Bass are at various stages of the spawn around the country this time of year, but just about everywhere they swim has a few things in common right now. For one, there are likely some fish in shallow water. For another, water temperatures are on the rise.
It's a time when many anglers' fancy turns to topwater baits. And for pure fun and adrenalin, there aren't many surface offerings that can outperform a frog.
With that in mind, BassFan asked Arizona Bassmaster Elite Series angler and renowned frog wizard Dean Rojas for a primer on throwing his favorite bait.
Have No Fear
Real-life frogs don't spend much time in open water – they hang out around vegetation of one type or another. Therefore, imitation frogs need to make contact with plant life to be effective in most circumstances.
Rojas said anglers should be ready and willing to throw the bait anywhere that looks fishy.
"Don't be afraid to get it hung up," he said. "They're designed to be weedless, so don't hesitate to throw it under a dock or into a pocket between some trees. It can be very difficult to fish crankbaits and certain types of topwaters in those situations, but a frog stays on the surface where you can watch it."
Another key element is experimentation. Mastering the various ways of working a frog until you find the mode that the fish prefer comes only through experience.
"A lot of the action of the bait is dictated by the mood of the fish and the water temperature. Play around with pausing it, working it in a walking method and making it chug out of the area in a hurry. The fish will tell you how they want the bait."
Judge their Reactions
Rojas said there are three basic ways in which a bass will strike a frog. If they're just slurping it off the surface or slapping it around without inhaling it, they don't really want it all that badly. But the beauty of the frog is that throwing it can still be entertaining under those conditions.
"If you're in a tournament, my advice would be not to throw it at those times," he said. "Go and get a limit doing something else. But if you're just out fun-fishing, then it really doesn't matter.
"You can get your heart broken when they're just ping-ponging it around, because you're thinking how great it would be if you could just get one of them to eat it. It's almost like an addiction and you can't wait for the next bite."
But if they're hitting it in the traditional explosive manner associated with topwater baits, then the game's on.
"When I see that, I know I need to concentrate and keep throwing it. I know the bites will come."
Rojas designed the Bronzeye frog for Spro, and he's made a good deal of money throwing it.
The Gear Factor
Rojas said the ideal frog rod is at least 6 1/2 feet long (his signature series model made by Quantum is 7 feet), with a lot of backbone and a fast tip. The tip allows him to work the bait efficiently in a variety of ways, and the backbone pays dividends when a fish strikes.
"For reels, don't use one with a 5:1 ratio," he said. "A 6.3:1 will do the job, but a 7:1 is better.
"The reason for that is when you actually do get a strike, the fish is going to be on the surface and will immediately start jumping and heading toward you. With a 7:1, you can keep up with them and bring in enough line to keep pressure on them.
"The second part is you're usually only fishing the first 5 to 10 feet of your cast, and with the faster reel, you can get the bait in faster and make another cast. That results in more casts throughout the day."
He likes to use 65-pound braided line, but said that 50-pound is sufficient most of the time.
"If you go any heavier than 65, then you get into a thicker diameter and you can't put as much line on the spool. It becomes a little more cumbersome."
No Need to Hurry
Rojas' final piece of advice for fishing a frog is to avoid rushing things.
"You don't want to water-ski the bait," he said. "Don't get in a hurry to move it out unless the fish want it that way. Give it a couple twitches and a pause, and a couple twitches and a pause, and slow it down a little anytime you get to a piece of cover.
"One thing I like to do is bring it up on a mat real fast, then jump it off and let it sit there. You want to give the fish a chance to take it."
