Let's Discuss - Froggin for Largemouth

Lonnie (CA)'s Profile > Stories > Let's Discuss - Froggin for Largemouth

Let's Discuss - Froggin for Largemouth

Posted Nov 4, 2008 by Lonnie (CA)

Rating : 0.0 / 5

Rate this:

Views: 377

Froggin for Big Largemouths

Big largemouths are the passion of both tournament and recreational anglers alike. But rooting them out of heavy cover can be a real choir. Most baits just simply won’t work through heavy cover, and those that do often need to be fished painstakingly slow. A great lure that can be fished fast or slow and which can get into places which few other baits can, are the newer varieties of soft plastic frogs.

Baits like the Trophy Series Scum Frog were top producers for me this summer accounting for multiple 5-fish limits topping 20 lbs and many fish in the 5 and 6 lb class. Mind you I wasn’t fishing a tournament, but still a testament to their effectiveness. Unlike weedless spoons this new generation of frog can be left to float and twitched in place to trigger wary giants. The baits are weighted which make for easy casting on heavy baitcasting tackle and cause the bait to tilt upward like an actual frog resting on the water. Another key aspect of this bait is the soft plastic body which collapses away to ensure the double, super strong, sharp hooks hold securely. Skitter the bait quickly over the densest cover and pause in the pockets. Oftentimes you’ll see fish moving in the shallows as they approach the lure. This technique accounts for explosive strikes, but it is essential to resist setting the hook until you’re sure the fish has pulled the bait down. A reel with cranking power is far more important than speed. I also found a softer rod resulted in better hooking and landing percentages. I ultimately zeroed in on a 7’6” Light & Tough flipping stick by Daiwa. This is one of the lightest flipping sticks I’ve found anywhere and has a remarkably soft action to it. Daiwa also makes a rod specific for fishing frogs, but to date I have not had the chance to try it. If anyone has tried one I’d love to hear a report. In my opinion heavy braided line is a necessity for horsing big fish from super-heavy cover. My frog reel last season was Daiwa Viento spooled with Hi-vis 80 lb Stren Super Braid (I just learned that Super Braid this has been replaced by Sonic Braid). Pike also love chomping on this bait, and can tear up the soft plastic bodies quite quickly. Before you throw them out try some using a soldering iron to melt the holes shut. You will get a lot more life out of your baits this way. I also found that bending the hooks out slightly prevented the hooks from puncturing the body. Have some thoughts on the subject? Share your perspectives with others by adding comments below.

http://www.bountyfishing.com/members/fe9fc289c3ff0af142b6d3bead98a923/photo/b53b
n3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11/640x480/froggin-for-bass-2.jpg

http://www.bountyfishing.com/members/fe9fc289c3ff0af142b6d3bead98a923/photo/b53b
n3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11/640x480/froggin-for-bass-1.jpg

(8 comments)

ISeeSpots (posted Apr 5, 2009)
Nice info for frogs. My buddies have had great success with beaver lures here in FL. You can't buy them around here, so they go to Louisiana to their parents' place and get them. Thanks for the tips. Tight lines and screamin drags to ya! Chris Team Tightline

Lonnie (posted Nov 17, 2008)
Phil - not sure if you can see it in the photos - but this is late fall - fish still shallow even past duck hunting season. cheers, LK

RaiderNation (posted Nov 6, 2008)

I use 30lb braid when casting in the weeds for bass. Stanley Ribbit frogs are what I used exclusively this year for topwater and weedy areas. its awesome to watch bass pound topwater frogs. They aim to maim thats for sure. it is true that you miss alot of hookups with frogs. My hits to hookup ratio was about 10:1. My gear was an ABU-Garcia Revo with a 7 foot medium heavy Fenwick rod. Definitely enough to yank'em out of the weeds. Good story Lonnie. Topwater is my fave way to fish for bass.....Eric

Richard (posted Nov 5, 2008)
Spros (harder) - Better casting/ ripping through heavy cover. Scum Frogs (softer)- Better hook set /snags more easily.

LooseDragMcgoo (posted Nov 5, 2008)
Many bullfrogs on them!!! Mike :)

freshwaterphi (posted Nov 5, 2008)

I tried Spro frogs and Spro frog Jr.s for the first time this season. What I like about them is that you can cast where you never even thought of casting before, right on to "carpets" of grass, weeds even trees without snagging. The amount of topwater hits is really amazing. The frogs cast far and accurately. I fish them in extreme weed cover, a lot thicker than the lily's you caught in the pictures. Usually can't see any water until you get a hit. The frogs sit on the weed cover and make tracks when you retrieve them so you can really work a pattern efficiently. What I don't like, is that you need an average of 20 hits before 1 hookup. I find pike tend to hookup easier than bass as they clamp down on the lure. When a largemouth has to bore his way through the "hay", you have to be lucky for it to suck down the lure, to to the weedless design of imbeded hooks. Another problem, is that when you fish in extreme weeds, they have nowwhere to run when hooked, so instead of fighting a fish, you either horsing it out along with 20 lbs of grass it's tangled in, or getting the boat or wading into the thicks weeds to pull it out by hand. We caught some nice ones, my buddy caught a 1 lb bullfrog on his first try!

Hawgseeker (posted Nov 5, 2008)
I seem to miss too many bass with the topwater frogs. They explode yes but I can't quite seem to get the hooks set into them. I was fishing some reeds with pads scattered throughout and had some nice pops with one bass having to be at least 4+ because it was completely airborne. I'm open for suggestions.

LooseDragMcgoo (posted Nov 5, 2008)
I agree with the soft tip rod I always yank em out with Heavy/medium heavy. I have tried alot of brands and found the SPros got most hit's as well as reaction innovations swamp donkey being a good one as well! WOW 80 lb LONNIE~! I thought I was overkill with 50lb but it makes sense if you want to yank em out of that slop! TY for the tips this is a great read! Mike :)