponds. Well, a bream fly would work to catch frogs also.
Then there was the frog chasing back at the farm house front lawn before the cleaning started.
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