AFC#4 Explosive Frog Fishing | african-fisherman

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Explosive Frog Fishing!

Compiled by Mohomed Ali

There is nothing more exhilarating than watching a bass muscle its way through a thick mat of weed to attack a lure. Explosive takes, aerial displays and the fight which ensues. Frogs make up a component of bass’ diet, and artificial frogs have been around for a long time. Today however, they are becoming more popular with anglers, and at this time of year as water creeps in to flood virgin shorelines, and aquatic vegetation flourishes, little can compete with the frog as an all-round surface bait. Tackle, rigging and technique though, need some special consideration.

I will discuss the tackle side of things, as to become more prolific at landing bass on a frog requires specific tackle to adequately deal with the terrain and size of fish you will be catching.

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The Rod

The first thing you will need to look at is a technic specific frogging rod and there are a number of decent frogging rods on the market today. Now I am not saying that you will not catch fish on a frog with a general purpose rod, but having the right tools for the job will make you more successful. My recommendation is to get a rod which is at least 7' or longer. I personally prefer a 7'3". The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, the longer rod will enable you to make the longer casts often required when frog fishing and secondly, but more importantly, a longer rod will give you the required leverage to set the hook at distance and immediately put pressure on the fish to get it coming towards the boat as one is usually fishing a frog in the thickest of cover.

The second thing to consider when choosing a rod for frogging is the rating. Again, due to the type of cover one is normally fishing, you would need to get a rod which has sufficient back bone to haul those piggies out of the grass and structure. My recommendation is to get a "medium heavy" or "heavy" rated rod, depending on what feels comfortable in your hand. I prefer a rod with a 70/30 split. What this means is 70% back bone with 30% tip action so only the top 30% of the rod flexes. The reason I prefer a rod with a bit of tip action is again twofold.

Firstly the tip action will allow you to cast more accurately and secondly allow you to impart the correct action to your lure while also allowing for a bit of give when the fish swallows your bait. Another important thing to consider is the action. If you pick a fast action rod, you may find that you miss a lot of strikes. I prefer a medium action rod as it loads up slower than a fast action rod, which is important when striking. When the fish hits, the ideal is obviously to pause for a split second and feel the weight of the fish before striking, but I can assure you that when a big fish explodes on your frog, the excitement is such that you will rarely realise that you have to pause for a second before striking. So every bit of help you can get from your tackle to give the fish sufficient chance to inhale the bait before striking is a bonus.

Lastly the rod must be as light as possible, as fishing with a heavy rod will tire you out quickly and you will end up with sore wrists within the first hour. So buy the best that you can afford.

The Reel

The next important thing to consider is the reel. Here I will keep it simple. Basically you want a high speed reel with a decent drag and good torque, which unfortunately is a contradiction in most models. Generally the higher the speed of the reel the less torque or pulling power it possesses. That's why good cranking reels are usually the slowest ratio reels around. I prefer a high speed reel to quickly turn the fish and get it out of the cover before it has a chance to bury itself, otherwise the chances of landing it are reduced.

So ideally you want something along the lines of a 6.3 ratio reel and upwards. I personally prefer the Abu Garcia Revo stx in a 7.1 ratio which is one of the few reels I have used to date that has enough power to pull a big fish from cover whilst still maintaining a high retrieve ratio. A good way to test a reel’s drag and torque capabilities is to tighten the drag to about 70%and then strip line from it whilst the drag is engaged. If the reel lets out line immediately and smoothly without stuttering or locking up, then chances are it has a decent drag. You definitely don’t want a reel which locks up or stutters as this could cause you to snap your line or even your rod (if fishing with braid).

The Line

Lastly - line choice. All the best frog anglers I know fish frogs with braided line and with good reason. The first being its incredible strength per diameter and ability to cut through vegetation. The second reason I prefer braid is because the majority of frogging I do is on the surface and whilst you do get braids which sink, the majority of braids float allowing baits to ride high up on the surface which allows floating frogs to impart the correct action. However fishing with braid especially with a baitcaster can be very tricky and with the price of braids these days, getting an overwind is enough to put one off braids completely. So here are the important things to consider

Mohomed Ali with his 11.18lb bass, caught at Darwendale on a Zoom frog in the late afternoon.

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Mohomed Ali with his 11.18lb bass, caught at Darwendale on a Zoom frog in the late afternoon.

Line Profile

The first thing to avoid when buying braid for a baitcaster is the braids which are like dental floss or have a wax coating. These are fine for spinning reels but a definite no-no for baitcasters as they will definitely dig in and cause you overwinds or lock up when casting. What you need is a braid with a rounded profile and not the flat or ribbon type.

The second thing is to ensure you get a braid which is rated at 50lbs or higher. Yip I know 50lbs seems excessive and some guys even fish 65lbs or more. But again there is good reason for this and the first is diameter. Because braids are usually very thin for their strength, using a smaller diameter braid than 50lb will cause the line to dig into your reel when retrieving under pressure causing overwinds. I find the 50lbs rating gives me the right balance and has a decent enough diameter to still get distance when while not digging into itself when retrieving under.

