What started as a tough June day on the California Delta made a turn for the better as the sun warmed the water above the magic 75°F mark. By 5:00 p.m., we’d boated 15 healthy Delta bass over 3 pounds, a couple over 4—all caught on frogs.

As a breeze slowly pushed us across a vast flat, Bobby Barrack skillfully placed his Snag Proof frog against a weedline and began to walk it methodically across open water toward an isolated mat of grass, and crept it onto the mat, where it rested.

Without warning, the mat exploded in a spray of weeds and water. As I looked up, Barrack’s rod bent under the strain of a large and angry bass. With the rod high, he kept pressure on the fish as it struggled to get back into the grass, but it soon succumbed to the pressure of the heavy rod and 65-pound braid. Into the net slid our “picture fish,” a 10-pound 2-ounce toad.

Here are tips on tackle and techniques the nation’s top frog fishermen use to win tournaments and to make clients happy on guide trips—new techniques for your repertoire that will put more big fish in your livewell this season.

Tackle

Whether you’re fishing hollow-body frogs like Scum Frog or Snag Proof Tournament Frog, or the array of new soft-body swimming models like Zoom’s Horny Toad, Berkley’s Batwing Frog, or the YUM Buzz Frog, proper gear is key to success. “Heavy tackle is in order,” states Barrack. “You’re deep in heavy cover, and you’re liable to stick a giant under the next mat.”

Rods: “Heavy- and extra-heavy-action rods are a must to set hooks in monster bass and get them away from the cover,” Barrick says. He favors Lamiglas 797 and 806 casting rods for his froggin’.

Tour pro Dean Rojas agrees. “The rod is key,” he says. “I hadn’t found many that fit what I needed in a frog rod, so I worked with Quantum to design the Dean Rojas Signature Series Frog Rod, which I feel is perfect for both open-water and mat fishing. It’s a 7-footer rated medium-heavy, with a fast taper to allow precision casting, plus the backbone to land those toads.”

Shimano has just added a frog rod in their Crucial series. “The CRC-X72H rod is designed for frog fishing,” Gary Armstrong of Shimano says. “It’s a 7-foot 2-inch extra-heavy power blank, but with extra-fast action, rated for braided line up to 65-pound test.” G. Loomis, Bass Medics, Kistler Rods, St. Croix, and All Star also have added frog sticks to their line-ups in recent years, thanks to the fast-growing popularity of this technique.

Reels: Reels also play a role in the angler’s ability to land fish. “You need a reel that can take up a lot of line quickly,” Rojas says. “This year I switched to Quantum’s new Burner reel with a 7:1 gear ratio and it’s been outstanding—plenty of power to get fish away from cover fast.”

Alabama tour pro Tim Horton also favors a fast reel. “At times you need a speedy retrieve when fishing either the hollow Rat-type frog or a soft-plastic Buzzfrog. In either case, you’re often targeting bass in particular types of cover, and you want to quickly retrieve the lure once it’s passed through. I use a wide spool Pflueger President with a 6.3:1 ratio. It gives me plenty of power and retrieve speed. There’s also plenty of line capacity for long casts with heavy line.”

Some high-speed reels seem to sacrifice power, but Shimano has overcome this by upgrading their Curado line with the new DHSV 7.0:1 reel, providing fast retrieves but with the power of a 3.8:1 gear-ratio reel, according to company engineers.

Line: Line is important when plying the waters with a frog, and all our experts agree that braids in the 50- to 65-pound class are ideal.

“I generally spool 65-pound braid when fishing Snag Proof frogs, and 50-pound for a Horny Toad,” Barrack says. He darkens the first few feet of line with a marker to camouflage it.

Rojas uses 65-pound Izorline braid. “Most line manufacturers braid their line and then dye it, but Izorline dyes each filament separately before the braiding process,” he says. “This makes the line more manageable, so it holds a knot better and is less apt to tangle around the rod tip.”

New Breed of Frog

Over the years, frog specialists have customized lures to increase their effectiveness. This tactic can be traced to Barrack himself. “In the early years, we lost a lot of fish on frogs,” Barrack says, “sometimes less than a 50 percent hook-up-to-land ratio. We felt we could win tournaments on frogs if we could figure out how to get bass in the boat.

