Kentucky Afield | Frog Gigging; Protecting Big-Eared Bats; Bumping for Catfish | Season 39 | Episode
This week on Kentucky Afield.
We're in western Kentucky with our good friend Jim Doom, but we're not fishing.
We're looking to fill a skillet with frog legs.
Next, we'll head out into the field with biologists to see what they're doing to protect an endangered species.
Then we'll head west yet again and this time we are fishing.
It's all next on Kentucky Afield.
Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.
I'm your host, Chad Miles.
Join us as we journey the commonwealth in search of outdoor adventure.
It's not often that you hear of a young man asking for a frog gig for his birthday, but I have a friend who did just that.
Now let's head to western Kentucky and put it to use.
We're down here in western Kentucky tonight in Trigg County.
And I'm with my old buddy, Eli Doom.
How are you doing, buddy?
Good how are you?
I'm doing good.
I tell you what, I know you're excited because what are we going to be doing tonight?
Frog gigging.
Frog gigging.
Man, I started frog gigging when I was about your age.
Mm hmm.
And it's still something that brings a huge smile to my face.
I absolutely love to go frog gigging.
Who else we bring here today?
Granddad.
Your granddad.
We got two pond behind the house, and he's chasing frogs, catching fish or something all the time.
You know, and the funny thing is, is I called you about a week ago and said, you know what would be fun?
I said, has Eli ever been frog gigging?
And you just kind of giggled, and you said Eli█s birthday's coming up.
And I was like, Okay.
Like we were taking frog gigging for his birthday.
I didn't understand how it fit.
But you're eight years old now, right as of last week?
Mm hmm.
All right.
What did you ask for for your birthday?
A frog gig.
A frog gig.
I don█t know too many people.
Eight year old boys would say, You know what I need for my birthday is a frog gig.
Now, I haven't heard any frogs yet, but we're getting close.
It's getting dark.
Do you bring the spotlight?
Yep.
Yeah.
Have you eaten frog legs before?
Yeah.
What do you think?
Delicious.
Ellie spends a lot of time with you guys in the boat.
She's such a good dog.
So we're gonna let her tag along with us tonight.
You got your boots on?
Yep.
You got a light somewhere, don't you?
Yeah.
You got your frog gig?
Yeah.
I'll tell you what.
Let's go get loaded up and let's go sneak up to the first and start taking a look.
What you think?
Yeah.
All right, let's do it.
Got a frog right here.
It looks like maybe even two.
It went under theres another one to your right.
That thing was huge.
All right.
Eli's got a frog right here.
We're going to practice, but we're not going to gig him.
He's right here.
Try to get that gig down close.
Right there.
Right there.
Okay, now let's find a bigger one.
What you think?
Yeah.
Let's go get a big one.
We saw a big one, didn't we?
Yeah.
Got spooked.
Got spooked, thats ok. That's a leopard frog.
I'm going to try to catch it with my hands.
You got him.
Leopard frog.
What do you think about that, buddy?
First catch, kinda.
Ellie didn't know what to think about that.
Does she?
There he goes.
Nice job, buddy.
While sitting here searching for frogs, we come across something like, What is that?
We happen to notice it looks like a turtle.
And if it is, it's a snapper.
So Jim said he's going to get it.
Crazy man.
Hey you never know, you get yourself outdoors.
You never know what you're going to see.
Sometimes you go out looking for frogs and you end up finding turtles.
You ever handled a snapping turtle before?
Yeah.
Oh, you have.
Okay.
Don█t let him turn around and get you.
I tell you what, Jim, you raise them different down here.
Like a Cottonmouth, that mouth wide open.
There it goes.
He's like, Im not going to that part of the pond any more.
Get him, Eli.
Oh, man, you missed that one.
That's all right.
Aim better next time.
Oh, I believe you got that one, buddy.
There you go.
Hey, what do you think about that?
You got him good.
Got him pegged.
Way to go.
I think we█ll get more.
What you think?
Yeah.
Look at that one right there Eli.
That's a big one.
You want to go after that one or look around... lets make our way over there and kind of hunt while we go.
What do you think?
Yeah.
Oh, here's a big one.
Okay, we got a big one.
Oh, got him.
I think you got it.
You did get him.
That█s a great job.
That was a good shot, Eli.
It'll be some good eating.
Here's one, good one.
You missed him that time.
But I bet he'll circle back around, come back up on the bank.
Maybe you get another shot at him.
We got a bullfrog here, and immediately on the right, we got another bullfrog.
They're just a little bit small.
Looks like a big one there Eli, be easy.
I believe you got him.
Yes, sir.
Frog on the end of the stick.
You got him.
