Heavy Mat Frog Fishing

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

I’ve been bank fishing a local pond with heavy duckweed on the surface. In the past two days I’ve had 20 bass blow up on my frog, but they all seem to be hitting right behind it and missing the lure. I’ve been rotating between the new 6th sense frog, a terminator popping frog, and a LiveTarget walking frog, going back and forth between black and white. Anyone have any suggestions or changes I could make to get these fish to commit?

[keagbassr]

For 'non pad' mat frogging i like to buzz toads. As for using hollow bodied frogs for this I like to upsize my frog. (snagproof frogzilla for me) and i also like the weed demon. I don't bother trying to walk it however just twitch it back.like a frog. Even with the kinda crappy hooks I like the way the weighted tail gets down thru the mat giving them something to see and grab.

[pdxfisher]

 

This is kind of old school but one of my favorite techniques is to use a Johnson Silver Minnow with a twin tail trailer. You can slide it across the top like a frog but then drop into every little hole. I guide it from hole to hole and jiggle it until it falls in. I catch them both on top like a frog or as it sinks in (almost like a flipped bait).

 

I am not sure if this helps in your situation (the holes need to be a couple of inches across to get it to fall in).

 

The other question is whether you are trying to punch through the mats with a texas pegged soft bait as follow up. It may be that you are casting too far to make punching through with a heavy weight practical. In those cases I use not too heavy of weight and cast near (just beyond) the blow up and try and jiggle it to get it to fall through the mat. Using a bulkier plastic with a light (1/16 to 1/8oz) weight usually balances out staying on top of the mat when you want it to with still being able to jiggle it down a tiny hole.

 

Best of luck! 

 

 

[txchaser]

I assume you have tried speeding up a lot, and slowing down a lot... but if not, one of those may do it. They may not be missing - they may be rolling at the last minute. Sometimes speeding up has forced them to fully commit and increased hookups for me. 

 

And the mention above on a toad is a winner. Try a really steady retrieve in addition to using it to get down in the holes. 

[Paul Roberts]

My assumption has been that the bass are missing bc they are expecting bluegills just beneath the canopy, rather than something floating on top. They are reacting to the disturbances and coming up short, as confused as we are. That's my guess. It helps to have a thinner mat, or, breaks in the mat where bass can get a bead on the darn thing. One bait I like is a 0-deg swim jig and trailer that can slide over the mat, wake the breaks, and drop into pockets. 

 

I've also done better sometimes in heavy mats using a popping type "frog" that causes a bigger disturbance, fished loud and slow. 

[Sphynx]

Since nobody else has brought it up, you are trimming your legs/skirt up on them right? Sounds an awful lot like the issues I used to have with mine before I started trimming them.