“When braided line came out, we figured our problems were over,” he adds. “Braids brought our ratio over 50 percent but we still were losing a lot of bass. Fish were missed when the double hooks penetrated the thighs of the Snag Proof frogs, keeping the points from hooking the fish securely,” he recalls. “When we started cutting the frog’s thighs off and adding skirts, our success rate skyrocketed.”

Snag Proof contacted Barrack and asked if he’d be interested in designing a frog for them. “That’s how Bobby’s Perfect Frog was developed. We designed a frog that doesn’t need any modification. Now, the only time I don’t use a Perfect Frog is when I need a color that isn’t available in the new version.”

Today, several manufacturers offer high-tech frogs. “We knew Dean Rojas was having great success with frogs on the Bassmaster Tour,” says Tim Norman of SPRO. “We contacted him and asked if he’d be interested in helping us design a new frog.” Rojas agreed to join the team.

“I was excited about the project,” he says. “We started with the hook, which is the most important part of the frog, designing the Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog around Gamakatsu’s 4/0 double hook. A common problem with frogs is that the skirted legs pull out of the body and the nose gets pulled down from the front of the hook. We fixed the legs so they won’t pull out, and also remedied the nose by wrapping the shaft of the hook and glueing it.

“This frog is more streamlined than standard frogs,” he adds, “which helps the hookset. Its narrower body shape means you can walk this frog in a spot for an extended time, to tease a big one into biting. It doesn’t need any modification. Some people may want to shorten the legs a little or add some weight, but it doesn’t need that to work.”

Soft-bodied frogs also have gained wide acclaim in the last year. Zoom Bait Company started the trend with their Horny Toad, which quickly became the secret of many pros on the circuit. These small-bodied baits work like small plastic buzzbaits that excel in and around weed clumps and emergent vegetation, as well as over open water. Many manufacturers have come out with their own frog designs—Stanley’s Ribbit, Berkley’s Batwing Frog, YUM Buzz Frog, Voodoo Baits Zombie Toad, Sizmic Lures Pop’n Toad, Culprit’s Pro Frog, Spike-It’s Bog Frog, and more.

“They’re great for open-water applications,” Barrack says. “I fish them along ledges near tule clumps or by rock walls where the vegetation thins out. In those situations, the weeds can be too tangly for a traditional buzzbait, and the grass binds the blades. That’s when I go to a Horny Toad. Bass race over and engulf these baits. Most of the time, you couldn’t take it away from the fish if you wanted to.”

He rigs them on a 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG Superline hook. “Add a bit of superglue on the eye of the hook to keep the frog from slipping down the shaft,” he recommends. Tim Horton uses a 4/0 Excalibur Tx3 hook for YUM Buzzfrogs. “When a bass eats the bait, don’t set the hook,” he says. “Wait for the rod to load. Once you feel the full pressure of the fish, set the hook hard.”

Seasonal Strategies

Although froggin’ is primarily as a summer presentation, some situations extend their season considerably. “The open-water frog bite may start in late March on Lake Guntersville in Alabama,” Horton says. “Few anglers realize how good this bite can be. I fish swimming frogs around spotty weeds and willows at this time and get some amazing strikes.”

Barrack agrees. “Here in California, I’ve caught bass on frogs throughout the year and in water as cold as 43°F. That day, I caught four bass but they were all between 4 and 43⁄4 pounds. I caught them in less than 20 minutes, before the bite stopped. In cold water, any frog action is short-lived. But when it happens, you can put a lot of weight in the boat fast. You’d probably get more bites on a worm, but the frog fish are bigger.

“The most important factor for frog fishing is stable weather,” Barrack says, “whether it’s summer, fall, or winter. A few stable days can turn the bite on. The sun positions the fish tighter in cover, where the frog excels. Cold fronts and drastic drops in temperature ruin a good frog bite, even in summer.”

Most experts agree that summer is best, with water temperatures above 75°F. “There’s just something magical about that temperature,” Rojas says. “That’s when bass turn to eating frogs.”

Barrack adds that each season seems to have an optimum temperature that triggers bass. “In summer, they go crazy when the temperature hits 75°F. In fall, the best bite is above 65°F and, in spring, 63°F seems to be the threshold. During winter, the temperature doesn’t seem to be as important as stable conditions.”

