You make the perfect cast and your frog hits the water. You pause with excitement awaiting what you hope to be a massive explosion. Twitch, twitch, twitch……. BOOM! Bass Fishing with frogs is one of the most fun for me. Being able to watch the bass come up and get your lure is one of the most rewarding things in fishing for me. Check out these tips on how to catch bass like the pros to increase your success next time out.
1. Type of Frog Matters
There are various types of frogs and frog patterns out there. Here is a quick list of some of the most common.
- Hollow Bodied Frog – Has hollow body, floats well, very weedless, fished slower over heavy vegetation.
- Buzz Style Frogs – These frogs are typically hard bodied or at least solid body. The are retrieved faster over vegetation, wood, and sometimes open water.
- Popper Style Frogs – Popper style frogs are hard bodied frogs that displace water from a concave structure on the face of the lure. Not very weedless. Work well around thin grass and open water.
Some of the brand frogs I like are the River2Sea, Booyah, or Spro.
2. Big Rod, Fast Reel, Big Line.
Lets talk about our frog set up that we want to be using. When fishing frogs for bass we need to have a long stout rod and a fast reel. On the reel were gonna spool it with some heavy duty braid.
Frog Rod Selection
Frog Rods in general need to be in the 7 foot range. Think about where we are throwing these baits. Your skipping, casting, flipping, and bouncing these bass frogs into the heaviest of vegetation.
A good frog rod that is very popular is the Dobyns Rods Fury Series FR 735C Mag Heavy Power Ex-Fast Action Casting Rod, 7’3”. This rod is just over the 7 foot range giving you the length you need to set the hook at long distances and pull fish our of the heavy cover quicker.
Frog Reel Selection
It is an absolute must to have a reel that has some good speed. Something in the range of 7.1:1. This is gonna allow you to really move the fish into the boat with ease.
A good bait caster at a decent little price point it the Daiwa LEXA-WN300HS-P.
The Right Line for Frogs
When bass fishing with frogs I only use one type of line. That line is braided fishing line. Braided fishing line has a couple properties that make it ideal for frog fishing.
- Stretch – Braid does no stretch. When letting a bass take that frog in and the line loads up, when don’t want any stretch in the fishing line. The frogs have large hooks and we need power to get them to penetrate.
- Buoyancy – Braid is very buoyant. This is great for frogs because we want them to stay up on the surface. Braid will help with that.
- Strength – Braid is pound for pound the strongest line i for the diameter on the market. Use 50 pound braid of higher for frog fishing.
3. Frog Color Selection
When trying to decide what frog to use the task can be daunting. Once you pick out a frog your then tasked with selecting the appropriate color. Keep you frog colors simple. I use three colors predominantly when bass fishing with frogs.
- White – When fishing the clear blue bird sky days, tie on a white frog. The white belly will allow the frog to be seen with ease.
- Black – On those partly cloudy or mostly cloudy days I like to use black frogs. This will allow for some real contrast with your frog.
- Green – Green is the color I go to when fishing a shade pattern. I will get to the shade pattern in the next section.
4. Shade Pattern While Frog Fishing
Living in California there are plenty of days filled with clear hot days. A lot of time the water temperature is going to be in the 70’s in most reservoirs during the summer.
When fishing a frog around vegetation or debris, pay attention to the shade. Bass will position in the shade during the hot hours of the day. If you are able to find isolated shade your odds will increase drastically. I’m looking for shade that is the only shade around. If you have a whole bank full of shade its going to be hard to narrow it down. On the flip side, if you have a area that’s covered in sun except for an isolated shade area, it takes the guessing out of it.
5. Take Risks
This one may not be so obvious to some people. When the frog bit picks up fellow anglers are going to know. Any angler can motor down the shoreline casting to the edge of the tullies or mats.
You have to be different. Remember, you have this big ol frog rod and at least 50 pound test. Throw that frog deep into the cover. You should be casting that thing where you are almost worried about getting it back. This is what separates you from the other angler.
6. Cast Past Your Target
While fishing open waters it is important to not land on your target. Cast past you target 10-15 feet and retrieve the frog up to the edge of the target location. Work the frog over you cover nice and slow. Once past the target location don’t just reel your frog in. Work it back to the boat just in case there may be an open water bite.
7. Make Some Noise
Make some noise with your frog. Sometimes we need to let the fish know that were here. There are a couple ways to accomplish this.
The first way to make noise is to splash your frog. At the end of your cast don’t finesse the frog into the water. Let it smack the water and make a little noise. The bass can get curious and that what we want them to do.
The second way to accomplish making some noise is to add bb’s pr rattles to the inside of your frog. This gives a slight rattle noise while retrieving you frog. Most hollow bodied frogs have a hole in the belly that you can slide some bb’s into.
8. Shoreline Enterance
When the frog bit get tough one thing I like to do is use the shoreline entrance technique. Simply cast your frog up onto the bank near the waters edge. Work your frog into the water slowly and move it around cover as usual. This tactic gives a very natural approach to frog fishing for bass.
9. Patience and Perseverance
Frog fishing cant be frustrating at times. Most anglers will lose almost have of their bass on the hook sets. This is pretty common actually. It is important to stay focused and keep throwing that frog. The fish that you do catch will make up for it believe me. Frogs are notorious for landing some rally big bass.
10. Watch Videos on YouTube
Now I know this doesn’t seem like a pro tip. But I tell you what, I have seen some really good tips out there from the pros to the average Joes. I have found little tweaks that I have never heard of before.
In the video below Ish does a great job of explaining how he approached frog fishing for bass.
If you found this article to be useful feel free to share on your favorite social media platform.
Also check out Bass Fishing Basics and Texas Rig Tactics.
