Found this guy crossing my silt pond dam, seeking the bottom mud of the big pond for the winter. Biggest bullfrog we've seen to date...

Nice One Doc! I have a handful of those buggers in my newly renovated pond, but nothing that big...YET.

It's an old discussion topic, but I stocked LMB last month. We have loads of bullfrog and their tadpoles, so we'll soon find out if LMB like them for forage. I'm hoping yes (nothing against frogs, just want to boost the forage chain)

surprised that frogs are even mobile in this cold weather. I tried to get bullfrogs tadpoles to propagate and no luck so far, only leopard frogs. That one is giant!! I wonder if it is a different species?

I pulled up a bullfrog tadpole with the cast net out of my forage pond the other day where there are no LMB predators to do away with any developed frogs next spring.

He was very cool to the touch and lethargic. Air temp was only about 40°F. Not sure why he was so late getting 'dug in' for the winter? Maybe something disturbed him in the silt pond?
I'm confident it's a bullfrog. I just think my frog's have gotten the benefit of low predation, so some live long enough to get this big. Reminds me of the first rule of QDMA style whitetail deer management...they have to live long enough to reach trophy size!

Must be an Iowa thing Doc. I was blessed with about 6-8 mature guys like this who found their way into my 1st yr pond. I love frogs .... they seem happy and pleasantly amused at all times (even if getting prepped as bait).

I hear you! How is that gorgeous pond of yours doing? Ready to work on those perch through the ice this year?

Living long is definitely a key to growing large.

Doc, the pond is looking great ... at least in my eyes. I have a high nutrient load which I trust will be an ongoing battle, but plan to construct some living filter islands over the winter. I agree with Bill on the frogs. Long, safe lives are needed for frogs to get big. Just like big bucks, I'm sure a few extra brain cells help too. I think I was just pretty lucky that I had some move in or were in the existing stream. I had three close to the size that you had in your pics and then another 4-5 that were like the ones I took a pic of. Funny how each one seemed to be stationed every 100 feet in the same post each evening. Hope they are all safely buried in the mud somewhere right now.

I think frogs can be a sign of relatively good water quality. They are sensitive to toxins in the water column and can be some of the first signs of trouble if they start dying. My bigger bullfrogs are territorial to a certain degree and seem to stake out small territories around themselves. They are also big time cannibals and snap up the smaller frogs who get too close. Sometimes my smaller fisherman (nieces and nephews mostly) have more fun twitching a small jig on top of the FA and watching a big frog snap it up than they do catching fish! Okay, full disclosure....me too!

She is having fun. If I did that my luck the frog would swallow the hook really deep.

I see you have modified a landscape rake to rake FA similar to the manner I did mine. Works pretty good that way!

Nice catch John! Yes, we use it all the time (unfortunately). The FA really got away from us in July this year. I was raking open areas for easier fishing...

I noticed the rake too! Got one myself. I've found a section of cattle panel with floaties works pretty good too. I sling it out there with a rope and drag it back. Nice frogs Doc!!!

That frog is impressive!

It kinda takes me back to my early childhood going gigging with my dad at his deer lease ponds for frog legs to fry up at deer camp.

Would you consider having frogs like this in your pond a good thing? a bad thing? or neutral?

Thanks for sharing the pics btw... cheers!
/clayton

For those of you too young to know who Jeremiah was ...


Jeremiah was a bull frog
He was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
but I helped him drink his wine!

Ha! I'm young, but not that young. When I was a wee lad, my dad would always be on the CB radio on road trips with the family. His handle was Bullfrog, my mother's was Lilypad, and mine was Tadpole. It's crazy the stuff you remember and the stuff you don't.

/c

Clayton-
I think bullfrogs are a good thing. They can reflect decent water quality. They can (possibly) be a forage source. I've always enjoyed seeing them, watching them do their thing. And catching them is fun too!
I shared the pictures of my niece because I love seeing family and friends enjoying my pond, and I know lots of the PB forum gang does too.
all the best,
Luke

Thanks, Luke. I like frogs and I'd like to see 'em more around my place. We have a pretty wide variety showing up for free bugs on the back porch most nights, but I've yet to see a bullfrog here. I am curious to see how the addition of the pond this fall will impact the diversity of critters around here. Thanks for the response. My place my be really small, but I'm really enjoying it so far... every day.

Cheers!
clayton

for those wanting to try to start a bullfrog family in your pond, you can source bullfrog tadpoles for very cheap on ebay and have them shipped to your door.

I've had a lot of bullfrogs on my pond since it was built three years ago. I still have a lot of really big tadpoles. I used to think I would take a few of the big bullfrogs after July, when the season is open, but my wife and I really like the deep calls they make. One will go off on one end of the pond then the whole perimeter will start in. Ours have gotten fairly large over the years, but not as large as DrLuke's in the first post. Lots of coon tracks, and almost continuous heron activity has kept the frogs from over populating.