EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF A FROG
IT MIGHT NOT LOOK LIKE A REAL FROG, BUT IF IT’S A WEEDLESS, FLOATING TOPWATER,
IT’LL FISH LIKE A FROG
By Curtis Niedermier
38
Yeah, we all know bass eat frogs.
Yet bass are like a pack of hungry
construction workers at a lunchtime
buffet – they’ll sample just about any-
thing in front of them that’ll fit in
their mouths.
That’s why the latest interpreta-
tions of “frog-style” baits come in so
many different shapes. Really, a lot of
them aren’t frogs at all; they’re weed-
less, floating topwaters. Some look
like shad, birds, rodents and other
random creatures. Retailers such as
TackleWarehouse.com just lump
them in with frogs because the hol-
low frog is the original weedless,
floating topwater, and they all share
those primary characteristics.
In any case, what manufacturers
have done is figure out new shapes
and body styles for topwater baits
that give anglers more presentation
options in places where they couldn’t
send a buzzbait or a hard topwater
with treble hooks.
Lure makers have also added little
twists to classic frog designs to make
baits that are more weedless, more
durable (which saves you money), eas-
ier to cast long distances, less likely to
take on water, more likely to hook up
when a bass bites or better suited for
specific scenarios – all good things for
the tournament bass crowd.
The only downside is the price.
You’ll pay about $10 for most premi-
um models these days. Still, you
should pay the price because they
work, and because we’ve entered an
era where anglers can improve their
results by carrying three or four pre-
mium models perfectly suited for var-
ious tasks, versus just one that does
everything pretty well.
Among the new introductions,
there are four baits that really demon-
strate the track that tackle designers
are taking within this category.
FLWFISHING.COM I JANUARY 2018