Summer 2023
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When fishing in the pads I will use a standard (SPRO Bronzeye 65 Frog). This frog has a pointed nose and will come through the cover and pads with ease allowing you to not get hung up as you are fishing spooking bass along the way.
When it comes to edges, outside of the pads I will use a popping frog (SPRO Popping Frog). This bait will not come through pads clean, but excels when targeting and fishing edges of the cover. It acts and fishes just like a treble topwater popper, but it is snag free allowing you to target open areas in the pads and edges of the cover. Yes, I can throw a Bronzeye 65 in these places, but I will not trigger as many bites as I can with the popping frog because of the calling power of the Bronzeye Popper.
There are many more frogs these days so take your time to try a few different options and stock a few different sizes to give the bass different looks at the same time.
For a long-time frogs have been thought of as baits to only use when we get to the depths of the summer months. This really is not true. I myself have a popping frog rigged and ready to use opening day early in the season. As the bass start to make movements towards the shallows getting ready to find a partner and spawn, bass cannot stand a frog above their heads and will not hesitate to take
a swipe at this bait. Use it to your advantage and let them show you where they are at.
FROG LINE CHOICES
When it comes to line braided is the only way to go when fishing a frog today, but I have a few different thoughts on what line to use. If you asked that question to Dean he would say hands down 65-lb Sunline FX-2.
My thoughts are in the pads I can get by with 50-lb Sunline FX-2 braid but on the rod that I fish the edge of the pads with I will use 30-lb Sunline Asegai braid. Asegai is easier to cast and is not as stiff as FX-2. This gives my bait more action and I feel when fishing in open water conditions I can trigger more bites. My suggestion to you is give both options a try and come to your own conclusions as to what you choose.
I hope these frog tweaks will give you a few new ideas to try this season. Yes, you can just tie on a frog right out of the package and catch bass, but if you want to take your frog fishing to the next level take some of the tweaks that we laid out here and give them a try. There is a good chance you will see your frog catch rates go up and catch bigger bass during the process. Have a great fishing season. •
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