Frogs

[pjmags]

I have been trying to use hollow body topwater frogs and i have had absolutely no success! Not even getting any strikes. What am I doing wrong?

[Tuckahoe Joe]

I am by no means an expert but Ive caught a couple on frogs. Try fishing them early in the morning around weeds or other cover. If you can, stop it on a lily pad or something and let it sit for a minute. Sometimes the bass will be watching it and hit it when you twitch it off. Use eratic retrieves. Frogs kind of swim with short spurts and pauses. Try and mimic their natural movement. If you do get a strike, make sure the fish has it before setting the hook.

[BassinLou]

It may not be you. Believe it or not sometimes bass are interested in frogs. They may be after some other forage at the time because its is easily available. Keep at it.

[Mike L]

Joe and Lou gave you excellent advise, I'd head it

Also try changing colors,

Shorten the legs on the Spro [helped me]

If useing a popping frog, try popping it all the way back with no pauses

Every few cast's squeeze any water out, keep it nose high

Also,

What I do is I open the hook's a little, especially if it is a Spro, a Scum frog is much softer so I usually leave them alone.

Put a few bead's in the belly

Work it with a slack line.

Keep at it, it'll come

Mike

[LgMouthGambler]

The best way to fish them, is to be the frog. If you saw a frog trying to swim or jump across an area, what do you think it would be doing?

[mikey5string]

They work best in heavy cover where the water below the cover is deep enough to hold fish. My best frog fishing is in mid-summer when the weeds are thick and bass use the shade of surface cover to keep them cool and hidden. Microorganisms, baitfish, frogs, insects and other prey thrive in heavy aquatic vegetation as it offers them protection for predators and gives off oxygen. It is best when this cover is near a bank where frogs are most likely to be.

Throw the frog close to shore, even on shore, and hop it into the water. Or throw id right in the middle of the mat. Often, the bass will hit it as soon as it hits the water. Otherwise, I move it subtly across the weeds, pausing occasionally. Once I get past the edge of the cover, I reel up and try again. I dont fish frogs in open water. I have caught fish like this but the probability is much less than when it is in heavy cover.

When a fish hits the frog, wait. Wait until you feel the weight of the fish or until you are sure the fish has the whole frog. Sometimes they take it right away and you can set the hook quickly. Sometimes they just whack it, or take the legs. If I miss one I will twitch the frog in place like it is injured and see if the bass will come back. If not, I reel up and throw it again.

You want a frog that is soft enough to collapse to expose the hooks when the fish takes it. It also has to float well and not take water or youll have to squeeze it out after every cast. You will have to squeeze water out occasionally as the frogs are not and cant be totally sealed. After you get a fish you definitely want to squeeze the water out.

The jackall Iobee frog is the best I have used. It is expensive but I rarely lose frogs as I dont throw them in timber and they dont get hung up in weeds. Its body shape and softness make for better hook ups. Even though I dont walk them much, It walks better than any frog I have tried and I have a lot of frogs.

Use a med-heavy rod with braided line. You want something that casts well but you dont want a lot of play in the rod when you set the hook and have to pull fish out of heavy cover. 30lb is fine but people go up to 60lb.

[mikey5string]

I have heard that Fall frog fishing is supposed to be great but the vast majority of vegetation has died off at my local lake. What are left are areas of thinly distributed, dead, slimy brown strands of hydrilla where there used to be heavy matted patches. The grass is brown and dry the water is low. The oxygen rich shelter for fish is gone so the fish are as well. I rarely throw a frog now, I would be more likely to throw a spook or buzzbait for topwater.

[AndyTN]

I've had bass crush a frog as soon as they hit the water, but have learned patience is the key. In my case the larger bass I've caught have been towards the edge of the pads after walking/hopping them over the top for a while. The above equipment listed is perfect. I've also done well with some of the more economically priced frogs like a a Booyah Pad Crasher. Good action and good results.

[pjmags]

Thanks everybody for the input and advice! i will be at it again tonight to try and hook up a big bass on a frog. Ive been using a brown/white booyah pad crasher and a bullfrog color bobbys perfect frog.

[iceintheveins]

Good advice guys. I would add that you almost cannot fish a frog too slowly in heavy vegetation. Also, another really good pattern are banks that are in the shade in the middle of the day, ESPECIALLY underneath overhanging trees and even more so when there is some cover and vegetation. Bass often hit as soon as it hits the water or on the first couple twitches.

When over the vegetation, bob the frog or walk it to make noise, and work it with pauses. On the edges of vegetation, pause the frog for 15 - 20 seconds or more. Then hop it off, pause it a couple seconds, then walk it away from the cover for 10 - 15 feet, then reel in and repeat.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I am an avid frog user, to the point that my girlfriend's dad and brother pick fun about my constant use of them. We were fishing a deep reservoir last weekend with little success. Clear water pitching at finicky bass was completely useless. I jumped on the trolling motor and began paralleling a long flat roughly four feet deep, with an 18 foot dropoff behind us. I began tossing a ribbit and soon landed the largest fish of my life, in a WIDE open clear water flat with submerged vegitation. At 4:30 in the afternoon. They proceeded to stock up on ribbits as we hit the local tackle shop that evening.

If you have trouble catching on a hollow body (I do from time to time) the next thing you should be throwing is a buzz frog. It's almost impossible to have a bad day of fishing with a watermelon red ribbit!