iceintheveins

Topwaters usually have to be used in early and morning twigh light and during cloudy weather. They are 10 times more effective then. On bright sunny days topwaters can be useless but not always. My best producing topwaters are poppers, buzzbaits, and frogs. I catch some on prop baits, dog - walkers, and jitterbugs though as well. The most likely topwaters to produce during the day are frogs in heavy cover and sometimes buzzbaits in long expanses of shallow, cover filled water.

They can help you get topwater action on clear days or in extremely clear water with finicky bass.

Mono casts better and has less memory. No matter what line you use you should ALWAYS use a slower action rod made of fiberglass or fiberglass/graphite mixes.

Thick braid is the way to go for regular frogs. In really clear water use a 20 pound clear mono leader. Don't use fluoro as a leader for any topwaters because it sinks.

If I have to go to line stronger than 14 pound test I use braid because you get the strength without extra diameter and you can cast further. I think braid doesn't backlash as bad as mono does. If you get a knot though you are screwed.

I've literally jumped in after a bass but that was after a 3 pounder buried me in weeds with 8 pound test.

I fish my frog pretty slow, does that work with a slow retrieve?

Out of those I picked crawfish even though shad, bluegill, and baby bass work great as well. In darker water firetiger is my go to. For plastics though I love plain old pearl white. Imitates just about any young fish small enough for a bass to swallow. Great in most all water conditions. In clear water with bright sun I like more subtle like bluegill or baby bass.

Black spooks and spook juniors and don't forget black torpedos.

The spro popper walks the dog MUCH easier than the regular frog. I've had more strikes and landed more bass on the regular frog though. I took off 3/4 of an inch of the popper's legs but not the regular frog. I use the bronze eye jr. btw.

I will try the hole trick if the gorilla glue method doesn't work. How does a hole keep it from accumulating water if the hook hole is what causes water to be taken in??? :-?

Pepper Hawgs are my favorite. I also like Nichols Pulsators, terminators, and some strike kings.

I like the spro frogs but they tend to take in some water, so I am putting caulk and gorilla glue over the hook hole and then cutting a small slit in the top as per someone suggested on this forum.

The tungsten jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits allow you to throw a smaller bait farther and in the case of spinnerbaits and jigs, sink deeper. They are good when the bass want a smaller profile.

I have never really had a bad experience from them and they pretty much do have the best selection around. Last time though it took them two days to ship my small order though. I got it in 4 days though with standard shipping. Their shipping is a bit high though.

Both rivers are filled with big smallies. However I would give the Yakima River a try too. It's much smaller and gets less pressure and holds lots of pig bronzies. It's small enough to be wadeable too.

The pointer SP is supposed to suspend.

That's a nice bass!

Pepper Hawg Jig in Green Pumpkin with a black Uncle Josh #11 pork frog. Half ounce jig.

The senko catches better numbers than a jig so that's why I picked it. A jig catches bigger bass for sure on average though.

Anyone tried drilling the hole in the butt of the frog and if so how does it work?

What about silicone caulk instead of Gorilla Glue?

If you were needing to imitate a small shad I would go with a CC rattlin Shad in the 2" size. I also love the #5 shad rap but you need spinning gear and light line to cast it which could cost you around thick cover.

We don't have shad in Western Colorado so I usually imitate bluegill, green sunfish, small bass, or crawfish. My favorite fall crank is a Bomber Model A.

They are good jerkbaits for sure. My favorite.