Bass Ninja

I'm Asian so my main gaming tag given by a friend was Rice Ninja. So when I got here, I just put down Bass Ninja.

I'll admit it, I'm a frog fishing addict. Still fairly new to flipping, but I'm wondering how do you guys decide to frog or flip? I mostly fish ponds or small lakes that are pretty choked out most of the year. And while I have good success on the frog, a couple trips with friends who are good at flipping have opened my eyes to see that sometimes I might be missing a lot of fish deep in cover that won't come up and hit a frog. Other times, the frog is more successful. I have a hard time slowing myself down, so is there any good method to decide when to slow down and flip everything as opposed to speeding up and covering water with a frog? Or do I just need to get used to flipping the majority of the time so I know I covered an area thoroughly?

I know there are always exceptions, but I've found that when a bass only swipes at the frog, its a baby, or its a bluegill. They're too small to actually swallow the frog, but they want to kill it. So instead of wasting my time, I just move on to find bigger fish. I've almost never had a fish over 2lbs just half swipe at it. Sure they miss sometimes, but its usually because of the super thick cover, and by the size of the splash or actually seeing them come out of the water, I know its a decent sized one, and I get them on the next couple casts. I watched a 5lber in the spring in water so shallow its fin was sticking out half the time try to track my frog as it went by. I learned that sometimes they can lose track of it, and it takes a few casts for them to accurately track and ambush it. I don't know if this is just me, but it seems like the bass I've caught on the frog over 4lbs just came up and quietly slurped up the frog effortlessly. Its the ones under 4lbs that come out of the water trying to kill it, and the babies can only take a swipe at it. Also, I don't trim the legs or bend the hooks. 50lb braid on a heavy rod, and wait to set the hook till you feel the weight of them. If the bass comes out of the water to kill it, lots of times they slap it beneath the surface and then take it in their mouth. So it takes a second or you'll yank it away from them. The bigger ones who just slurp it in, you'll miss the little blowup if you're not paying attention, but you'll feel the weight immediately.

Frog, Chatterbait, and Punch Rig. I just can't get myself to fish anything else for now.

try the Jackhammers. Well worth the money because they start chattering pretty much instantly which most of the others don't do. To get mine to stay at different depths, I just go up in weight.

This has been my experience too. And while I'm obsessed with the chatterbait and it has produced really well for me, the Spinnerbait did land me my PB last year....

Literally just ordered some on Tackle Warehouse right now haha

I'm like you, I keep moving, and I've done fairly well. But a couple weeks ago an older gentleman who is a local legend took me fishing on his boat and schooled me lol He flipped weeds 90% of the time, and at one point we came across this patch of weed mats probably 5ft wide and 30ft long at an entrance to a cove. A boat in front of us circled it once, flipped the edges and moved on. We pull up, and he goes to work, methodically picking it apart. He caught a couple 2lbers the first time around. We go around again, and I'm like, there can maybe be one more fish in here. Sure enough, He catches a 1lber. I'm getting bored so I started throwing a chatterbait at deeper water, waiting to go back in the cove and flip some new weeds. Well, he circles it again the 3rd time. At this point we've been flipping this patch of weeds for almost 2 hours now. I'm getting annoyed but not saying anything because we've thoroughly picked this patch apart, but around we go again. Halfway around, he catches a 5lber. Totally blew my mind. I would never have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes haha. I don't know if that fish came in while we were circling or if it had been there the whole time. All I know is, my friend made sure there were no fish left in those weeds, and if I had been by myself, I would have gotten maybe one and figured nothing else was there. Lesson learned.

This is probably somewhat due to where I'm at in the country, but I can't say enough about the Jackhammer Chatterbait. For almost 3 years now, if there is open water (no ice or really thick weeds) it has saved me many times from getting skunked. I mostly only flip, frog, and throw a chatterbait, and yeah, I try to go to the best spots with the best structure, factor in time of year, day, temp, wind direction and speed, etc. and the chatterbait and the other lures have all worked fine. But on those days where I really need a bite, I put everything else down and find submerged weeds or more open water, and it just flat out works. Can't say enough about it.

Besides the usual catching tree-pounders, last month I hooked my first big snapping turtle. It hit really hard, I set the hook hard, and about 2 turns of the reel handle, and it actually started pulling drag like a saltwater fish. I was fishing a 7ft heavy with 50lb braid, with the drag locked all the way down, so I knew whatever it was probably wasn't a bass. Managed to get it to the surface before it let go. Never rule out those turtles lol

I have 5 rod holders on my kayak, but I normally have my 4 favorite lures tied year around, and so now the only time I ever tie on a new lure, if ever, is at the boat ramp before I launch. But its hard to get a kayak with more than 2 rod holders unless you install them yourself. I have my tackle crate behind my seat, and I keep bringing it just in case, but I can't remember the last time I tied on a new lure while on the water. I also don't have an anchor, but I do have a trolling motor mounted on it. Any wind over 10mph is just too much work and not enough fun if you're paddling. If its windy, I fish clearer lakes where I can use my motor, and then I hit the thick weedy ponds in calmer weather. When you get your kayak, mounting some of those scotty mount rod holders just forward of your seat will probably be a game changer for you.