Thats a big old bullfrog there.
You█re getting pretty good at this.
Hold this light for me.
Take a look at what you got.
There you go.
You know what people ask me?
City slickers that don't know any difference.
They'll say, You eat frogs?
Is it green?
What color is their meat?
White.
Very white and very tasty, isn't it?
Yeah.
Here's one right here.
It█s under this limb.
You want to shoot at him?
Yeah, I'll shoot at him.
Awesome.
He'll be on the end of the arrow here in a second.
I think I got him.
I believe you smoked him.
That's a good one.
Look at those meaty frog legs.
And you actually I still get excited shooting a frog.
It doesn't matter what the game is.
You know, if you have a passion for shooting archery it doesn't matter whats your target.
It's just a lot of fun.
It is.
Well Eli frog gigging is fun isn█t it buddy?
Yep.
We'll have to do it again.
What do you think?
Yeah.
Jim, I always have a blast coming down in West Kentucky hanging out with you.
Either we're fishing or hunting or doing a combination of both.
Kind of like tonight, a little bit of fishing and hunting.
Sure.
A lot of fun.
Thank you so much for bringing Eli out with us tonight.
And we'll have to start planning our next adventure.
What do you think?
Yeah.
All right, let's do it.
Kentucky has numerous caves throughout the state, and many of those caves are very delicate ecosystems that house the Virginia big eared bat and the Department of Fish and Wildlife is working hard to protect and manage that species.
Virginia Big Eared bats are our most endangered mammal we have in Kentucky.
As best we can tell from the information we have available to us statewide, there's only somewhere between three and 4000 individuals currently.
The biologists here at Kentucky Fish and Wildlife spend a lot of time managing Virginia Big Eared bats.
The last year, as a part of our project with Virginia Big Eared bats we discovered a new or at least newly known to us maternity site for the species.
It's a pretty sizable site.
It holds maybe a little bit over 10% of all the Virginia Big Eared bats we know of in the state.
We were concerned that people could unknowingly go into the cave at the wrong time of year and disturb the bats and actually cause the population to decline.
So at that point, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife worked with the Daniel Boone National Forest with US Fish and Wildlife with the Kentucky Natural Land Trust and with experts in actually erecting these cave gates to get the site protected.
Using using a cave gate.
I need a piece.
A sill s-i-l-l 78 inches.
Yes.
When I say gate it, we're erecting these barriers that will allow the bat to move in and out of the cave freely, but that restricts human access.
Human disturbance, and most of the time it's unknowingly disturbing these bats, can actually have a negative impact on the population.
So if we get a lot of human disturbance at a cave that's used as a hibernaculum for example, while the bats are hibernating, the humans walking around will disturb them.
They'll wake up, they'll start depleting fat reserves, and they'll actually starve to death in the wintertime.
In the summertime, if it's a maternity site for a species you disturb the mothers with their pups.
Sometimes the pups, if you do at the wrong time of year, are unable to fly at this time, and they can actually fall down to the cave floor to their death.
So when you put these cave gates up or barriers up, it's there as a way of managing a very small number of the caves that we have in the state that that are the ones that are our most important cave resources.
We utilized our Kentucky Wild program to pay for a portion of the gate in conjunction with that to the imperiled Bat Conservation Fund administered by the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, paid for a portion of the project as well.
So we were able to leverage Kentucky wild funds that are donated money from our Kentucky Wild members to actually get this site protected.
What we want to do is put in these management strategies with putting cave gates up, but then we also want to continue monitoring the sites to make sure that the populations are at least holding steady, although we would obviously prefer to have the the populations increase in size, a tool that we use for monitoring populations.
We can go in with thermal binoculars and monitor emergence at night and just get a count of how many bats are coming out in order to collect the most data from a site and to really see how our population is doing, we'll use a harp trap.
A harp trap is a metal frame with monofilament fishing line that you buy any baits to work around vertically.
And the idea is as the bats emerge out of the cave, they kind of bump into the fishing line that we've got pulled really tight, and it makes them fall into a little cloth bag at the bottom of the trap.
As soon as they hit the bag at the bottom, we have biologists on site that pull the bat out and that's when we really start collecting some good information on is this a site used by males or females?
Sometimes both.
Is it a maternity site where we have both mothers and pups there?
What's the reproductive condition and the body condition of the bats that we're catching?
And that's what we're also able to put bands on bat so that we can do these long term data sets.
That's essentially a way of marking the bat so that we can collect trend data on individuals.
We're able to band these bats in the summertime.
We'll go in in the wintertime to do the bat count.
And as we see, bats that have a band on them will pull that bat, look at the band report that.
And we're able to find the migration trend on species.
