Fishing with Frogs

It occurred to me that we've talked about frying frogs and catching frogs, but we haven't talked about my favorite use of frogs, well fake frogs anyway; using them to catch big bucket mouth bass.  You know... the kind of largemouth bass that when he opens his mouth it looks like a bucket you put fried chicken in!  I've asked around about using frogs and people either love them or hate them.  When I find someone who hates them I ask why and the response is usually, "Because I don't know how to fish them."  Soooooooo.... I present some frog fishing tips to our readers.
1.  You can retrieve the frog in two ways.  You can burn in across the water back to you.  This works well with heavy frogs like Rage Tails.  The idea is to throw up a lot of water like a buzz bait.  The second way is to retrieve it a little and then let it fall.  If you are using a heavy frog it will slowly sink on it's own.  If the frog is light, simply Texas rig it.
2.  Don't be afraid to throw it into cover.   When the frog is rigged as in the above picture it is virtually weed proof.  Just bury the tip of the hook into the "flesh" on the back of the frog.  Throw it into lily pads or heavy grass.  When fishing in "junk"  mimic real frogs.  Bring it up and let it fall into the grass.  Hop it onto the pads and let it sit a few seconds then jerk it into the water and let it fall just like a real frog.
3.  When retrieving the frog, don't give up on it once it's out of the "junk."  Often times a bass will follow it out into the open and hit it.
4.  When the bass does hit the frog DO NOT set the hook immediately.  Often times the bass will "hit" the frog in an attempt to stun it and then will come back on the fall.  So when you feel the bump, drop your rod tip and wait for the real bump.  Of course if the line starts to move to one side or the other set the hook.
5.  Frogs come in all kinds of cover.  I tend to stay with the colors that look natural.   You may have other preferences and that's why they sell so many colors. 
6.  If you prefer to use frogs with skirts instead of legs, use a frog with two "leg" skirts.  It has a more natural look.  I'm a firm believer in "natural" looking lures and baits.  Sure you might get a reaction strike from an unusual looking lure, but those aren't very predictable. 
7.  Don't give up if you haven't had a strike within the first couple of casts.  You might be where there just aren't any fish.  Stick with it.
8.  I fish frogs in the late afternoon.  I start using them in July and will use them well into October.  I'm no scientist or a fish, but when I hear the frogs start chirping and croaking I go to my artificial frogs because I swear I think the bass can hear the real frogs cutting up.
Hope this helps.  Now get out there and catch a bucket mouth!
- JD