Hollow body frogs

[xxmurrxx]

I was looking at buying a couple spro bronseye frogs for next season, have a couple questions.

1. Spro vs River 2 Sea frog, they look very similar, opinions on which is really better?

2. Color choice? Kinda lost on the spro color lineup, What colors work best for you? (Clear Water)

3. Should I try one of the popper frogs? anyone had good success with them?

[Simp]

Buy the spro's and in my experience the Natural Green has been by far my biggest producer. I'd pick up a popper and non popper. I learned on the non popper and it's a great bait but I usually throw the poper spro more now. The times I don't is when I have grass that sticks out of the watter that are like hard straws. Ohh I forget the name but anyway the open face of the popper gets caught and it makes it tough to walk. So in those situations I go with the normal Spro frog.

BTW make sure to use braid it's a 100% must for good hook ups. Second your going to eventually catch the biggest fish of your life on a frog if you throw it enough. Seriously my average fish on a frog is around 4lbs.

[soccplayer07]

i love the spro frogs. i have read great reviews on the river 2 sea and even recently purchased a few. I have not had time to try them out yet.

My favorite colors are "white black", "rainforest black", and "natural green".

[Simp]

Also something I forgot to mention is do some research on local frogs for color choices. Growing up in my area and always playing outside around ponds and such sure helped me know what our local frogs look like. Also you might want to find out what local forage they feed on as well. Here bluegill patterned frogs work well when you work them fast and make a commotion.

[South FLA]

1. I have bought and used just about all the Hollow body frogs on the market and Spro seems to perform the best, better hookup ratio. I also like the Swamp Donkey, but its a bit too light.

2. Fish the colors you have most confidence in.  Dingy water and at night I really like the darker colored belly with a light top for contrast so I can see it.  In clear water you can go with a more natural tree frog, or nasty shad color.

3.  Like Simp, I find myself throwing the Popper version more because it is a bit more versatile in the sense, but I still like the traditional one for thick pads and pond scum. 

Use a 7' to 7'6" fishing rod with a med/heavy to heavy action with a fast action.  Some of the rods I have used that performed great for hollow bodied  frog duties were the Dean Rojas Frog Rod, Daiwa Light and Tough, Shimano Cumara, and my current rod is a G Loomis GLX 844.  Get a quick reel with  plenty of drag strength. Skeet Reese Revo is my current workhorse, but the Zillion High Speed was a great frog reel.  As far as line, braid is the ONLY way to go. Try Daiwa Samurai Braid or Stren's Superbraid if you can still get in in 65lbs test strength.  Good luck and post pics of the Hawgs when you catch'em on the frog.  ;D

[CHEVYRIDAZ]

IMO Spro frogs are nowhere near as good as the R2S. R2S are way softer but don't tear as easily, a lot easier to walk and they don't take in water like the Spros do. I got rid of all the Spros i had(except the poppers) when i tried the R2S.

[Simp]

1.

Use a 7' to 7'6" fishing rod with a med/heavy to heavy action with a fast action.   my current rod is a G Loomis GLX 844. G

Use sir are a braver man then I to use a GLX for frogging!

[LHC - Bank Robber]

3. Should I try one of the popper frogs? anyone had good success with them?

Yes! best frog spro makes IMO they're eiser to walk and have a better hook up ration.  Midnight walker is my fav color.

[ww2farmer]

I like the Spro much better than the R2S, for really clear water down size to the Jr. size..............and color, it don't matter much. I have caught plenty of fish on just about every color Spro makes, I only use a few colors now. Clown, Natural Green, and Black. Trim the legs on EACH side down about 3/4 ", this will make it walk better. Some say to trim one side shorter than the other and it will walk better..............I  find that to be un-true, IMHO it makes it walk worse. Also for really dirty water or thick mats put a SMALL glass worm rattle in the frog. The rattle must be small in order to fit in the very small hole the Spro has for the hook to come out, and also to not weigh the "butt" of the frog down any more so walking performance is not hindered.

[Team9nine]

I tested the River2Sea Bully Wa's in the 65 size against the Spro's this summer. They're the same length and weight as the popular Spro Bronzeye 65 (2.5", 5/8-oz.). R2S frog casts just as well, and has the same type belly weight as the Spro. On this particular model, even the same 4/0 BN Gamakatsu hook is used.

