Frog Fishing For Bass
Author: Steve vonBrandt
Catching Big Bass On Frogs
Bass fishing with frogs is one of the best techniques for catching giant largemouth bass all over the country. While most anglers employ a slow twitch and pause technique in either heavy cover or lily pads, and this does catch big bass most of the time, but there are times when you can pass up some of the largest bass in the area by not changing up tactics with these frog baits.
Types of Frogs
There are a lot of frog type baits out on the market right now, but in the lakes and rivers across the country, the top producers for really big bass are the Tournament frogs in half ounce sizes made by Snag Proof, the Spro frog, and The Swamp Donkey by Reaction Innovations.
I use these baits in three basic colors everywhere I go, because I have experimented with every color these manufacturers produce, and I found that regardless of where you fish, you really only need any of them in just black, brown, and green. Yes, I have used a white frog and rat type bait as well, from the time they first came out and were made popular, but these three basic colors consistently produce the biggest bass wherever you fish.
Techniques
As I mentioned, the most popular way to fish these baits is in heavy cover by casting them out, letting them sit for a long while, then twitching the bait ever so slightly, and if it doesn't get smaashed , then repeating the twitch and pause and casting again. This does produce bass, but the first time I discovered that this does not always produce the most or the biggest bass was prefishing for a tournament on the Potomac River in Maryland.
I was fishing a cove where there were bass by the hundreds in the three to five pound range, with some even larger ones mixed in, feeding on frogs in the pads as the tide came in. These bass did hit the frog worked slowly on occassion, but I was outproduced 5 to 1 by an old guy who came in behind me working the frog as fast as he could. It was ridiculous how fast he was working it! He caught several bass right from where I had been in the 6 and 7 pound range, and several others that were almost as big. Experience had taught him that when the bass were in these pads and the sun was out, by pulling the frog as fast as you could over these large pads, it produced a reaction bite that you couldn't match any other way. When the bait came across the pads the sun produced a image of the bait through the pads and the bass went crazy!
I reproduced this action on several other bodies of water in the following years all over the country using the same tactic.
The other thing that many anglers just don't do is fish the frog in open water. I cast the frog as I would any other topwater bait and work it with an erratic action around cover and over submerged structure in open water. Dean Rojas popularized this technique when he won several tournaments doing this.
I also cast the frogs all the way up onto the shore and then slowly pull them into the water from the banks, producing tremendous strikes when they enter the water at times.
Equipment
I like to use a heavy action frog rod made of a composite material or fiberglass, in 7 to 7 1/2 foot lengths, with a 65 pound braided line. It is really important to be able to muscle these big fish around when they are in or near cover, especially when they exceed 6 pounds. I also use a Shimano Chronarch reel for this, as it has been the most reliable of every brand I have used over the last 20 years.
Try these tips this year and watch the size of the bass you catch in the lakes and rivers increase ten fold!
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A lot of bass fishing questions (very hard to answer)?
What some good rods for :
Buzzbaits
Spinnerbaits
Topwaters
Frogs
Crankbaits
Swimbaits
Soft plastics
and what is drop shot/shaky head and what’s dock skipping,
also what do you use in heavy cover? (pitching)
You mean medium power? What action?
Can some one just explain drop shot and shaky head? I have no idea what that is and can’t find it.
You can get too technical on this stuff Josh, so let me simplify it for you. I like a medium action rod for all but fishing frogs and I prefer a medium- heavy but I don’t have one at the moment. So I use a medium action rod on everything. and here are some links that may help you in other areas of bass fishing-http://fishing.about.com/od/bassfishing/tp/topbasslures.htm
http://www.trails.com/how_111_use-bass-fishing-lures.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/drop-shot.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fish/plasticworms.html
And here is a knot tying site for you
http://animatedknots.com/improvedclinch/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com
Bass fishing question #2?
Again same as before, I already have my answer to this question wrote down on notepad. So the first that can get the closes to it will get the best answer.
