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How to fish a top water frog |
Your fishing a shallow, weedy, clear water lake or pond that
holds some nice largemouth bass. The weeds are so thick you decide to go to a
topwater frog. Within the first few casts, you get a blowup right in front of
you and miss the hook set. You then again drop the frog right back where the
bass is and he hits it again, but you miss the hook set again. Over the course
of the next two hours you have over a dozen blowups, but you did not manage to
hook one single bass. What is going on ! Why are you missing so many bites ?
Most bass anglers misses are due to setting the hook too early though. Every new
bass angler does the same thing when they first start fishing topwater,
especially frogs. When you see the blow up and want to set the hook immediately,
STOP, You need to resist and wait until you feel the bass pulling your line.
When you see or hear a blow up, drop your rod tip and start to retrieve the
slack line. As soon as you feel a little weight at the other end, set the hook
hard.
Frogs are all about waiting, you can't react to the blowup, just wait for
the pressure from the bass, and then let him have it. Granted, whenever using
frogs while bass fishing there will be a good number of missed assaults.
Remember the bass is tracking the vibrations of the lure moving atop the weed
line, and only seeing it's shadow occasionally. Give the bass time to take in
the frog.
As a successful bass angler you must learn not to react and set on the splash of
the attack, but rather to wait until you feel the fish pulling your line. This
will be hard to do, but once you train yourself to do that, your hookup rate
will go way up.
A heavy action rod with 20 to 30 lb braid line is a start. The braided
line floats and cuts through the vegetation. This seems to give the frog better
action as well. Also get frogs with quality hooks.
A common misconception among many bass anglers is that largemouth bass always
retreat to deeper waters during the summer months.
While this may be partially true, under certain conditions, some of the best
summer bass fishing is often enjoyed by anglers fishing water depths ranging
from just a few inches to a couple of feet.
In most lakes, deep water does yield good summertime bass action, but deep-water
fishing is not the only game available.
To understand why, anglers need to know a few basics about largemouth bass. Most
fish species, including largemouth, seek out certain areas of a lake, river or
stream for specific reasons.
Though not necessarily in any particular order, reasons might include
comfort, cover, or food availability.
Comfort includes water temperature and is certainly one major consideration when
fishing for summertime bass.
When not feeding, predator fish, like largemouth bass, often seek out a certain
comfort zone, which in the warmer weather of summer might include deeper areas
of a lake.
However, it is important to note that largemouth bass are a warm water species
and often forego the comfort of deeper water for easy access to food.
If the majority of the food is to be found in shallow water, you can bet that at
least a few hungry bass can be in the area.
The thermo cline is another important issue regarding the depth of largemouth
bass.
Perhaps the most important summertime consideration is light penetration.
Due to their lack of eyelids, light-sensitive largemouth prefer shaded areas
during the daytime hours, particularly in clearer waters. In dingy or stained
waters, light penetration is often less of an issue. This is why the early
morning, evening, and nighttime hours are among the best fishing times.
However, cloudy days can also be productive times to fish clear water. Murky
waters can yield good daytime fishing most any day.
Top water baits can produce fish virtually anywhere on a lake, river or stream,
but by concentrating efforts in early mornings and late evenings, you generally
generate more success. In most cases, bass caught on top water baits come from
depths of six feet or less. It is impractical to expect a bottom-hugging
largemouth in 20 feet of water to rise for a top water offering.
Usually, shallow water bass will be found very near some protective cover.
Shade is an important consideration for summertime bass fishing. This is why
dense cover like shallow weed beds or lily pads are excellent areas.
These living plants also produce oxygen, a valuable summertime commodity.
Warm-weather largemouth can also be found in areas containing dense brush or
other cover providing shade.
Boat docks and other man-made structures are excellent areas to search
for summertime bass.
Largemouth also have a tendency to gather and feed in large groups or schools
during the summer.
These schools of fish viciously attack concentrations of baitfish in what
appears to be a feeding frenzy. Most schooling situations occur in open water
near old creek channels.
Also, if you own a boat and are familiar with using your electronics, try
getting away from the banks. If you're not comfortable working offshore
structure and cover, there are some things you can do to improve your skills.
For example, you might see a lot of activity at the 10 to 12 foot range
as you cruise the lake.
Most of those fish are likely to be suspended and inactive.
Don't go chasing them. Instead, take out your map and look for points or creek
channels that offer good structure at that same depth. If you can find areas
with good structure at that depth, you're one step closer to finding the bass.
A favorite tools for summertime offshore fishing is a Bomber Fat-Free Shad
crankbait. They come in a variety of sizes and colors to reach almost any depth
and match just about any situation. My favorite color patterns are shad,
chartreuse, citrus shad, and chartreuse with a brown back.
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