I'd give the nod to the Bully Wa in the skipping category. It also has a softer body than the Spro and my hookup ratio was as good or better. This frog does appear to be a little wider in the body, but that didn't seem to affect anything negatively. It actually helps protect the hooks pretty well from what I could tell. The only negative tendency I had was for the right hook to end up stuck slightly in the right side of the frog's body at times.

One of the advertised benefits of this frog is the little keel that runs down the belly from just under the throat. It is supposed to help this frog walk-the-dog easier/better when in open water. I was able to get it to do so with the right retrieve cadence, but I can also do the same with the Spro, so I'd say they are both very similar in that regard. One thing I did notice with retrieves though is that the keel makes for more of a splash on a quick, straight retrieve, almost like a popper. I thought that was kind of cool. It also has a more pronounced vertical rocking to it when retrieved as mentioned. Here it seems like simply a matter of which action will work best for the given water conditions.

One other neat little modification on the R2S frog is a small rubber O-ring, similar to the piece of rubber most jig skirts are built around, that is placed over the hook shank and situated right where the hooks exit the frogs underbelly. This helps fill up that hole and limits the amount of water that can get into this frog. On regular casts it works quite well, but I found that skipping will frequently push this rubber seal around on the hook and you'll frequently have to adjust it on the fly. The same goes for after hooking and landing a bass.

Price is the same or slightly cheaper than a Spro depending on whose catalog you're looking at. Color options are fairly limited at the moment as I noticed Spro is now up to nearly 2 dozen color versions. If I had to pick just one of each it would probably be "Natural Green" in the Spro's and "Copper Green" in the R2S's.

-T9

[flipin4bass]

River2Sea

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1251681023/32#32

[xxmurrxx]

Thanks for the info guys

[David P]

I've used the Spro Frogs, River 2 Sea, and a few others like the Scum frogs and the Swamp Donkey. After getting my hands on a few Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect frogs, I sold all my other frogs and haven't touched another one since. Hands down the best frog. Takes on very little water, casts extremely well, easy as hell to walk, and great colors. They hold up to big fish too, I have a few 7lbers and one over 8 on them and have yet to lose a big fish. Hook up ratio has greatly improved as well since switching to the Snag Proof lineup.

[BassThumb]

I just recently tried some Snag Proof Bleeding Frogs after using mostly Spros. The R2S and Spro are basically identical, IMO.

I think the Snag Proof has a better hook-up ratio because of the larger hooks and and softer body, but those larger hooks tend to collect a few more weeds and scum than a Spro. It is also quite a bit easier to walk, and it has a little more glide from side to side because it sits higher.

The Spro displaces a little more water when walking due to it sitting lower in the water, and having flat sides and sharper contours. It is a little more weedless than the SP, but that also makes it more likely to miss fish due to the hooks being smaller and the body being harder.  The Spro is also a little easier to cast into the wind because it is more compact.

I like them both, and will continue to use them.

[Coonedawg]

I've used the Spro Frogs, River 2 Sea, and a few others like the Scum frogs and the Swamp Donkey. After getting my hands on a few Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect frogs, I sold all my other frogs and haven't touched another one since. Hands down the best frog. Takes on very little water, casts extremely well, easy as hell to walk, and great colors. They hold up to big fish too, I have a few 7lbers and one over 8 on them and have yet to lose a big fish. Hook up ratio has greatly improved as well since switching to the Snag Proof lineup.

I agree 100%, but you left out one of the most important characteristics.....the rattle. I tried adding a rattle to the spros and the H20 Express frogs and they sink.

[endless]

I love my Spro #16 leopard. I also have the #07 tropical white in the regular and popper version but no luck with either yet.  I just got me the Mad Maxx rotten pumpkin but haven't tried it.

[DINK WHISPERER]

For the 65 frogs the R2S rules! A lot better walk than Spro imo. I do however use the popper Spro frog with great results. I mainly use green and black for colors.

[TBendBassin]

spro

colors: black, white, and natural green

[iceintheveins]

The spro can take on water pretty bad, but they do draw a LOT of strikes. The poppin' spro doesn't take on water nearly as bad and walks the dog a lot easier.

I have also tried the Mad Maxx frog, and the drain it has keeps the water out, and it walks better than the spros. Haven't had any strikes on it yet but only fished it once. Natural green is my favorite spro color.