FROGS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN’
regardless of the time year, there is one main technique that i use and that is to walk it. i never pull it or swim it. i walk my frogs. it keeps it in the strike zone longer. i may slow down or speed up my cadence when walkin’ it, but i just walk it. When i do alter my cadence, it is because i’m not getting that many bites and i want to try that subtle change to get more. if i miss a blow up, i will also slow some, the same way i would if i missed one with a Spook or popper. You can use a follow-up bait, but i don’t do that a lot. if you’re in a team situation, one guy with a follow- up bait can clean up the missed fish with a five or six- inch, weedless Senko. it is a quick and painless pitch into the spot and it can save that bite, with no big deal. if they’re in that mood, where their radar is off and they are jumpin’ right over the frog and missin’ it, there isn’t a lot you can do. When that happens, i just try not to pull what is left of my hair out and keep on froggin’. i tend to fish a lot of rock – riprap – areas over weed beds and ends of islands. i’ve had the opportunity to go on a shock boat several times and it is just mind blowing how many frogs, crawdads, bluegill, shiners, crappie and other bass food sources that live there in the rock. i don’t always think a frog resembles a frog. it can look like a baby bird, duck – just about anything – even a dragonfly. i’ve found more use for them on our reservoirs too. i’m walkin’ mine in pockets, backs of pockets, weedy areas, willow bushes and open water – just all around the our reservoirs like Berryessa and many of the SoCal waters too. They are a great open water bait for night tournaments also. They are a good, slow, stealthy presentation. if i’m fishin’ the tides, i like the high swing to the outgo, especially when the water first begins to
move out and things just start getting exposed. i really don’t like the incoming tide as it rises.
A RAINBOW OF COLORS
There are a rainbow of colors out there to choose from, when picking your frog. i really don’t get carried away with it. Seventy percent of the time, i throw a white one and the other 30 percent, i throw a black one. almost 100 percent of the time, i throw white on the delta and black on Clear lake. My white one usually has a chartreuse head or nose. in 2003, when i got a top-10 finish on the delta FlW everStart, i was throwin’ a black frog. They just wouldn’t eat the white one. overall, i see the white one better than the other colors. i see it better on the water and also when i am casting. if you’re in a team event where both of you are throwing frogs, never, ever throw the same color.
BELLS & WHISTLES
For me, i don’t do much of those jingle bell deals to customize my frogs – no bells, no balls, no rattles, no lights. i’m sure it all works, but i just don’t put rims and a lift kit on my frog. it is not for me. i figure they’re going to eat it and i’m going to cash a check or they’re not and i’m going to beat my head on the steering wheel all the way home. it is just part of frog fishing. like i said, live by it or die by it.
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