Retrieves and Techniques

Many anglers fish frogs on top of weedmats. Recently, however, a few anglers have had great success walking frogs in the manner of a Zara Spook, and twitching or chugging them across open water. “In open pockets,” Barrack says, “frogs are an overlooked option. These new models can walk-the-dog beautifully.” As with other topwaters, anglers should let the response and activity level of the bass indicate the best retrieves.

“During the middle of the day, the thickest weedmats produce the best bite,” Tim Horton continues. “And the fish tend to school in them, too. In the thick stuff, I insert a 1/16-ounce bullet weight in the frog to add weight. By snapping the rod tip downward, the frog digs into the mat. A deeper-sitting frog makes it easier for a bass to burst through, and also creates more underwater disturbance to alert bass that there’s something edible up there.”

Hollow frogs are versatile, working effectively at various speeds and retrieve cadences. “I often start by working the frog fast on top of the mat, then wait for a bass to give away its position,” Rojas says. “Then I’ll cast back to the hole it made in the grass. The Bronzeye Frog was designed to walk back and forth in a spot, which can prove irresistible to bass that have given away their location. I also like to chug it fast in open water,” he adds. “I use that technique to find fish fast. And if you suddenly stop the fast retrieve, they crush it.”

Slow retrieves work, too. “Look for signs of fish—weeds moving or blow-holes where the fish have attacked something earlier,” Barrack recommends. “Cast to the back edge of the mat and inch the frog across, until you get to the area you think the fish is holding. It can take five minutes to finish a cast. And I sometimes deadstick a frog directly over a fish I know is there.”

Hooksets and Conversion

Barrack and Rojas feel the hookset is the most important thing in converting strikes to hooked fish. “My clients often have problems with their hookset,” Barrack says. “They’ve been told that when fishing topwaters to wait for the line to come tight before setting the hook. With frogs, that often doesn’t work.

“As soon as you see the frog disappear, set the hook hard with an upward swing while reeling at the same time,” he says. “If the fish swims towards you under the grass, you’ll never feel the line tighten up.”

“But you must wait for the bait to disappear before setting the hook,” Rojas adds. “Anglers must be prepared and stay collected to avoid jerking the lure away from an attacking bass. For better visibility, I choose brighter colors, especially when fishing thick cover.”

Frog experts also have back-up plans for converting missed strikes. “I keep four rods on deck,” Barrack says. “Three have frogs and the other has a 5-inch Boom Boom tube, a Sweet Beaver, or a Doc Waters Helix Fat Stick worm. In open water, I rig the Helix worm wacky-style with a Reaction Innovations W.W. Wacky hook. In heavy cover, follow up with a tube or Texas-rigged Sweet Beaver with a 3/8- to 3/4-ounce bullet weight.

“Hit the hole where the fish blew up and let the lure drop a couple of feet,” he advises. “Bass often hit it before it gets to the bottom. If nothing happens, I’ll draw the lure up to the top of the canopy and hold it there.”

“If I get a blow-up and the fish misses, I usually cast back to the same spot with a frog and work the bait slower,” Rojas says. “If the fish won’t hit the frog again, I use a tube or a plastic craw to convert.”

Casting Accuracy

In many situations, casting accuracy is important. “At times, bass in weedmats have large strike zones but bigger fish typically react in a small area and don’t chase baits,” Barrack says. “If you hit that spot perfectly on the first cast, you’re almost guaranteed a strike if a fish is there.

“You can convert a bad cast into a good one,” he adds. “If you cast to a perfect little spot but your frog wraps on a tule, don’t tear the bait loose and make another cast. Try to finesse it off the grass so it falls into the water softly. That sort of natural entry is deadly.”

According to Rojas, “Every angler should learn to skip frogs under docks and overhanging limbs. You need to do it accurately the first time.”

Fake frogs have made impacts on tournament trails across the U. S. and Canada by producing big fish from spots where few other lures can be used. With these tips from top frog fishermen, your catch and your excitement level are sure to rise fast.

*Terry Battisti, Idaho Falls, Idaho, is an avid bass angler and has contributed to In-Fisherman and Bass Guide.