So by attaching these bands, we're able to start getting these links between where they're spending their summers and where they're spending their winters.
In addition, we're able to look year after year and see how long some of these bats live, which can actually be up to 20 years.
So by not only doing the monitoring that we've talked about, but by also installing these cave gates at appropriate sites, we're able to monitor and hopefully recover the species long term.
One of the things we want to make sure of is to protect the populations that we know of.
And then beyond that, once we get these sites protected, then we can work into some of the habitat work that needs to happen out on the landscape to make sure that the species is recovered.
Are you interested in trying to catch a big catfish?
Well I recommend getting on a big river, find some moving water, and try this method called bumping.
Well, today is a day that I have really been looking forward to.
This is actually my second time out fishing with Captain Ben Goebel and last time we smoked 'em.
Yep.
We absolutely crushed the fish.
So we're actually at the exact same location.
And I've been keeping up with your Facebook posts.
You have been catching some really big fish this year.
We've had a great year.
So far.
Really couldn't ask for a better year.
Our our numbers have really been good this year.
Well, I'll tell you what.
We like to showcase some different things.
We're going to fish similar styles than we did last time.
And it's called bumping.
That's right.
And bumping.
The best way you described it to me is if you're a bass fisherman, it's like reverse dragging a jig.
Right?
That's pretty much like it.
if you guys if people like to bass fish, usually my first question when I get customers aboat: Do you like the bass fish?
And they say, yeah.
So you're going to like the way we fish, its just backwards when you're retrieving a jig or worm or Texas rig and a worm back to you.
Instead of that.
It's it's reverse.
You're walking it down the river.
I fully expect that we're going to catch some fish and big quality fish.
I've been out with you one time.
And that's that's what I've that has been my experience.
And I've watched your Facebook page and it's like my God, he did it again.
There's another 50 pounder.
It's it's amazing how you locate big fish.
Well, let's- I say we- suns coming up here.
I say we've got a beautiful day.
It's going to be a hot day.
It's going to be hot.
Let's hope the Fish are as hot as- The sunscreens on sunglasses are in the boat, I'm wearing some long sleeves try to keep the sun off me.
We got we got fresh skipjack so I say we go get after it.
let's do it.
The way I like to hook these skipjack there's a little- Yeah.
Lip right there.
Just come up there.
Come right out the nose.
All right.
What type of flow you think we got today?
Miles per hour?
We're.
We're looking here pretty good.
You want me to go on ahead and give her- make it happen?
Yeah just drop straight down.
All right.
How deep are we fishing today?
We're going to be enough.
30 to 60.
All right, now.
I just felt the bottom.
Yep.
And then.
And then remember when you want to let it out, you just let it out as you're coming up with your bump.
Something just tapped my- Yeah, I got one tap on mine too.
Got a fish on?
Think it came off.
Now he might still be.
most important fish of the day.
That's right.
Number one.
He found him a little treat today didn't he?
Kind've a little morning pop tart this morning.
He found a trick, and a treat.
Here he is.
There you go.
Five pounder.
I'll tell you what- Right there Nice fish.
That's what you want to take home and eat right there.
That's perfect eater fish right there.
And then you can range from 5 lbs on that big of a piece of bait to 100 huh?
Yeah, he just this one, this little guy is just get going.
So, going back, and get our bait on them Oh, yeah.
I see your rod tip going there.
Yeah.
Here you go.
Little better fish.
Here you go.
I saw that rod tip bouncing.
Come over on this side, Chad.
You got it loose?
Yeah, I'm loose.
Okay.
Let me tell you, I'm.
I'm out there about to the boat ramp.
Need a net?
No, I don't think so.
Let's see what you got here.
This is a.
You think only about 15 lbs, you say?
Yeah he's- You called it.
10, 12.
You called it.
About ten.
You know, this fish here, he's been fighting a little bit, just a little spot on him from from spawn.
And you see his mouth a little bit, but very healthy Fish.
That is a good fish.
Hey, you doubled from fish one to fish two.
We're steadly just getting up so- and just a beautiful fish here, the sun on him like that and then it just never gets old catching them.
I don't even care for this size right here.
Just all colors on him.
Starting to hit that bottom.
It's just like knocking on the door.
Yep.
You're using six ounces of lead.
You'd think it would happen really quick and easy, but when you got a flow like we got.
Yeah.
It's like you think you find it right away, but when you- You do feel it, there's no doubt.
Okay, there you go.
There we go.
Good job.
Uh oh, here we go.
You got one, too?
Oh, now it's on.
I don't think he's there, its a small bite.
We about made her a double.
Yep.
It was a small bite.
This one might be more like eight or eight or nine pounder.
