Jaderose at the Bat...a Froggin Tale

[Jaderose]

So I post about froggin a lot.  It's my favorite technique and I have spent years doing it and honing my timing and skill.  I suppose my posts could even be read as "bragging" to those who struggle with it.  Well...to those that may think that, this post is for you!  I was out yesterday on what was probably one of the last truly nice warm days here in NOWEMO.  My home lake still has a few remaining scum mats that I target but the frog bite has died off significantly with the cooling of the water.  Yesterday, my froggin senses were tingling and I knew....KNEW...there were fish under one particular mat that I don't usually get to target during the warmer months.  I made my way to it and started working it.  I fan casted all over this thing and...nothing.  I targeted stumps that I KNEW must be holding a big ol' girl.  Nothing.  This didn't make sense.  I knew there were fish in there.  Why?  I know this lake like the back of my hand and based on conditions, time of day, time of year, etc., you just know.  I turned around to the other side of my boat and noticed that I had missed a couple of casting lanes so I launched my trusty Scumfrog way out there, lit a smoke and started bringing it in.  I brought it into an area and stopped it.  Let it sit for maybe a 5 count and gave it a twitch...the biggest bass I have ever seen in this lake came completely out of the water to strike my frog.  Although I have never seen one, my PB of 9.3 is from this lake so I've always thought there must be some DD's in there.  Now I know.  There are.  How did I do?  Well...let's just say that....

 

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there was no joy at Happy Holler—mighty Jaderose struck out.

 

I swung for the fences as soon as she jumped and had to duck to keep the frog from smacking me in the forehead.  It also tangled my line so by the time I regrouped, she was long gone.  HARD lesson to learn to practice the things I preach.  Feel weight, set hook.  Easy to say...still hard to do.  The excitement got the best of me...lol.  But she's still in there, and I'll be back.  If not yet this year, then next spring.  Call me Ishmael.

[galyonj]

That's heartbreaking.

 

Also I have to keep doing a double take at your profile because one of Knoxville's old neighborhoods is called Happy Holler.

[BrianMDTX]

Ugh. That was painful!

[Jaderose]

1 minute ago, galyonj said:

That's heartbreaking.

 

Also I have to keep doing a double take at your profile because one of Knoxville's old neighborhoods is called Happy Holler.

Yeah..*weep* *sob*  All is well!  All I could do was laugh and immediately think of all the people I have tried to give advice to about froggin through the years.  Boy, if they could see me now!  It was a total choke job and I obviously knew it.  All that kind of thing does is make me hungry to go get her.  If I have more windows this year, GREAT!  If not, GREAT!  She'll be on my mind while I clean my froggin reel, put on new line, practice my casts, etc.  Like the dumb old joke says...That's why the call it "fishin" and not "catchin"!

[galyonj]

If it makes you feel any better, we can continue the baseball analogy. Cobb's lifetime, league-leading batting average was only .366. Nobody's perfect. lol

[ajschn06]

3 hours ago, Jaderose said:

.  The excitement got the best of me...lol.  But she's still in there, and I'll be back.  If not yet this year, then next spring. 

I can feel this in my bones.... I had an encounter last weekend with a giant as well, I didn't get the bite, but we locked eyes and she's been on my mind ever since...

[DitchPanda]

So nowhere near that caliber but I had one between 5 and 6 yesterday lock up on my spinner bait....come up jump, shake her head break my wire and spit the blades back at me!

[Shimano_1]

Know this feeling although I've had to work to be so positive about it lol. 3 biggest fish I've ever had hooked never made it to the boat. Some has been my fault...some is just...fate? Lol like you tho it motivates me to keep trying and hopefully get better!

[Bluebasser86]

Friend of mine fishes Happy Holler a lot. Never been there but he likes it a lot. He's never caught anything near that quality of fish there though.

[Jaderose]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Friend of mine fishes Happy Holler a lot. Never been there but he likes it a lot. He's never caught anything near that quality of fish there though.

It's a great little lake.  I've been going there for years as it's close to me and has enough different features to always keep me interested AND it's the lake that keeps my frogging obsession going.  A lot of the western end of the lake mosses over every year and renders it basically unfishable to those that don't throw a frog.  For some reason, most here don't.  All of my big bass pulled outta Happy have been on Frogs.  I'm guessing my average on regular tackle (T-rigs, jigs, cranks, etc.) is 1-3 lbers.  I use a pond raider as the places where the big girls are are virtually unreachable in a regular boat.

 

[N Florida Mike]

That pretty much describes my experience frog fishing every time.

I did get a 7.3 and a 5 pounder froggin through the years at least . 

[Jaderose]

14 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

That pretty much describes my experience frog fishing every time.

I did get a 7.3 and a 5 pounder froggin through the years at least . 

That's why I enjoy it so much.  It's very exciting but requires self control.  On virtually every other technique, it's straight feel.  Frogging is very visual...until it isn't.  You see and hear the explosion which sends a shot of adrenalin straight to your brain and every fiber of your being tells you to set the hook.  HARD.  and you will miss that fish every single time.  You HAVE to wait until you feel the fish.  and when you DO set the hook, there are no guarantees that you are boating that fish.  The little lake I fish has TONS of stumps and laydowns and submerged logs and vegetation that you have to get that fish out of.  It takes every skill you can have as a fisherman.  Been doing it hard for years and I am "good" at best at it.  One of the last things I do every year is, after all that moss and vegetation dies off is to go around my little lake and try to get all my frogs back that are stuck on stumps or whatever.  I think my record was 7.  Amazingly, this year I haven't lost a frog.  In fact, I think I've only worn out 2.  It was a somewhat down year for froggin.  Everything else was great so I actually learned a few things this year and didn't spend it chucking frogs for hours on end.