Frog?

[Topwaterdude]

Need your opinion,I can walk a spook very easily but I have a really hard time walking a frog. The spook first time I tried it was like I've been doing it my whole life.

[Dens228]

I never understood the term "walk".  I just twitch the rod and reel the slack, different speeds, different pauses.  I don't really care what the actual frog looks like when I move it.  And I'm also pretty sure the bass doesn't go the other way because when the frog moves "it doesn't quite look right, something is up with this frog so I'm not eating it".  

[Topwaterdude]

11 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

I never understood the term "walk".  I just twitch the rod and reel the slack, different speeds, different pauses.  I don't really care what the actual frog looks like when I move it.  And I'm also pretty sure the bass doesn't go the other way because when the frog moves "it doesn't quite look right, something is up with this frog so I'm not eating it".  

Guess I'm getting to hung up on it most of time I'm throwing it in pads,sounds like what your saying as long as it's moving it's got a chance if getting inhaled?

[12poundbass]

If you want it to “walk” or turn to the side cut one of the ‘legs’ shorter than the other. 

 

What i I do instead of walking it is hold my rod in the 1 or 2 o’clock position and twitch the rod tip while reeling. This brings the front of the frog up and down creating more commotion than trying to walk it. I’ll twitch and reel for a few feet then let it sit still for a couple seconds, then repeat. Like with everything else experiment with the speed of your retrieve and amount of time you let it set. 

 

Throwing a frog is my favorite way to catch bass. There’s nothing better than a good frog bite! 

[Rip_lipz]

29 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

If you want it to “walk” or turn to the side cut one of the ‘legs’ shorter than the other. 

 

What i I do instead of walking it is hold my rod in the 1 or 2 o’clock position and twitch the rod tip while reeling. This brings the front of the frog up and down creating more commotion than trying to walk it. I’ll twitch and reel for a few feet then let it sit still for a couple seconds, then repeat. Like with everything else experiment with the speed of your retrieve and amount of time you let it set. 

 

Throwing a frog is my favorite way to catch bass. There’s nothing better than a good frog bite! 

I do this as well, I thought I was the only one!

Getting that sweeping side to side motion comes down to your cadence and the rod your using. My first frog rod was like a broom stick, I went to a softer tip rod and walking the bait became easier.

[Topwaterdude]

Guess there's no right or wrong way,seems reason it was made was to get in heavy cover not walk the dog I'm sure that came way after

[Rip_lipz]

30 minutes ago, Topwaterdude said:

Guess there's no right or wrong way,seems reason it was made was to get in heavy cover not walk the dog I'm sure that came way after

75 percent of the time I use a pop frog in the heavy stuff, since walking the dog is useless. Only time I walk the dog with a frog is when I'm pulling it out from under something or on the edge of weeds. In new England a frog isn't a big key player for me. Ish Monroe has a couple useful videos on frog fishing, check it out.

[Dens228]

1 hour ago, Topwaterdude said:

Guess I'm getting to hung up on it most of time I'm throwing it in pads,sounds like what your saying as long as it's moving it's got a chance if getting inhaled?

Pretty much spot on there.  I will also just barely twitch my rod tip enough to barely make the frog move, especially when the bite it slow.  When I do a constant "walk" many of the bass blow up right behind the frog and miss it. When I twitch-twitch-stop the bass actually hitting the frog goes up dramatically. I had two or three yesterday where the bass missed the frog by about 6 inches.  I also twitch-twitch-twitch across the pads/weeds/whatever and then do a long pause in open water along the edge of the mat.  It works great. 

[Koz]

I've never seen a real frog "walk" back and forth like a spook. Instead, they scoot along in one general direction and sometimes pivot between scoots to change direction.

 

As far as what you're doing with a frog or any topwater bait it's all about creating the kind of disturbance that is going to attract a bass on that day. When I frog fish I usually will give the rod two or three pops so that the frog scoots, then I pause. I may try soft pops or hard pops to see what ticks off the bass enough to get them to strike. I also might try short pauses or longer pauses between pops.

