SPRO has a color , size and style of frog for any situation out on the water . |
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SPRO BRONZEYE SPIT SHAD
COLOR : BLUE BACK HERRING
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SPRO BRONZEYE POPPIN ’ FROG
COLOR : OUTBACK
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SPRO BRONZEYE FROG JR .
COLOR : FREAK
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SPRO BRONZEYE BABY POPPIN ’ FROG
COLOR : NASTY SHAD
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Frog fishing is profound fun — if you ’ re up to the challenge and frustrations that come with it . Here ’ s how you can take your frog game to the next level this season .
By Mike Pehanich
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRANDON ROWAN
You feel it coming . Anticipation . Excitement . You sense it in the air , hear it in the mats , feel it stirring in the pads . The stretch of matted grass or duckweed that pleasure boaters find unsightly is your playground , and you know it ’ s just a matter of moments before a hungry bass comes charging through it .
It ’ s froggin ’ fever ! Time to pull out a hollow-bodied frog and get in on the most exciting action of the season .
Frog fishing is filled with suspense and action , punctuated by washtub boils and explosive strikes , packed with the emotional highs and lows of fish caught and blow ups missed , producing memories of giant bass clothed in grass as they are hoisted over the gunwale .
Frogging ’ s appeal goes beyond the excitement of the visual strikes . There ’ s artistry on display when an accomplished frogger is at work .
“ The frog is a bait that you can give life to ,” says frog maestro Dean Rojas . “ You control what that bait is doing on the surface . That ’ s the cool factor !”
We mined the experience of four MLF pros for tips on how to improve one ’ s frogging game .
Froggin ’ time
Frogs tend to work their best magic around cover — mats , pads , laydowns , stumps , docks and the like .
“ Key in on shady areas ,” says Mitch Crane , a Bass Pro Tour pro from Columbus , Mississippi . “ Froggers don ’ t mind sunny days because it isolates fish in those shady areas or isolated floating patches of grass . Those are the things we key on .”
Although frog fishing is linked with summer heat , frogging experts find it a far more versatile bait with three- or even four-season appeal .
Fred “ Boom Boom ” Roumbanis has taken bass on a frog in the California Delta in 52-degree water in January . He finds 54 degrees a more typical starting point , but he will tell you that prime froggin ’ time is easier to sense than to define .
“ A lot of it is muscle memory ,” says the BPT pro from Russellville , Arkansas , who has rods rigged with his namesake Boom Boom Frog and Boom Boom Poppin ’ Frog on his deck most of the year . “ It ’ s instinctive . I try hard to be the first guy on that bite , paying attention to water temperature and
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 69