5 Must Fish Frog Spots

There is no more exciting way to catch a bass than on a topwater frog and these baits are known to catch big fish! For many people, thick weed mats and flooded vegetation are what immediately comes to mind when you mention frog fishing and while these conditions certainly favour frog fishing, it is easy to forget just how versatile they are. Switch out your spook for a buzzing frog around any rocky point. This technique is deadly as summer transitions to autumn. Bass will smash a frog in a wide variety of situations and choosing the correct style and action as well as matching it with the right equipment will allow you to be a much more competent frog fisherman. The key to the success of fishing a frog in areas away from aquatic vegetation is to show the bass something that they are not used to seeing which may trigger them to bite. Thick weed mats and flooded grassThis is the most obvious place to throw a frog and one of the most exciting when a fish blows up through the weed and tries to engulf your bait. Depending on the thickness of the structure you are fishing over, I would choose the buzzing type baits which you move continuously or floating hollow-body frogs that you can twitch about in holes. Thinner vegetation mats allow the bass to break through and grab a skimming frog and once you work out how fast to make the retrieve, you can entice enormous strikes without warning. When it comes to thick grass or hyacinth, I like to twitch a floating frog about and then give it time to just sit in the holes. Sometimes the smallest twitch that just moves the frog’s legs and it will be enough to entice a bite. Weed EdgesThe edge of a thick weedbed or floating hyacinth mat is another obvious place to fish both types of frog but often fish stack up on these edges and are easier to target than further back in the thick stuff. Here you can customise your frog more as the fish get a clearer look at the bait. When fish are particularly active, you can retrieve your buzzing frog like a buzzbait along these edges and really turn the bite on. Weeds adjacent to channel edges are really good places to focus your effort. Bass rarely see frogs swimming amongst timber but for some reason they just can’t resist destroying a frog buzzing overhead. Laydowns and TimberThese are often overlooked places to fish a frog and can be key to getting that bigger bite. Fish suspending in the tops of submerged trees as well as those hanging out in shallow laydowns can easily be tempted to eat a frog buzzed though the timber. Here it is particularly important to use strong line as timber is a lot more unforgiving than grass and weeds! At a recent international event I was amazed at how many fish ate a buzzing frog in and around offshore timber and it is definitely something to consider as we move towards late summer and autumn. Rowan Timmer with a quality Inanda bass taken on a frog. Rocky PointsTry both the buzzing type frogs and the walking action of a hollow-body frog the next time you fish around a rocky point. Often fish will eat a moving frog quite far offshore and I am confident to use the buzzing frogs (in particular) in any area that you would normally use a spook type hard bait. Over-hanging Vegetation and DocksWatching frog fishing legend Dean Rojas skipping hollow body frogs far back underneath overhanging trees is something that I wish I could do properly. Clearly most of us aren’t going to achieve this level of skill but we can all cast somewhere into the back of bushes and trees and this is a very good way to catch a big bass. Snag-proof frogs are forgiving when it comes to accuracy and strong line allows us to get it back most of the time so give it a go next time you are pitching under thick bushes and docks. I like to use the 4” Gambler Buzzin Cane Toad and Itty’s Secret Frog when selecting buzzing style soft plastic frogs. Recommended Baits and TackleThick cover: Heavy 50-80lb braid is essential and paired with a heavy action rod, preferably one with a soft tip to make casting easier. Make sure to use a fast 7:1 or faster reel to pick up slack in your line as fast as possible. When it comes to the buzzing type frogs I like to use the 4” Gambler Buzzin Cane toad and Itty’s Secret Frog as well as the various Spro frog varieties when it comes to hollow bodied floating frogs. The bait colour needs to stand out in thick cover in order for bass to find them, and I stick with mostly black or mostly white frogs with colour accents to match those living frogs you might expect to find in the area. Open water: Choose light braid (15lb) or 20lb monofilament on a medium heavy rod with a fast retrieve reel. Here colour is often more important and I would choose natural colours such as green pumpkin and bull frog as a starting point. Tips Slow down your presentation! Big bass are often sluggish ambush predators and while smaller bass will chase after baits, these larger ones often hang back. Fishing your frogs the same way every time is an easy mistake to make and varying your presentation will allow you to find out what is working best on the day. Trim either one side or both sides the legs of hollow-body frogs to alter its “walking” action.Expose the hooks a little by bending the hooks out and away from the frog body just a bit. In open water situations you can expose the hook points a lot more than you would in heavy cover;Make sure the fish has your bait before you strike. Probably the most important tip of all and very hard to do when adrenaline is pumping but I always try to check if the fish has the bait before striking. I noticed just how long a fish would hold onto a frog for when pre-fishing and trying not to hook the fish. It is amazing how long they will swim with the bait in their mouths so try to avoid being too hasty on the strike.