The explosion of a big bass hitting a topwater frog is an unforgettable fishing experience. It’s a display of raw power and aggression from a top freshwater predator. While it feels miraculous, it’s entirely possible on good bass waters. That’s why frog fishing for bass is a favorite summer tactic.
To consistently catch bass on frogs, understanding frog styles, tackle, and bass feeding habits is key. This guide covers everything you need to know, including pro tips and tactics.
Hooking and Landing Bass on a Frog
Getting a bass to strike a frog is just the first step. Many strikes are missed. Matching the fish’s speed and power is partly true, but patience is crucial. Understanding how bass eat is the real secret. —Alex Robinson
1. The Ambush
Bass are ambush predators and generalists, not exclusively frog hunters (see: what do bass eat). They wait for any vulnerable prey. They detect your frog’s vibrations through their lateral line before seeing it. A strike can be sudden, or a big bass might flick lily pads with its tail as it approaches – a warning sign.
2. The Eat
Bass create suction by dropping their jaw and flaring their gills. Even a glancing blow can pull the frog into their mouth. Strikes vary, but the worst is when a bass hits but doesn’t eat the lure. Don’t swing! Let it sit, twitching, like injured prey. The bass might return.
3. The Turn
Bass prefer to eat headfirst. If you’re lucky, they’ll engulf the whole frog. Often, they’ll grab the head and reposition it while turning back to cover. Bass can move 5 feet per second. Human reaction time is about a quarter second. They’re faster than you, so setting the hook immediately will result in a miss.
4. The Hook Set
Give the bass time to reposition the frog so the hooks can set. This is hardest for beginners. Wait a full “one Mississippi” after the strike. Then, maintain pressure, reel hard, and lift the rod tip high to pull them out of cover. Missed swings happen, but they build anticipation for the next strike.
Choosing the Right Frog Bait Style and Color
Don’t just throw any frog into the weeds and hope for the best. Selecting the right frog for the conditions is crucial for consistently hooking big bass. Here’s a breakdown of the top frog styles and where to fish them. —Kristine Fischer
Hollow-Bodied Frog
The hollow-bodied frog is the standard. It has a pointed nose and hollow body for buoyancy, and usually rubber strands for legs.
The pointed nose helps it move through heavy cover like lily pads, brush, and vegetation. It also works great on matted grass in deep or shallow water.
READ NEXT: Best Frog Lures
Poppin’ Frog
Poppin’ frogs have a hollow body with a Pop’R or “scoop” mouth to create surface commotion. They walk well and mimic baitfish and frogs.
These don’t handle heavy vegetation as well as pointed-nose frogs. However, they move water and make noise, perfect for open water, rip rap, docks, and laydowns.
Swimming Frog
Swimming frogs have hollow or solid plastic bodies and are retrieved quickly. Some have paddle tails or mobile legs for action across water or sparse vegetation.
Fish them like finesse buzz baits, making less commotion but fished the same way. This frog excels when covering water without snagging. Being weedless, it can go over grass, pads, and through lay-downs.
Frog Bait Colors
Many believe frogs should look like actual frogs. However, bass often eat bream, shad, and other baitfish, so matching the hatch matters. You can usually get by with white, black, and a bluegill color.
- White Frog: Use when bass are targeting shad, or on cloudy, low-visibility days.
- Black Frog: Use in muddy water for a defined silhouette.
- Bluegill-Colored Frog: Use when fish are feeding on bream, around bream beds, or when the water is clear.
Recommended Frogs
[List of great frog products]
Tackle for Frog Fishing
You don’t need expensive gear to catch bass on a frog. You need a rod that’s long enough to cast far, powerful enough to haul bass out of weeds, and stiff enough to drive hooks. A 7- to 8-foot rod with heavy to extra-heavy power and fast action is ideal. A medium-heavy baitcasting combo can work for smaller frogs like the Jackal Kaera or Deps Slither K.
Frog Rods
While drop shot fishing requires a smooth drag and a delicate reel, frog fishing demands a reel that can withstand mud, silt, and constant pressure. A fast gear ratio is also necessary to quickly take up slack after a strike and to retrieve the frog quickly after it leaves productive water.