Yeah, right there.
There you go.
You get more fish than you get the bait.
Tell you what, still such a huge fight.
You think you want to come out here everybody goes "I want to catch a 50 pounder."
You might change your mind when you get him hooked up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, he's probably six.
he's eight 8 lbs?
Yeah.
You start looking at the length of that fish and you go, well, okay, that fish probably what do you think, 28 inches long or..?
Probably not quite that.
He's probably 24, probably 24 or 21.
I'll tell you what now, maybe I'm getting the hang of it.
Maybe I'll get another one here real quick.
I tell you what, being a rookie of this or only my second time doing it.
It's amazing with a little extra weight you can really.
Really, really feel it.
Oh, in reality, you know, we like to get them baits back there, but you can still catch fish up here, close to the boat.
The main thing is in order to catch fish.
You have to feel it.
Yeah.
You got to be able to feel that bottom at all times as you start getting better at it than we like- When I run trips and stuff and we lighten up your sinker as the day goes on.
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
There he is.
I guess what I'm all about down here at the boat ramp.
Yeah, i see him way out there.
Oh yeah, yeah.
This kind of fishing, you got all kinds of time to get the net.
Yeah.
Lollygag around, come back here.
Still 100 yards out.
We got him now.
Gave you a workout, huh?
It is.
I mean, that is a really solid quality fish.
Good and healthy.
That's a that's a really nice fish, though.
Yeah.
We're gonna get this dude back.
Here we go.
Yeah, yeah.
Right, right there.
See him right there on top of the water.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
He's 8, 18.
That's nice.
Got him?
Nice.
That's why you do it.
good job.
Look at that fish.
What do you notice about that fish?
Look at its eye.
Yeah.
I'll be dang.
There aint an eyeball In there.
Yeah.
He been hurt probably before.
Look, no eyeball.
It's probably been- I have.
I've only seen that one time.
That fish has been that fish has been hooked and or something the eye has been removed and it's literally healed over.
And there is no eye.
there's a skin.
Just skin.
But you know what?
These fish, they work so much on scent and smell.
this fish is still very healthy and living his life.
No eyeball.
check that out.
Oh, one eyed fish.
The one eyed fish.
You got a fish?
Yeah, that a good one?
I don't know.
He's staying down.
Oh, yeah.
We got a little drag here.
No, he's not wanting me to see him.
he's going to be a nice fish.
There you go.
Let's see here.
Oh, you got him.
Nice fish.
Upper upper 20.
That's the ones we're after, right there.
Yeah.
That's right.
Right there.
Beautiful fish.
Man.
Look how much when they once they get about the length of the last one they just for a while start getting really thick, look how wide and thick that fish is.
All right, let's see what he weighs.
Right at 28, 28 lbs.
I mean, that's just a typical trophy blue cat right there.
I mean.
What a beautiful, beautiful fish.
We're gonna we're going to get him.
Get him released here.
You got him?
Same old size today.
12, 13 pounder.
That's the slot today.
Seems like.
just a beautiful fun fish that will for most for most people unless you are an avid cat fisherman that sized fish believe it or not in this current.
Oh yeah.
Will absolutely give you all the fight you want.
Yeah.
12 lbs And if you hook into a 40 or 50 pounder, you might be done for the day.
Yeah.
So, wow, I'll tell you what, you, you, you've.
You've never let me down.
I've been down here and done this with you twice.
And every single time we come down here, we get plenty of bites.
Obviously.
Yeah, there's bigger fish.
Obviously we catch bigger fish, but some days it's just tough.
You know, today we got a big south wind, if you know what you're doing.
And you know, from April all the way through October, November, a guy can come out here and catch fish.
No doubt about it.
Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun in this week's Ones That Didn't Get away.
Here we have Chuck and a massive crappie that he caught on Dale Hollow Lake.
This fish weighed nearly two pounds.
Nice job.
Here we have a nice large mouth bass that was caught by John Mohr.
This fish was caught in a Bullitt County farm pond.
Nice job.
Six year old Wyatt Woods caught this beautiful five pound largemouth bass at a private farm pond in Henry County.
Congratulations.
Here we have eight year old Polly Birch with a huge green sunfish.
This fish was caught on a Zebco 33.
She caught this while fishing at a relative's private lake in Ohio County.
Hey, Mark Your Calendars.
On Monday, July 31st at 8:00 Eastern Time will be our annual Kentucky Wild question and answer show.
We'll be streaming live on YouTube, Facebook and at fw.ky.gov.
And remember, hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.
Always ask permission and thank the landowner.
Until next week, I'm your host, Chad Miles, and I hope to see you in the woods or on the water.
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