COLUMN: BALOG ON BASS FISHING
dean rojas:
frog master
The Arizona pro’s career
trajectory has mirrored the
path of a lure type he helped
put on the fishing map
PHOTO BY MILLENNIUM PROMOTIONS, INC.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more than 20 years,
Joe Balog has made his
living in the fishing industry
on and off the water. A
successful tournament
angler from the Great
Lakes region, Balog now
lives in Florida, where he
continues to work in product
design, marketing and
outdoor media when he's
not chasing trophy
largemouths.
I
n the olden days of tournament bass
fishing, pros often specialized in certain
techniques, sometimes becoming closely
associated with those techniques as their signature
systems. Denny Brauer was a noted flipper;
David Fritts a cranker. When conditions
weren’t right for the techniques of specialists,
they often struggled, but when things lined up,
those guys cleaned house.
Fast-forward a few decades, and we’re seeing
fewer specialists in professional fishing. To
remain competitive and stay afloat, an angler has
to be good at just about everything. There are,
however, a few pros still synonymous with a skill
set (even if that’s not their only skill set), and in
some cases responsible for the popularity of a
method of fishing. I can think of none more
apparent than Dean Rojas and frog fishing.
For years, I wanted to climb in a boat and
watch Rojas fish his beloved lure. I also wanted to
learn the concept behind it, and what influenced
Rojas to expand his thinking – and then all of
ours – on the ways a floating frog can be fished.
Recently, I got my chance.
The Discovery
The story must start at the beginning, as Rojas
makes no claims that he created modern frog
fishing. He says an anonymous fishing friend
stumbled on the technique, which Rojas then
took much, much further.
It started in 2000, at which point Rojas had
been out in the world for a few years, competing
around the country and trying to make ends
meet. Coming from a Western background, the
fisheries of the Southeast were a whole new ballgame.
Results were less than stellar.
During some time off, Rojas joined his buddy,
who was on a hot bite on the Colorado River.
“There were flooded trees everywhere, and my
friend is skipping the old Snag Proof Frog – the
bait with the legs and everything – up through the
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FLWFISHING.COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020