Also again, I am not doing this for my health, lol. There are alot of young Bass fishermen/women out there in Yahoo land that may acually learn something from this. Seeing everyones different techiqunes, etc…
You are fishing a lake that you never fished before. The lake is man made, dam at one end, creek fed on the other with several shallow coves. The lake is only 340 acres, electric motors only. Its mid May water is clear, temp 63 degrees, weather: cloudy with a chance of showers 65 degrees. Predominately largemouth with some perch, walleyes and some smallies. The lake has no structure what so ever, like fishing a cereal bowl. Although 30% of the lake is full of hydrilla grass in depths from 6 to 2 ft. Bass are in pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn modes. What would be your best approach for the largemouth?
I would without question use one of my mini-king spinnerbaits and lay it right over their beds and irritate the hell out of those bass…they get so protective that theyd probably hit a stick if it was swimming across its nest…right before rain is amazing for practically any fish and that mini-king spinnerbait has caught me this nice perch with that lure on a cloudy day but slightly hotter water temp
http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x240/eszeppelin/?action=view¤t=Close-upofPerch.jpg
I would fish the section where the creek is feeding into the lake massive fish lay and wait in those areas for creek chubs, minnows, small sunnies, small bass, and whatever small fish are native to that lake. I wouldn’t be hesitant to fish the shallows since the bass have no cover they have to rely on that creek fed for an easy and efficient food source without wasting energy.
questions on bass fishing? please help me out here?
Basically, all I want to know is this:
Where will the fish be under these situations…:
-Fast current
-Slow current
-Fast wind speed
-Slow wind speed
-Warm water
-Cold water
and…
What color of lure should I use under these conditions…:
-Clear water
-Muddy water
-Sunny/Bright day
-Overcast day
-Rainy day
Any answers to these questions is appreciated…thanks.
-Fast current: breaks, shoals, eddy’s and back water
-Slow current: along shore, docked barges, docks shore line cover
-Fast wind speed: wind blown banks
-Slow wind speed: wind blown banks, and deep shoals and stumps
-Warm water: every where
-Cold water: deep water
-Clear water: every color
-Muddy water:white, chartreuse, black.
-Sunny/Bright day: bright colors and natural
-Overcast day: white, chartreuse, and natural
-Rainy day:dark and darker natural colors
Sea Bass Fishing Question?
I am going sea bass fishing in Normandy in France and I would like to know what is the best bait is should I stick with sand worm or should I try clams, I have heard that clams work well, my only problem is getting them I know how to dig the long razor shells but I don’t know if sea bass like that I also want to try fishing with razor clams but don’t know how to dig them and where to find them. My main two questions are do sea bass eat razor shells and my second question is how to dig and find razor clams? Please answer as soon as possible!
clams are more expensive but would probably work better
Largemouth Bass Fishing Question?
Ok i have had trouble fishing bass this season i need help choosing the right lure and reeling in procedure and locating bass so help me answer the following:
Well my lake is really big and it ranges from 1 foot to 10 feet in the middle. The water’s temperature this week is between 75-60 right now.
It is obviously Winter time.
Now i have caught so much Largemouth Bass here that i lost count but over 200 100% sure of that. Now i caught them every season except Winter so what lure should i use right now and how do i reel it in and where are the fish hiding??
In Spring Buzzbaits and Spinnerbaits are beauties
In Summer Soft Lures are killers
In Fall Shad and Fish-style baits are beautiful i caught my biggest and most fish this season on a single day!
In Winter -?!?!?!?_?!_$__$L$ What should i use??!?
My rod is a 7 foot casting rod, 12-16 lb. test line. I have about 40 feet worth of line left in the reel.
The weather is Partly Cloudy and there are no Obstructions whatsoever.
I have a row boat i can borrow from my Neighbor if i have too maybe not today. it is 4:00 P.M local time and it has been Sunny the pass 2 days. Please Help i am using a buzz bait which is not working due to the fact there is a loud Fountain Supressing the noise it makes.
the lower the temp of the water the lower the activity of the fish. if teh water is colder, the fish is less likely to waste it’s energy trying to catch fast moving baits. try using some live bait like minnows or worms, or use some diving minnows. it does matter where you live. just try going slower and have a small twitchy presentation. good luck!