Behind the scenes of frog catching

Rodricka Taylor
·2 min read

RAYNE, La. (KLFY) – If you enjoy eating good frog legs, News 10’s Rodricka Taylor had a chance
to learn about frog catching with Stacy Ancelet, a frog hunter.

Ancelet says he has been catching frogs all his life. Living in the country he would go with
his father, uncle and Godfather. The key to hunting frogs is going when it is dark, usually after
10:00 p.m. Once you spot a bullfrog you use your spotlight to blind the frog so you can ease up
and catch it. “You have to be quick. You can’t wait. When you’re going to go to catch him you got to catch him because if you touch him, they’re gone. The big strong legs they got go real quick and when it hit that deep water, you ain’t going to find them,” he said.

History of the Rayne Frog Festival: Celebrating 52 years

If it is hot, the bullfrogs will bury themselves in the mud. Ancelet said they can be found along
the banks of crawfish ponds. “It’s fun. It gets kind of competitive when you have three or four guys in a boat. Some people ride side by side on the levees. Some people walk the canals. There are different types of ways to do it,” he said.

He said a crawfish boat is easier because bullfrogs are used to the boat running by in the
crawfish ponds every day. They are used to the noise, and the vibration; the waves from the
boat. Sometimes you have to step on a snake just to catch a frog but he said it’s fun.

Ancelet said on a good night, he catches about 40, or 50 frogs. “You got your good 80 to 100 legs unless we cook it the whole way, we cook the whole thing on a barbecue pit. That’s a typical night. I mean, if you want to run all night, you can catch a lot more but we prefer just to catch what we’re going to eat,” he said.

Latest Stories

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.