masterS series
The King Daddy is our biggest frog at 90mm and 7 / 8 of an ounce . It ’ s great when you want to move a lot of water or need a big meal to attract a big bass .
Frogs come in every imaginable color , including shades designed to imitate baitfish . SPRO offers the Bronzeye 65 in nearly 50 distinct color patterns , and they all catch fish . Although I carry a lot of colors , I keep my selection process simple .
Under dark conditions – early and late , cloudy or rainy – I like dark colors . If it ’ s sunny and the water ’ s clear , I go to baitfish colors that have scale patterns or a pearl bottom . And if it ’ s partly cloudy , I go with natural colors that usually have some green in them .
Ultimately , I let the bass tell me what color they want . When you ’ re dialed in , the fish will let you know .
basics
The most important things to keep in mind when fishing a hollow-bodied frog is don ’ t be afraid to throw it into extremely heavy cover , and don ’ t be afraid to backlash your reel . It ’ s hard to hang up a hollow-bodied frog , and you ’ re definitely going to get some backlashes as you learn how to skip a frog into tight spots . But there ’ s a risk-reward relationship with frogging . If you don ’ t take some chances , you ’ ll never catch the bass you could be catching !
The basic frog retrieve is “ walking the dog ,” much like anglers do with hard lures like the Heddon Zara Spook . To do it , start with the right rod , which has a fast tip . I twitch the rod tip gently , but sharply , and after each twitch , I immediately throw the rod tip back in the direction of the lure to give it a little slack . That slack makes all the difference . It gives life to the frog .
The frog can ’ t zig-zag from side to side unless there ’ s some slack in the line . If your line stays tight or taut , it ’ s going to pull the frog straight forward and not allow it to “ walk .”
The biggest complaint I hear from anglers just getting into frogging is that they miss a lot of strikes . Sometimes the bass aren ’ t serious about eating the frog ; sometimes they just want to kill it or get it out of their area , and sometimes they just miss it . Whatever the reason , there are a couple of things you can do that will help .
The first is to take a pair of pliers and bend the hooks out slightly . This will make the lure less snag-free , but it will increase your hook-up percentage . The second is to set the hook as soon as you see the strike . That ’ s my default . When that doesn ’ t work , it means they ’ re missing the frog or toying with it . Try changing colors or frog styles until you find what they really want . bonus
SPRO frogs are ready to go right out of the package , but they ’ re also easy to customize if you want something different from them . The first thing a lot of anglers do is trim the skirt legs on a frog . I do that , too , depending on how I want to fish that bait at that time .
Coming out of the package , the legs on the frog are very long . If you leave them long , the bait will wallow in the water more , and it will hinder the frog ’ s ability to walk . This can be good in heavy cover . The shorter you trim the legs , the easier it will be to walk the bait and make it lively .
The most versatile length for the legs is about the same length as the frog body . I often take the legs and pull them toward the nose of the bait . Then I trim them at that length . It ’ s a happy medium that allows you to do a lot of things well .
PHOTO BY JESSE SCHULTZ
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
60 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2021