Lastly, when spooling braid onto your reel, wind the line on with the maximum tension that you can apply, this will further assist in eliminating the line from digging into itself and causing overwinds or getting stuck when casting. As for colour I prefer the dark greens as they mimic the vegetation and is less likely to spook the fish.

Again, these are merely guidelines and things that work for me. At the end of the day the most important thing is to fish with what you are most comfortable with and gives you the most confidence.

The Baits

Now for the business end. Due to the fact that I am writing this article mostly for the novice angler I will concentrate on the two major or most common types of frogs used today and the most popular brands.

The first type is the Zoom Horny Toad. This is a soft plastic frog which is rigged similar to a normal plastic worm using a special frog hook which is normally a 5/0 hook with a small spring attached to the eye.

The nose of the frog is screwed onto the spring and the hook is then threaded through the frog just before the split between the legs and skin hooked just like a normal worm to make it weedless. Generally these baits do not float when cast out or left still, although there are makes available which offer a floating version.

These frogs are generally designed to be cast out and retrieved at a constant speed to keep it buzzing across the surface, but they are very versatile and can be retrieved in a number of different ways, which I will cover in more detail in Part 3 of this article. They come in a number of different colours and I’m sure all will catch bass at some point. The key here is again to be comfortable and confident with the colour you have chosen. I personally just stick to three or four basic colours to cover the various water conditions, and it goes like this:

· Watermelon Red=Clear water and bright conditions

· Green Pumpkin=Stained and clear water

· Junebug=Dirty water or overcast conditions

· Black=Muddy/dirty water and during low light conditions

The second, and my favorite type of frog, is the Spro Bronzeye Frog which are floating versions with a double V shaped hook running through the body and the recently released Spro Bronzeye Popping frog.

Again there are various different brands of this type of frog and they also come in a number of different colours. My personal favourites are as follows:

· Natural Green=Clear and bright conditions

· Natural Red=Good all round colour and my favourite

· Rainforest Black=Overcast and dirty or muddy conditions.

There are three main sizes consisting of the “Bronzeye Jr” (small), the “Frog 65” medium and the “King Daddy” which is the largest of the three and designed to catch monster size bass. There is no special rigging required for these and they can be tied directly to the line. I normally tie mine using a Palomar knot with 50lb braid and have never had any breakages unless it was due to my own wrong doing.

Just like the Horny Toad, this is an extremely versatile bait and can also be retrieved in a number of different ways. The most common but most difficult to master of the retrieves is the ““walk the dog”” action. I will cover the different types of retrieves later when discussing the tactics and areas I fish.

The popping frog is designed to cause more disturbance making the bait splash around and spit water forward when jerked. This is an excellent bait when there is a chop on the water or when the fish are aggressive. It will often entice fish from a long way and also very useful when fishing in low light and muddy conditions. I also prefer using it when fishing in very thick cover as it allows me to create enough disturbances to entice a big bass lurking beneath the thick stuff.

How?

Ok, so now that we know where and when, the big question is how? Earlier in the article I mentioned the two different types of frogs, so now I will cover their different applications.

Whenever I intend to fish a frog, I always have two rods, unless I know what the fish prefer. The first rod consists of 50lb braid and the Spro hollow bodied-type frog. The second rod, I fish with 20 to 25lb Flouro Carbon and the Horny Toad solid, soft plastic-type frog. By having the two different set ups, I can easily cover the area with different techniques until I find what the fish want.

I normally start with the Spro and start off with a twitch-twitch-pause retrieve. If that does not do anything then I will employ the walk the dog action, which does take some practise and modification to the bait which I will discuss in the tips section. Lastly, I will cast it out and fish it as slowly as my patience will allow, slowly crawling it over the cover and allowing it to sit still, for up to a minute sometimes, and then give it a slight twitch and then repeat the process.

If that does not work, I will then switch over to the next rod with the Horny Toad and start off by buzzing it across the surface, but as soon as it reaches the end of a grass line or a gap or hole in the vegetation, I will allow it to sink to the bottom, and this is usually when I will get a strike if the bass are not committing to the surface. Hence the reason I prefer to fish this type of frog on Flouro rather than braid.

Lastly, another technique I use a lot, especially when fishing very shallow, is to cast the bait out, right over the area I wish to fish, onto the bank. You will not believe how many bass - and sometimes big bass - position themselves right up against the bank, especially if there is an overhanging branch of some sort from a tree or bush. I will then slowly retrieve the bait until it plops softly and naturally into the water, so as not to spook the fish by casting it on top of their heads chasing any fish in the vicinity away. I have caught a number of bass in this manner, as the bass usually attack the bait as soon as it enters the water.

Tips

Finally, in conclusion I will briefly discuss some of the modifications I make to my baits, which allows me to get the best action out of them for specific situations. The key is not to be afraid to experiment.

One of the things I do when fishing a Horny Toad, especially when I want it to sink into the holes, is to use a bullet sinker in front of the frog, the same as you would a Texas rigged creature bait. This allows me to get the bait down quickly and elicit reaction strikes from the bass, when fishing the holes or edges of the grass lines. The size of weight will depend on how thick the cover I’m fishing is, or how deep the water is.

