FERRIDAY &045; On Friday night, the midnight hour usually means party time for twenty-somethings.

But the night life is a little different for Jarrod Hewitt, his wife, Cynthia, and their friend, Scott Smith.

The trio spent the wee hours Friday night and Saturday morning wading in the shallow water of bar pits on the Red River Reserve, gigging their limit of bullfrogs.

Saturday afternoon, the group took time to clean their catch, filling gallon-size plastic bags with huge hind quarters for the frying pan or the freezer.

&uot;Restaurants don’t do frog legs justice. They use farm-raised frog legs. The frogs we catch have legs like chicken legs,&uot; said Scott, who has been fishing with Jarrod since the two were youngsters.

Anticipating a return-trip Saturday night, Scott made repairs to a trolling motor while Jarrod took time to fashion a longer gig pole with pointed barbs. The previous night the two used a spring-loaded gig that clamps around the croaking bullies on impact.

&uot;The noise of an outboard motor usually soothes the frogs, but we couldn’t use the motor because it was too shallow. We had to get out and wade for ’em,&uot; said Jarrod, adding that two alligators were spotted during the night.

Frogs mate during April and May, and frog season opens in June each year.

Jarrod said the best gigging is usually found in the backwater.

&uot;You want the bar pits that don’t flood regularly &045; someplace that’s grown up in grass and coontails,&uot; he said.

But even a couple of experienced froggers like Jarrod and Scott needed a little help to make the trip a success. So they enlisted Cynthia, who made her amphibious debut by shining a Q-beam light to locate the horned hoppers.

&uot;It was exciting, but I wouldn’t touch the frogs.

They’re so slimy.

I just held the light for them,&uot; said Cynthia, whose first order of business after the trip was to wash up.

&uot;We looked horrible.

We had mud all over us,&uot; she said.

But the mud and the slime and even the gators are not enough to discourage the group from another night in the bar pits.

&uot;I like it.

There’s nothing else to do,&uot; said Jarrod.