frogs and walleyes on pool four

I was on pool four fishing just above the vermilan? river on march 10. we did well on male walleyes 15-20 inches in 20-24 feet……but when i cleaned this mess of fish i found something strange…..in the gut of several on the fish i found frogs!!!! they did not look fresh and were a bit muddy looking. where did they come from? were they washed thru the dam and picked up. i thought eyes were not carrion eaters….any one have some insite for me.
thanks
ted

Sounds to me like these walleyes figured out how to dig the frogs out of the mud that they were hibernating in. I’ve never heard of this happening before.
I have heard of walleyes that will target frogs. They will typically do this in the fall. Frogs head for back bays of reservoirs, lakes or rivers and will dig down into the mud under shallow water where they will spend the winter hibernating. Walleyes in these areas have figured out the pattern and will gorge themselves on the frogs.
JWB

Same thing here. I have seen fish with frogs in them on the northern croix, crow river and northern Mississippi. Always in the fall. Never gave much thought that it might be a spring pattern also. It does make sence. They target then digging into the mud in the fall. Why not when they come out in the spring.

Just a guess bit it sounds like those eyes may have found some frogies as they were digging themselves out of the mud after a long winters hibernation.

I would think that if you could find the back water where these frogs are hibernating, you might have also found yourself a pretty good fall fishing location.
JWB

I have targeted a few spots on the croix where the frogs enter the water in the fall with some decent results. The eyes can hold really close to the bank when feeding on frogs. I’ve had them take a jig as soon as it comes off the bank and into the water. Talking less than a foot of water.

Bottom fishing with frogs in the fall has produced a few eyes for me as well. I knew of one guy that would target the eyes with frogs on round lake in Aitkin in the fall. They would throw them out on the bottom at night and then sit around the fire until the rod tips would start bouncing.
He claimed he pulled in some big eyes that way.

I have seen it in the spring also.When the turtles come out i start useing large salamander type plastics,just dragged on the bottom, somtime its the ticket for better than average eyes.Have a exellent weekend gents,see ya out there Monday!

Funny that this subject was brought up. We were there on the 24th and twice during the day we saw frogs slowly swimming on top of the water. Had a brief thought about hooking one up but instead I grabbed one and tossed it in my partner’s lap. He about had to change his underwear.

thanks for the info…..i may have to try and drag a frog on the bottom next time i’m out….who knows.
ted

checked a walleye from pool 9 found a frog inside it. eyenutz!