 

Really, there's no wrong way to fish it whether you are trying to walk it or scoot it or whatever. It's all about finding out what ticks off the bass enough to get it to strike.

[the reel ess]

The importance of walking the frog is overplayed. It's a nice skill but almost all my bites come over vegetation. The ones that don't are usually not induced by the frog's action. They usually happen when the frog hits the water. It seems to me the further the frog is from some cover, the less likely a bite is. One exception is to walk it parallel to the bank during low light periods. 

 

The walk gets harder with a stiffer rod, which is what is recommended for the technique. Give the frog some pops on a slightly slack line. There are a few model designed to walk better. The body on those is made with more of a keel. I use the Booyah Pad Crasher, which has a little bit of a keel. 

[Jar11591]

Walking a frog requires a much more subtle twitch of the rod, and some slack in the line. It can be done, but not as easily as a spook style bait. 

[frogflogger]

For me walking a frog is not important - I frog fished 300+ days a year in sofla and usually did a chug and pause or chug chug or chug chug chug - almost every day is a bit different - just keep it near a bass and they will eat it - some days fast some days long pauses - never saw walking as more effective than chug chug - never.

[RichF]

20 hours ago, the reel ess said:

The importance of walking the frog is overplayed.

I disagree. The art of walking a frog is super important if you wanna keep your bait in the same spot and still give it action. I can make a frog walk but keep it in the same spot for a long time. This is always key for me when fishing super shallow shade pockets or areas that aren't thick mats. I catch more bass in sparse to almost no cover most of the time.

[Brett's_daddy]

Get a Terminator Walking Frog! I LOVE this bait, super easy to walk and I am by no stretch good at making baits "walk" but I can with this frog so if I can do it...ANYBODY can do it .

[flyfisher]

easiest frog to walk is the megabass pony sabot but unfortunately they aren't super durable.  pretty much any frog can walk just trim the legs down some, make sure you have slack in the line after moving and shorten the motions dramatically than you would with a spook.

I prefer popping frogs but there are times were a walking frog is what they want, i saw it this past weekend.  I couldn't buy a bite on a popping frog but the walking frog was on the menu.  

[FordsnFishin]

Walking a frog I feel the biggest player is having slack in your line. Every twitch i give it I tend to 1/4 turn off the reel. 

 

I normally do a 4-5 twitch and pause.  The pause gets me 75%of my bites. 

[Topwaterdude]

That really seems to be the most important thing is to keep slack in the line,I think I'm taking up too much slack and popping it to hard but with spook it's perfect

[the reel ess]

You can also use the Booyah Popping Padcrasher. It walks a lot easier. Even if you fail to walk it, you can pop it in place without dragging it too far forward.

[the reel ess]

7 hours ago, RichF said:

I disagree. The art of walking a frog is super important if you wanna keep your bait in the same spot and still give it action. I can make a frog walk but keep it in the same spot for a long time. This is always key for me when fishing super shallow shade pockets or areas that aren't thick mats. I catch more bass in sparse to almost no cover most of the time.

I can only comment on my experience.

[Black Hawk Basser]

I can't say walking a frog works better for me than just straight forward jerks.  I will add, though, that the Live Target Hollow Body Sunfish is very easy to 'walk' in place.  It doesn't take a high level of skill.  The sunfish is my favorite topwater for targeting fish around isolated pieces of cover.

[tcbass]

I used regular Hollow Body Frogs for my first few years and was able to successfully walk the frog and catch some fish but never really had much luck.

I started making Whopper Frogs with Booyah Padcrasher frogs and really started killing it. Places where I may or may not get a bite I almost always got bit.

Learning to walk a frog is important but if you want to catch fish, try a Whopper Frog. I think you will really have great success with it.

[r83srock]

6 hours ago, the reel ess said:

You can also use the Booyah Popping Padcrasher. It walks a lot easier. Even if you fail to walk it, you can pop it in place without dragging it too far forward.

Great frog! This is one of the most versatile frogs I’ve used, have a ton of confidence in it. I also agree with keeping a bit of slack in the line. I often throw a frog on a 7’1”mh as it’s short enough to walk the frog without slapping the water. I do prefer to pop the frog however.