When?

The best thing about fishing frogs is that you can fish them at any time of the day. The general perception is that one must fish them during the low light hours, i.e. early morning or late afternoon. This is normally a more productive time to catch bass on a frog but most certainly not the only time to throw one. In fact, I have had some of my best fishing during the midday hours, and the recent Small Bass Boat Challenge competition is a testament to that. Another time I prefer to throw a frog is on cloudy overcast days, and in my experience, on days like these you can catch them almost throughout the whole day, making it my most favourite of conditions. However when the conditions are sunny then I prefer a bit of a breeze. The least productive for me has always been hot sunny cloudless days with no wind during the summer months.

Cool, so now that you have broken up the structure into a more manageable size, the next step is to start actually looking at the structure and start dissecting it by identifying any changes in that piece of structure, no matter how small. If you force yourself to adopt this thinking, you will start to notice certain things about the piece of structure or grass/weeds/structure you are targeting. And suddenly, things like grass lines, holes, isolated patches, reed points, mixed vegetation, sheltered areas etc, (to name a few) will start to appear. And the structure that looked all the same at first now looks like a mine field of specific targets at which to cast. To attached illustration demonstrates this.

The next and most important step is before casting out at the farthest structure, target the areas closest to the boat first, with multiple accurate casts and different retrieves. In this way you will spook less fish and give yourself the maximum opportunity to target any fish in the area.

So the first skill to master is not to rush in and just start casting blindly. Which is easier said than done, especially when there is grass or weeds everywhere. The important thing to bear in mind is that bass are ambush predators and will position themselves accordingly. The second thing you need to learn is to break up the area you are fishing into smaller areas, even if it all looks the same at first, try to look for markers on the bank or on the structure itself, which will enable you to concentrate or target the structure more systematically. A technique I use quite often is what I like to call a “10 to 2” approach, which is simply to imagine a giant clock in front of you and the area you want to concentrate on is only the area between 10 and 2 on the clock face. Ignore everything else around you until you have finished fishing that area. The only time I do not do this, is if there is visible surface activity, where bass can be seen chasing bait fish on the surface. In that case I will cast out towards the area where the feeding is taking place.

Tips and Tactics

Now that the basics are out of the way, and you have hopefully got the required tackle and baits, the big question is what do we do with them? Unfortunately this is also the tricky bit, as there is no quick answer. Like any other facet of bass angling, one has to experiment until you find what is suitable for your individual style of fishing.

So in this part I will share with you my approach and what works for me. Again to simplify matters I will break it down into three steps and keep it as simple as possible.

Where?

Firstly, one must dispel any notions that frogs should only be fished in and around vegetation of some sort. They can be fished anywhere, whether it be open water, jetties, timber, rock piles, etc. Basically anywhere you would normally throw a top water lure; you can throw a frog with the added bonus of not getting snagged up, due to the weedless nature of the bait.

For the purpose of this article, and due to the type of dams or ponds we normally fish, which are usually overgrown with vegetation, I will concentrate on how to target these areas. The first piece of advice I can offer you, and a common mistake I see most anglers making when they first approach an area, is to blindly cast out in any direction in front of them, as far as possible and simply retrieve the bait back to the boat or bank, paying no attention to the structure at all. This tactic does sometimes work, but if there are fish in the area, you may end up spooking the majority of them and end up with nothing to show for your efforts. This usually followed by the complaint, “There are no fish here” or “the fish are not biting today.”

Adam Hassim's bass weighing +/-6.5lb, +/-8.5lb from Suji on a top water stick bait in the late morning.

When it comes to the Spro, one of the modifications you can do to make the bait ‘walk’ better is to trim the silicone skirt shorter on one or both sides. Something else I like to do, especially when fishing in dirty or muddy water or very thick vegetation, is add glass rattles into the body cavity of the Spro Frog. I feel that the added vibration and noise it creates, helps the bass to track down the bait more accurately and even calls bass from further away. Lastly, if I am fishing rough water on a very windy day, I like to fill the body cavity with foam - the kind the sea fisherman use. I cut them into thin strips and fill as many as I can. This allows my bait to continue riding high on the surface and also stops it flooding with water too often, so I can make multiple casts before having to squeeze the water out.

This concludes my article on Froggin’ My Way. I hope it was informative and useful. May you have many exciting hours of explosive strikes and catch lots of monster bass. This is for me, the most exciting way to catch bass and definitely my favourite technique. Tight lines.

Zardeen Wazir and a 7.4lb bass caught early afternoon at Suji dam using a Zoom frog

Nazir Ghumra and his brace of 12lb and 12.6lb bass taken on a provate dam. These took a Zoom Junebug SuperFluke which is quite bulky. Don't be afraid to throw a big bait!

Mahomed Ali with a +/-4.5lb bass. Osborne Dam while moored on the big rock away from wind.

Explosive Frog Fishing!

Adam Hassim's bass weighing +/-6.5lb, +/-8.5lb from Suji on a top water stick bait in the late morning.