# Bass fishing with live frogs???



## Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

Anyone tried it? 

I'm think of giving it a try this weekend at a private pond. 

I have a lot of experience fishing with the rubber frogs on top, and have had some good results at this same pond. Thought maybe adding the "live" element would give me even better results. 

Whiskers


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## Walter Adkins (May 20, 2004)

I used to fish them in pounds back in WV. Hook them in the thigh of one of the back legs. I tried other methods but this one lets them swim without interfering with the hook set.


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

Walter, you fished them by the pounds, or in ponds?? hehe  


They can be good. Just like plastics though, the fish have to be there for them to work! I never tried the leg method. I always hooked them from bottom to upper lip. I never had problems with them or the hook set. I may try the leg thing next time I fish live frogs!


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

I grew up with a great LM bass pond in the back yard. I hook them the same as rockbass - never had a problem, they live forever. The cast is what will kill them.

At "my" pond a frog or toad was almost a sure bet for a 2-4 lber. I used to love watching the water explode when they take the frog down.


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

I've used them in Canada, hooked through the leg. The smallmouth in the lakes up there love them!


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## Darwin (Apr 12, 2004)

As Walter Adkins said hook them in the thigh of the back leg. My only problem with it is I feel a little guilty doing it.  

Give me a gig and I will go to town on frogs and have one very fine dinner. There is something about sticking that hook through them and they look at like why in the hell did you just do that!!


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## Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll try hooking them both ways and see which does best, but Walter's method makes a lot of sense. Maybe by hooking them on the thigh, it will make the cast less damaging to the frog....? I'll let you guys know how it worked out. 

Buddy Punk, I'm having the same hesitations. My wife even made it worse for me when she told me to think of Kermit singing Rainbow Connection everytime I hooked a "little froggy".  But, a few 2-4# LM will make it worth it. 

Whiskers


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

I have used live frogs one time. I can't remember how many bass we caught but it was a bunch. I wish I could find some more frogs. I want to try it again. Where do you all find them in large numbers? All the frogs I have seen recently were too big to fish with.


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## Fishin' Coach (May 19, 2004)

When I was younger we used to use them all the time at a farm pond, with good success. Pond owner showed us a trick of using a rubberband around the frog, some how the hook rode on the center of it's back and stayed "weedless", also shoud mention he used a 14' cain pole.


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## Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

Got out to the pond a little later than I expected. Threw my first frog in around 5pm. Started with bigger frogs, about 3 - 3.5 inches long with the back legs drawled in against the body. Hooked 4 on the thigh and 2 under the belly. Lost 4 out of 6 on the cast,(2 that stayed on were hooked on the thigh) and one that made it through the cast was pulled off the hook by a LM.

Finally figured out I had to switch to the smaller frogs and had MUCH more luck with the cast. All frogs where hooked by the thigh once I switched to the smaller frogs - no more than 2 inches from nose to the tail. I found hooking on the thigh to be less tramatic for the frogs (and me!)  

My first catch was roughly 2lb right on top, close to the shore line. Second catch was again right on top, and looked to be about 2lbs again. 

Went to a different area of the pond and found a couple of bass in real shallow water - about 1 foot. One was thrashing around in the water (looked like it was chassing something). Cast out about 10 feet to the side of him and slowly realed the line in until I got his attention. That was it! As soon as the Bass got close enough to see the frog, he exploded onto it. Conservatively, 3.5lbs and was more than the length of my forarm. 

Caught another in the same area that was a little smaller. Probably under 3lbs. Ran out of frogs after another one got pulled off my hook from a bite. I wish I had more, as I planned to try the rubber band technic. But, had a lot of trouble catching the frogs. Spent 45 minutes trying to catch frogs with a ball cap...12 frogs caught  

The owner of the pond joined me for an hour, using a rubber frog I've never seen before. It was a soft jelly type lure, with a hook that had a kork screw spiral that attached to the front of the lure. The hook rested under the belly of the frog. Two thin legs where attached to the frog (about 3 inches long), with larger penny shaped pieces of jell at the end of the legs. These penny sized pieces of jell, would make the legs wiggle when realing in. It gave the lure real nice actions. He had more success than I did.  

He said he bought it at "Alpine" in Columbus?? He also said he went back there and they didn't have anymore, and didn't even know they carried it. He hasn't found them anywhere else. 

If anyone knows where I can find one, I'd appreciate the info. In an hour, he caught 4 LM each being longer than my forarm. They were all in the 3-4lb range. 

My total for 2 hours was 4 with the live frogs. Not as good as I had hoped, but the two I caught in shallow water was pretty good for me. 

Whiskers


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## Walter Adkins (May 20, 2004)

Wow. The first time I tried frogs all I caught was cattails and slim. Next time try using a butterfly net to catch the frogs.


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## Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

Walter, 
I'm think even bigger than a butterfly net. Next time, I'll take my cast net.

About my success, I'm told by the pond owner that several 5lb+ Bass are in his pond. He's been stocking it for 15 years now, and occassional puts a larger Bass in there that he or his sons have caught elsewhere. They typically catch and release, and only pull out Bass for family dinners on holidays or special occassions. Its a great little private pond (only about 3 acres) that I've just gotten availability to through my recent marriage. Lots of shoreline cover, and equal amount of shallow and deeper water.

I know where I'll be fishing next spring when the Bass start biting...

Thanks for the advice you shared about hooking on the thigh. It seemed to work best for me this time around. 

Whiskers


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