I've been fishing out of a kayak almost exclusively for 12 years now, and its so awesome because I can go way back in the shallows where boats can't go. I started off not really knowing what I was doing, but I had a lot of success using only a spinning reel with 12lb mono throwing a weightless senko or lizard rigged texas style to be weedless. And I quickly learned to love the weeds. After a couple years, I got tired of getting skunked half the time so I started obsessively watching youtube videos. Highly recommended if you don't already. So fast forward to today, I don't even bring a spinning rod or use my fishfinder. I normally bring 4 baitcasters, all with 30 or 40lb braid. The medium rod has a spinnerbait or buzzbait, the medium heavy throws a jackhammer chatterbait, which is by far my most productive lure, and 2 heavy rods, one for throwing a hollow bodied frog, and one has a tokyo rig for flipping. 90% of the time though, I'm throwing the chatterbait if its more open water or submerged weeds, and a frog in the thick stuff. Trying to get myself to incorporate other stuff, but the frog and chatterbait are just so productive its hard to switch it up. One thing I learned, is don't be scared of the super thick weed. Learn how to frog and flip, and you'll catch fish that most others won't. Caught a 5lber a couple months ago in half a foot of water, and I almost passed by because I thought there is no way a big fish would be that shallow. Lesson learned haha. The last thing that I can't stress enough is it almost doesn't matter what lure you throw, as long as it can be effectively presented to the fish with what is in front of you. Its more important to find the fish first based on knowledge of their patterns and that body of water, and then ask yourself what lure would be the most effective at fishing this spot? Color, type of lure, rod setup, etc. doesn't matter if the fish aren't in that spot.

I've had the same experience with the blowups. I mean I've had the occasional big one come exploding through really thick mats, but in general, 4lbs and up, it seems to just be a quite little slurp and my frog is gone. And yes, went fishing with a buddy last week. He hooked into a solid one, but didn't get the head up and ski it in. Lost it after trying to crank it through the 3rd patch of weeds. I almost cried for him lol

Couldn't have said it better. This is gold! I frogged for a year with a cheap baitcaster and walmart heavy action ugly stick casting rod and 30lb braid. I've since upgraded to a nicer, 7ft heavy with a decent baitcaster on 40lb braid. I have a hard time believing its the rod. Sometimes I count a couple seconds, sometimes I swing right away. Can't exactly explain why, except like Jaderose said, its just instinct. I've also found that smaller bass make nice blowups but can't quite get a solid bite on the frog in the thick stuff. 3lbs and up usually don't miss. I can't emphasize enough what Jaderose said. I stopped missing when I stopped over thinking and I just instinctively set the hook. I've never sharpened my hooks, bent them out, or seen a noticeable difference with one brand or type of frog over the other. Sometimes the fish slap it beneath the water and then turn to take it in their mouth, so setting the hook too soon would be a miss, and sometimes the bigger fish just come up below and slurp it in, and if I wait to set the hook they spit it back out. Just takes time to develop that feel to recognize what they're doing when they hit it. Hope that helps. Best of luck out there.

Haha! That describes most of the ponds and small lakes around here. 90% of the time I only throw 3 things because they're so efficient, that I don't even care to try new lures. The lures are a hollow bodied frog, a flipping rig, and a jackhammer chatterbait. I fish all of them on a medium heavy or heavy rod, all with at least 30lb braid, no leader. The frog is fun because its a frog! I use it in pads, weed mats, open water, into trees, etc. I use it to cover water quickly, and when I come across some really thick weed mats that look too good to pass up, I flip it because odds are, not many fish are going to come up through that mess to hit a frog. And lastly I use the chatterbait in open water, but it really shines over submerged weeds. I swim it down, let it barely snag the weeds and just pop it free. most of my hits are right when it pops free, and they are vicious. But that being said, I spend 90% of my time in 6ft of water or less. Definitely try flipping though. Most people don't do it, or don't do it long enough, and I've cleaned up behind guys in tournaments who were getting skunked.

Hollow bodied frog is normally my go to. I'm addicted to frog fishing so I probably throw it longer than I should. I'll also flip a little bit, but I can cover water faster with a frog. But if you're having trouble finding the fish because that area is just massive, slowly move through and listen for what sounds like rice krispies popping. Its the baitfish picking bugs off the pads, and where there are baitfish, the bass will be somewhere nearby.

