BooyahMan

Booyah all the way, especially the junior size when the weeds aren't too thick as I almost always nail them with the smaller size. In fact, my two biggest bass have come on a Pad Crasher Jr. I don't mind the Koppers Live Target either but I have much more confidence in a Pad Crasher. Yours wasn't the only one. A friend of mine bought one and his sinks about halfway through his retrieve.

Too good haha. The only beds I've been able to spot are Pumpkinseed beds.

For what it's worth, I work in a fishing department and for the customers that are willing to move away from the local popular brands, a lot of them praise P-Line.

Booyah Pad Crasher. Rarely lets me down and those blow ups are the reason I love bass fishing so much.

Thanks for the responses guys. The lake in question definitely has bass and I definitely have been catching them on hollow-bodies, but never when there was a real frog in the area. I guess my question is, if there are some live frogs that have set up shop in a particular spot on a lake, is it safe to assume this particular location would have a lousy frog bite? What's interesting is that I have seen bass blow up on stuff in the pads but I've never personally seen a frog getting eaten. Many times if they get a glimpse of my lure they'll make a beeline for it with reckless abandon. Oh, and yes I have hooked bull frogs before; never landed one though. I know a few locals that sometimes target them for fun with surface lures.

Hey guys, I was wondering if seeing real frogs in an area is a bad sign for the frogging bite? Every time I find a frog chasing my frog, I never get any fish out of that spot. I figured that if there were some big bass in the area a lot of the amphibians wouldn't have been able to set up shop there? Anybody else find this or is this a far-fetched theory at best?

I feel incredibly lucky to live in a place where I can bass fish and not have to worry about things like snakes. Must get the heart pumping!

I accidentally beaned a turtle on the head with my frog last week. Needless to say it didn't come back. I've never had a problem with turtles chasing hollow bodies, but real frogs and ducks...that's another story. Had a big ol' bullfrog inhale my frog and I thought I had hooked (and lost) a good sized bass. Put the hollow body back into the same spot and Mr. Bullfrog suddenly appeared.

If this is true, it would explain my situation perfectly. Carp surfacing everywhere in the lily pads and on the weed edges, and the bigger bass just seemed to have disappeared for us bank anglers. The frog bite in the pads has been terrible these last two weeks, and all I see are splashes and wakes made by the carp.

Do you guys get any summer run Steelhead? There are a couple of rivers near me that get summer runs and thus we can basically target Steel all year long in these systems.

Definitely agree with that. I was using a 5' ultralight early in the season when not expecting anything to really happen and hooked 3 bass all in the 14-15 inch range on a rooster tail. They bent the rod tip right down to the cork, and one even managed to pull me under the dock. Way more fun than catching those same fish on my heavy action frogging setup.

I think the answer is quite area dependent. The bass down south grow faster than the ones up here and thus we rarely ever see a fish over 8lbs, with anything 4lbs and up being considered a trophy and definitely not a common occurrence. Personally, I consider dinks to be anything 12 inches or less, but that's only because I rarely catch a frog fish smaller than that (huge fan of frog fishing here!). Once I get into the 14-15 inch range it gets dependent on girth; a fat 15 incher is a good fish in my books. Once we get up into the 20 inch and over range, then we're talking. Then again, the guys down south would be laughing at these standards, so it really depends.

There's nothing like catching a PB bass, especially one so much bigger than anything you've caught in the past. Congrats dude! May there by many more to come. Also, maybe I'm blind but I don't see a measurement in your original post. Did you get a measurement on the fish?

First off, just wanted to say you have an awesome username and profile pic, OP! Second, it's really sad how some people have absolutely no regard for wildlife. I don't know if fishermen really are great examples of good stewards for wildlife either (driving hooks into fish's mouths and such) but the blatant disrespect for life in the OP is absolutely sickening. It's one thing to just not know as with many beginner fishers that drag fish up onto beaches or mishandle fish, but it's completely different purposely injuring fish to the point of death just for amusement. And yeah, kids will be kids but they have to learn what's right and what's wrong, and obviously their father isn't being a very good role model.

Don't worry, that kind of mentality exists everywhere. Where I live the vast majority of anglers HATE Bass since they are considered an invasive species, and it is always "chuck it in the bushes" or "more fertilizer!". People like what they like, and if they don't enjoy the same things as you then that just means more for you! I have yet to catch a carp. I would love to but I don't have the patience to sit and wait.

Sounds like a fantastic day! I'm glad you took the time to step back and remember what this sport is about. A great day on the water with people that matter to you is much better than getting a PB any day.

I don't blame you for switching over to the UL and looking for other fish. I'll do that as well if I feel like it's really going to be quiet as I know the sunfish will always bite. At least you found another method for connecting with the bass though! I actually just recently bought a couple of beetle spins and looks like I need to give it a shot as I keep hearing great things about it. I will say this though; the longer you go without catching a good fish, the sweeter it feels when you finally do get one. I often go 4-5+ hours with nothing to show for it as I usually stick to the method that I like fishing best. Someone else might catch more fish in the same area using a different technique but when I finally get one man does it feel good.

ugh, and this is why I dislike popular fisheries and stay away from them these days. Your story reminded me of our popular local Sockeye harvest. Shoulder to shoulder, fist fights, lots of profanity....actually, it isn't that bad most of the time but there are always a couple of bad apples that ruin it for everyone. These people are so blind-sided by the idea of catching a trophy fish that they'll go overboard. Being at least a little courteous and accommodating can go a long way.

Probably a better technique to use at this point in time where I am but I'm having a lot of fun with frogs. Sometimes I have to work them a bit but I've been getting action on them since March.

Here's one from my most recent trip to Bass land:

I've always wanted to go Steelheading in Washington and Oregon; I've heard fantastic stories about the runs you guys get down there. Regarding this season, it actually wasn't bad at all and much better than our season which was incredibly dismal. I was just complaining early on because we couldn't stick our fish long enough to land them.

Yes sir.

SWEET fish! I would have been yelling like crazy too if I had just broke my PB. Good stuff man!

Little bit of trivia: This sentence seemed redundant to me at first glance because here we call them Springs instead of Kings. On occasion you'll hear "Chinook" as well but most of the time it's Red Spring/White Spring. Or if you're in the ocean and it's a specimen over 40lbs, they call them Tyees.

I work in a fishing department and I have never seen a reel come back like that. You must have one heck of a strong reeling arm! Please do update us if you figure out what the issue is!