Improvised frog gig.

PropThePolecat

PropThePolecat

Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Messages
3,292
Lately, theres been alot of talk here on BF about frog gigging. That made me think, about making one myself to see how hard or easy it would be.

I used the saw on my Swisstool and my RC-3 to whittle. But both could have made it by itself, with the Swisstool having a slight advantage due to the narrow blade.

I started with some greenwood (for flexibility), which i batoned about an inch down, in a cross. Then i wedged 2 pieces of wood in, to make the 4 pieces spread out. And then i just whittled away.
During the whittling i quickly found out, that my piece of wood was unnecessarily big. I could have made a much lighter version, had a chosen a piece of wood that was half as big in diameter. I think bamboo would have made an excellent gig. The wood i had was too thick, and i had a hard time bending it so i could get in and whittle.

Apologize for the crappy pics, but i all i had was my mobile since i wasnt planning on taking pics. Heres the end-result:

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Not very fancy, but ill get there some day :D All i need now is some frogs to gig, but we dont have any in my area unfortunately.
 
you're off to a good start but you might want to thin the points so the frog will stick better and make some barbs if you can.the frog might fall off when you pick up the gig the way it is now.
 
Yea, I'd thin them some, other then that it should work fine. Barbs would help, but I have caught them without them a couple times. :thumbup:
 
Nice! You can also use several smaller diameter sticks, thinned, pointed, and barbed, and then lashed to a larger shaft. Barbs are very important. The best I have seen are made from bamboo. An area of the river I have to go to Thursday has a lot of bamboo. I'll try to harvest some and make a gig.
 
fishshooter said:
Nice! You can also use several smaller diameter sticks, thinned, pointed, and barbed, and then lashed to a larger shaft.
Click to expand...

It occured to me, to make one as you describe, but i didnt have any paracord with me today. Im going to try it next time im out though. I believe it will be faster to make.


Im also going to try to make one like in the pics, only with a smaller diameter stick. Should be easier to make thin points on it. Ill see if can make some barbs on it too, ive never made barbs before though. I want to try and perfect this type of improvised gig/fish spear. Learning by doing :thumbup:
 
PropThePolecat said:
It occured to me, to make one as you describe, but i didnt have any paracord with me today. Im going to try it next time im out though. I believe it will be faster to make.


Im also going to try to make one like in the pics, only with a smaller diameter stick. Should be easier to make thin points on it. Ill see if can make some barbs on it too, ive never made barbs before though. I want to try and perfect this type of improvised gig/fish spear. Learning by doing :thumbup:
Click to expand...

might try cutting a small branch with a sucker sprouting out. Cut the main branch, then trim the sucker (or small sprout) to a small point. Make two, tie them to main spear, with the spear point and inch or so IN from the prongs.
 
Nice. :thumbup: Id say definatly thin out the points on yours. Not too much though, easy to break them off if you miss the frog. Which you will from time to time. The older ones that have been chased before can be tricky.

I carry some large nails in my kit to make an improvised gig. A few seconds with a dremel for the barbs, and you have a lightweight way to fashion a very functional gig on the move. My son uses a gig I made with nails, and it works better then my store bought one.
 
Nice. I might add that by accident I had a Bushnell flashlight that had a strobe on it. It puts the frogs in the dirt. They just sit there. I tried to google the effect, but couldn't find any info. Just thought I would pass it on as an observation. Better than a regular light with a constant beam. Hope someone trys it and gives me some feedback. Nice gig by the way.
 
I say is good start! Maybe make the fingers a little longer. If you don't have any barbs just spear a frog. Then take your hand and grab the frog before you lift the gig.
 
There was a thread on here a while back that mentioned using several sharpened and barbed bicycle spokes wire wrapped on on a staff as a frog gig.--KV
 
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