While I'm not an experienced tournament angler, one piece of information that really helped me was something I saw on youtube from a really good fisherman. He said on small pressured lakes, go about the same distance off the bank that most people do, but instead of casting towards the shore and hitting all the normal spots, cast into deeper water and slowly work a chatterbait or spinnerbait or whatever else you feel confident in using as a search bait. He said most people go around, beat the bank all the way around the lake and call it a day. After awhile, the fish figured out the most unpressured part is the middle of the lake. Well, I gave it a shot last year in 2 tournaments on similar lakes, and I won the first, and came in 3rd the next tournament. The first time I tried it, I was in my kayak with no electronics, and there was a bass boat beating the bank following me. We're both about the same distance off the shore, but I'm casting into deeper water. 30 minutes in I caught the big one that ended up sealing the win for me. So now when I fish those lakes in a tournament, I only cast towards the bank if I'm the first boat there. If not, I make myself cast towards the middle.

If you're a new fisherman, its a smaller pond, or a new pond for that matter, IMO nothing beats throwing a texas rigged weightless senko. Since bass of all sizes love it, and almost every species of fish in the pond will swipe at it, its great to build confidence, catch a lot of fish, and figure out the kinds and size of fish in the pond. Just an all around good time. FYI, I have noticed that catches go way down if it isnt rigged right. when it slowly sinks through the water column, it needs to shimmy if that makes sense.

Most of my success in water under 50 degrees was with a chartreuse and orange Colorado bladed spinnerbait reeled in just slowly enough to either keep the blades turning or just enough to keep bouncing off the bottom in shallower water. Last year on a lake still half frozen over with 33 degree air temp, I did this right down the edge of the ice and caught a 4lber.

Jigs and Crankbaits for me. Its gotten to the point where the Jackhammer Chatterbait and hollow body frog work so well I don't really throw much else. Maybe the occasional spinnerbait and punch rig...

For me, both times I caught my PB, it was more of an accident and I just got "lucky". This last time, I caught in a pond that had some nice 3-4lbers which I had caught plenty of, but I'd heard from older gentlemen that there were monsters in there. I was just randomly casting with a spinnerbait at the end of the day and caught the 6.5lber on the last cast. Now its was more of "getting lucky" for me, but looking back, I realized that I just happened to be fishing the best part of the shallow pond right where it drops off into its deepest spot, along the edge of the weedlines where it got too deep for them to grow, where I've had the most success before, the wind was blowing just right, etc. If I had been paying attention earlier, it would have only made sense to go to that spot sooner. However, I had lost my focus, I had pretty much given up for the day after going all around the pond with only one bite, and it was my last cast of the day. All that to say what others have said, fish where they live.

Not many snakes where I live now, but my most memorable encounter was as a kid growing up on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. We had a pond on the back end of the property that was shared with our neighbors, and its where I first learned to fish. Nobody in my family knew how to fish, but all my friends fished somewhat regularly, had BB guns, etc. I begged my dad for all that stuff, and he said no to the BB gun because he said I would shoot everything in sight, but he said he'll get me a fishing pole and I can teach myself how to fish. After he got me the walmart special with the small kit of lures, I spent almost every afternoon down there casting away. One day I'm down there and I notice some movement out of the corner of my eye. I look down and there is a 4ft long cottonmouth not even 2 inches from my foot. It was like my second time seeing a snake, so I watched it for like a minute, not moving, and then I tried to back away really slowly. As soon as I moved, it noticed me and moved a little. I froze again. My mom started yelling from the house on the other side of the property that dinner was ready and it was time for all of us to come in. I didn't want to scare the snake, so I didn't yell back or even move. After like 10 minutes, the cottonmouth slowly slithered over my shoe, paused for few seconds, and then calmly slithered down the bank. When I got inside the house, my parents were upset wondering why I was late. I used that situation to convince my dad to let me get a BB gun. He was right....I shot just about everything that moved. ?‍♂️

Almost the same for me. A friend got me addicted to frog fishing, so now when I go out, 70% of the time I'm throwing a frog, 25% its a chatterbait, and the last 5% whatever else I think might work. What changed for me was seeing a video of some underwater footage showing that a lot of bass slap the frog underwater first, trying to stun it, and then turn and take it in their mouth. I missed a lot of fish till I learned that. Like other have mentioned, waiting for the right time to set the hook was big, but just as big is getting that feel for when is the right time when the bass gets the frog its mouth. I've noticed that pretty much every fish will require a slightly different length of time...its just about getting that feel for what is happening on the end of the line, making sure the fish has it, and then crossing their eyes. It seems to me that when a frog is sitting still, bigger bass over 3 lbs tend to just come under and suck it in. If its on the move, or a smaller bass, it usually slaps it beneath the surface and then bites. I hardly ever fish standing in my kayak, and setting the hook over my head or sideways doesn't seem to make a difference.

6.8lbs, caught on a red and white Strike King spinnerbait with a paddle tail trailer.