Fishing the Weeds....

color usually doesn't matter. they just need to be able to see it and you need to figure out what action they want. i have the killer gill but haven't used it much and have done just fine. there have been times we both used the same thing but different colors and had the same results. or times like last weekend where the killer gill didn't produce and it was more the action of the frog.

Gotta live for the lilly pads…..best top water action in freshwater fishing in my humble opinion….I agree with Roger (Pocket Fisherman) as we have been using 2/0 or 3/0 trailer hooks (got them at Bass Pro as Dicks doesn't carry them) for about 4 years now and I feel they have increased my hook up rate on a quality pad strike to probably 60-75%…as evident in this hog…

Without a doubt frogs are a great selection. However, as most of you realize, especially in tourney situations, you often need to show mr. Bass something different. Two things I've used are a chug bug and/or a chatter bait. Cast the chug bug past the patch of pads and slowly drag it through. Most of the time you can bring it through without getting hung up.......slooooow is the key. If there is a pocket in the pads, give it a twitch and hold on. With the chatter bait, slow roll it through the pads. It actually comes through better than a spinnerbaits and works especially well on cloudy days.

i have had some good luck so far this year with

Live target Mouse/Rat expensive $ paid 12 at bass pro but looks very real and has worked well

Without a doubt frogs are a great selection. However, as most of you realize, especially in tourney situations, you often need to show mr. Bass something different. Two things I've used are a chug bug and/or a chatter bait. Cast the chug bug past the patch of pads and slowly drag it through. Most of the time you can bring it through without getting hung up.......slooooow is the key. If there is a pocket in the pads, give it a twitch and hold on. With the chatter bait, slow roll it through the pads. It actually comes through better than a spinnerbaits and works especially well on cloudy days.

i love my frogs dont get me wrong but i have best luck pitching a 4" wacky rig along the egdes and into all the holes i see. im only using 10lb nanofil too but i have yet to loose a fish in the pads with that light of a line. maybe im just boring lol but it works surprisingly amazing for me so i stick with it . in most pad situations ill throw the worm first for a bit and if it dosent get bit then ill start throwing the frog

bassinbrooksy: Do you use a snag-free hook?

I've been getting a little frustrated pitching frogs (rather, frog, as I only bought one.). My friend does well with a slightly smaller, slightly different colored frog.

They obviously work. fishngolf is catching frogs with them lol. I guess I'll get some dif colors and sizes before giving up.

keep at it with the frog. they definitely work. sometimes you need to work it very slowly to force them to get it.

I got some booyah pad crasher jr's, 1/4 oz. pretty good hookup ratio, maybe its easier for the bass to get the smaller size in their mouth, color doesn't seem to matter

A frog is nothing more then a top water bait. I have found that there are days when every bass in the lake are hitting top water. You can't keep them off it if you tried. I have found, much more frequently that the fish are "inbetween" They want it but not really. The hits are half hearted at best. If I am on the water and fishing frogs or any other top water and I encounter situation #2, I give up on topwater pretty quickly ( after 3-4 half hearted attempts by different fish) and go with a sub surface type bait. It's more frustraiting to me to get half hearted hit and not hook up then to get no hits at all.

Yar ye olde Jig N Pig is just the ticket for hookin up with bashful bass don't cha know.

just ribit ribit ribit............my fave jig it jig it

A frog is nothing more then a top water bait. I have found that there are days when every bass in the lake are hitting top water. You can't keep them off it if you tried. I have found, much more frequently that the fish are "inbetween" They want it but not really. The hits are half hearted at best. If I am on the water and fishing frogs or any other top water and I encounter situation #2, I give up on topwater pretty quickly ( after 3-4 half hearted attempts by different fish) and go with a sub surface type bait. It's more frustraiting to me to get half hearted hit and not hook up then to get no hits at all.

this happened last weekend in a tournament. i couldn't get a sniff on the frog so i just slowed it way down and started catching them.

keep trying different things then move on if it's not working.

Thanks for all the input on this... good tips!! I went back to old school bassin' like I used to do down South in Georgia. Florida rig a large rubber worm, cast it into the weeds, drag it across the tops with the pole tip high, when it hits a hole, lower the pole tip and let it fall - worked then, worked today!! The part that I love is watching the fish bustin' something back in the weeds, almost tempting you to throw what you have.... I threw it, they ate it.....They were jumping all over the place today trying to eat dragon flies hovering over the water....it was crazy!!

Frogging is by far, my favorite type of fishing. I've caught a significant amount of my biggest bass on the frog...and almost half the time their in fairly open water. In the past I used Snag Proof the majority of the time but this year I've been using Booyah Pad Crashers 5/8 ounce and found the hook up ratio to be awesome. I prefer white bellies with orange or yellow marks near the mouth....although I don't think color matters much, it's more about casting control and presentation.