If you’re on a budget, invest more in the reel than the rod. The Daiwa Tatula and Shimano SLX are great options under $200. For casting frogs accurately across pad fields, consider the Curado DC.
Frog Reels
For line, use heavy braid that can cut through vegetation. 80-pound Power Pro Maxcuatro is a good choice, tied directly to the frog with a palomar knot. A 65-pound option works if you’re worried about line capacity. — Scott Einsmann, gear editor
READ NEXT: Best Frog Rods
Frog Fishing for Bass: Tips and Hacks
- Boil your frog: Soften the frog’s plastic body by placing it in boiling water for a few seconds to improve hook penetration.
- Add a rattle: Insert aftermarket rattles for extra noise in open water.
- Add tungsten or lead bullet weight: Helps the frog settle into thick mats.
- Trim the legs: Thin the strands of the legs without removing too much length to reduce drag and improve the frog’s walking action. —Kristine Fischer
Use Heavy Line
When fishing hollow-body frogs in heavy cover like lily pads or weed mats, fluorocarbon leaders are unnecessary. Fish react to the sound and movement, not the line. You want a direct connection to set the hooks forcefully and quickly pull the fish out of vegetation. A leader creates a weak point.
Read Next: A Guide to Largemouth Bass vs Smallmouth Bass
Use 40- or 50-pound braid and a rod with extra backbone. Tie hollow-body frogs with a Palomar knot. Avoid clinch knots with braid as they tend to slip.
Tweak Your Hooks
Adjust the hook points. They should be angled up, even with the bait’s back, so they expose quickly when the frog compresses. Use pliers to bend the hook shank downward away from the body, raising the hook points. Avoid extending points over the back, which reduces weedlessness. —Joe Cermele
Frog Fishing Tips from Ish Monroe
Major League Fishing’s Ish Monroe is a frog fishing expert with nine majors and 51 top 10s. He shares his insights:
Outdoor Life: Is it best to keep frogs moving or let it sit? How do I know which to do?
Ish Monroe: Let the fish dictate. If they don’t respond to movement, stop and pause. Experiment to find what they want.
OL: Do you set the hook differently when fishing frogs as opposed to other lures?
IM: Set the hook at 1 o’clock or 11 o’clock; never swing to 3 o’clock or downward for a top-of-the-mouth hookset.
OL: Where should I fish frog baits to catch bass?
IM: Frogs work everywhere, from the shallows of the Sabine River to the depths of Lake Mead. Fish around any structure – grass, wood, rock, docks, overhanging trees – as long as they can see it. In vegetation, look for points, cuts, pockets, and irregularities near deeper water.
The frog is versatile. Learn to “walk the frog.” It’s subtle in open water, unlike louder topwater baits. Use it along open shorelines, riprap along causeways during pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn when fish are near hard bottom and forage.
OL: What’s the best time to fish a frog bait for bass?
IM: Anytime the water temperature is consistently 56 degrees or more. It can be overcast or sunny, morning, noon, or night – they will eat a frog. Avoid cold or windy conditions when you can’t see the frog. If the wind is blowing and waves are rolling, they can’t home in on it. But if it’s calm or there’s just a little ripple, they can see it and will come eat it.
OL: Do you ever use scents with frogs?
IM: No scents at all. I might use worm rattles inside the legs; I’ve even used cat bells for noise, but no scents.
OL: What size frog bait should I use and when?
IM: I make the Ish Monroe River2Sea Phat Mat Daddy frog in one size because it’s the only size you need. During Stage 3 of the Bass Pro Tour in March, when I caught eight scorable bass for 34 pounds on day one, it was all with the frog. Great day on Lake Fork, even though it was pre-spawn, there was lots of cover.
Final Thoughts on Catching Bass with a Frog
Frog fishing is fun and effective for catching big bass. Remember to use a stiff rod and heavy line. Allow a bass a second to get the frog in their mouth before setting the hook. Bass are ambush feeders, so look for irregularities in thick vegetation where they might be waiting to strike.
