Fly-fishing for bullfrogs down at the billabong

Ellie and I were checking out some new fishing spots near Kearney when we found this billabong; a creek that previously flowed into a pond had been diverted, leaving the gravel bed empty save for this one pool.

The grassy banks of the former creek loomed high over the billabong, and our unstealthy approach sent several bluegills and one tiny largemouth bass darting for cover, their appetites suspended. But when a small bullfrog (there were no big ones here) made a move for an errant fly that landed atop a mat of algae, Ellie took note and replicated my cast. She almost immediately had a frog by the lip—the first of many, as it turned out.

"It's all very well using a nymph," I sniffed at Ellie as I removed an elk-hair caddis from the lip of another frog (not the one in this picture), "but a proper gentleman catches his bullfrogs on a dry fly." Ellie doubled over laughing, but managed (just) not to fall in.

Snobbish considerations aside, the frogs were equally willing to take nymphs and dries—but the nymphs, for whatever reason, had better holding power and landed more frogs. (That's a pro tip right there, lads; write it down.)

And while occasionally a frog would go for a fly in the water, dapping the flies atop the algae was far more productive than actually casting. (Another tip, mates.)

Too effective, as it happened, because soon all the frogs in the billabong had been educated, and we had to go find another pond and catch some bluegills like proper fly-fishers.

Later on—different day, different pond—Ellie caught a big bullfrog on a dry fly.