This year I've been forcing myself to work on new presentations every time I go out.  I started at dawn two days ago at a spot with a grass growing in the water along the shore, then a two to four foot wide section of nearly clear water and then a long stretch of hydrilla.  It basically created a clear channel between the hydrilla and the grass.  I started throwing a Zara Spook and was have good success so I forced myself to stop using it and I tried a frog for only the second time in my life.  I had no luck the first time but I didn't try very long.  This time I ended up catching my first bass on a frog!  Now I see what all the fuss is about!  Man, that is some fun!

 

I was throwing a Booyah Pad Crasher onto the shore.  Jumping it through the vegetation and into the water.  Then swim/pause/swim/pause across the "open channel" and into the hydrilla.  I got all my hits before the hydrilla with most of them in the middle of the channel, which surprised me.  Here are some questions:  I get hopping the frog on vegetation, but is there something to do with it in open water other than swim/pause?  How long do you pause?  I had a Lunkerhunt popping frog in my box.  Is that a better choice when I have significant open areas of water like this "channel"?  I checked out the BR article and video already.  What are your best tips for using frogs?  I'm going to try it again next time out.  Thanks

Learn how to walk a frog, very similar to how you walk a spook, for those open water spots. A popping frog is a good option for working in open spots between grass also, they too can be walked as well. 

I just had this conversation with a friend of mine.  I've seen many people work the frog on top of vegetation and then burn it over the clear water to get to the next mat.  I've had just as many if not more hits in the open water or near the edges of vegetation in the open channel as I have ON the vegetation.  I just walk it, pop it, over both. 

In this video Dean Rojas talks about fishing frogs in heavy vegetation as his last resort!

 

 

47 minutes ago, Catt said:

In this video Dean Rojas talks about fishing frogs in heavy vegetation as his last resort!

 

 

People who like to fish frogs, worms, and jigs would do well to watch this video.  Pay attention to what he says regarding fishing pads.  Just recently, a friend and I were fishing a small pad area.  We did just as he said, we threw up into the pads to locate fish, We worked the worm over the pads quickly to locate fish,

after knowing they were there we worked the edges of the area and wound up with 3 or 4 nice size LM by throwing worms up on to the pads and letting them fall when we hit open water. 

I find the Popping Pad Crasher much easier to walk. I have a bunch of different frogs, but I only use the others when I wear out a popping model until I can get another. You'll usually have more luck on a mat of some kind, but sometimes they're out from the weeds a bit and want to crush it before it gets away. I notice when fishing from the bank that if I cast out to clear water then walk the frog toward the weeds, bass will often hit it just before the weeds. Sometimes they'll just crush it when it hits the water. 

@je1946 & @the reel ess

 

If y’all listen towards the end of the video Dean states he would rather fish frogs in open water than pads or mats.

48 minutes ago, Catt said:

@je1946 & @the reel ess

 

If y’all listen towards the end of the video Dean states he would rather fish frogs in open water than pads or mats.

I’ve watched it and almost every frog fishing video on YT. That just hasn’t been my experience.

50 minutes ago, Catt said:

@je1946 & @the reel ess

 

If y’all listen towards the end of the video Dean states he would rather fish frogs in open water than pads or mats.

I started in the grass but caught all my fish in the open water 2 to 4 feet from any vegetation.  

1 hour ago, je1946 said:

People who like to fish frogs, worms, and jigs would do well to watch this video.  Pay attention to what he says regarding fishing pads.  Just recently, a friend and I were fishing a small pad area.  We did just as he said, we threw up into the pads to locate fish, We worked the worm over the pads quickly to locate fish,

after knowing they were there we worked the edges of the area and wound up with 3 or 4 nice size LM by throwing worms up on to the pads and letting them fall when we hit open water. 

It's funny, when I was driving home from the lake I started thinking about the three fish I missed by not getting a hookset with the frog.  I had a Trick Worm tied on a spinning rod sitting on the deck right next to me but it didn't even occur to me until I was driving home that I should have immediately dropped the frog rod and thrown the worm as a follow-up.  From now on I will always throw a follow-up of something else.