Kermit: Ready To Rumble

LISTEN: (7 min, 10 sec)

 

IT’S LATE SUMMER AND FALL is just around the corner. It’s a good time for all you gutsy bass busters out there to put Kermit on a leash and get ready to rumble.

Kids may recognize Kermit as the mouthy Muppet character with a colorful personality.

Bass anglers are different. When they think of Kermit, most picture a soft plastic lure with a squishy body known for getting into serious trouble in the shallows.

Frogs are nimble amphibians that rank pretty low on the food chain. Bass are eating machines and top end predators with very few enemies.

Things can get bloody when the two collide. The bass almost always wins. They love to munch frogs.

Anyone who has played the game will agree it takes some nerve to take Kermit out for a stroll.  Strikes frequently come when you least expect it, and most hits are so violent they might be heard from a considerable distance on a windless day. Think of it like a head-hunting linebacker crushing an unsuspecting tailback who has just hauled in a screen pass that should have never been thrown.

Strikes can be so violent at times that it is almost like practicing self-defense out there. It catches big ones, too.

 I’ve had some banner days with a toad tethered to my braid and boated some really nice bass along the way.

In May 2007, I got lucky and boated my biggest frog bass, an honest 10 pounder. The fish slammed a baby bass pattern Stanley Ribbit as it raced across a stand of lily pads towards the back of Yellow Bank Creek on Lake Nacogdoches.

It was the only frog bite I had on that warm spring afternoon, but it was well worth it. Catching a 10 pounder isn’t something that happens every day. Having one explode on a frog, then being fortunate enough to wrestle this fish out of a maze of slop is even rarer.

Best Times for Frogs

The best time to throw a frog is whenever the bass want one. Fall can be hard to beat.

Water levels are usually low and clear during fall. Low water causes vegetation to crowd the surface and makes it easy to detect the distinctive grass edges bass use to ambush prey that swims dangerously close.

Fall also brings with it cool weather, shorter days and longer nights resulting in a downward slide in water temperatures. It’s feel-good season that puts bass in the mood to chase shad, bream and other forage prone to gravitate towards shallow cover once the cool down begins.

Frog Country

Frogs can be effective anywhere but tend to shine the brightest in shallow water when tossed around aquatic vegetation, overhanging bushes and other cover.

Areas with clumpy or scattered vegetation are ideal. Huntington bass pro Keith Combs says fields of lily pads can be magic. Combs likes pads with “clean water” or on open understory beneath them, not congested with hydrilla.

When fishing around grass mats, Combs keys on holes, guts and other broken spots in the mat. He also pays attention to places where thick, green surface mats have begun to fade to yellow. He says surface mats will get thinner as the grass goes dormant and begins to decay in late fall. This makes it easier for bass to zero in on a frog when it passes above.

Toads to Choose From

There are dozens of frog brands on the market that are divided in two basic styles — hollow bodies and buzz frogs. 

Hollow bodies have an open body cavity that traps air. They float when idle and work best around thick cover with a stop-and-go retrieve. Popping style hollow bodies like the popular Spro Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog tend to work best in situations where grass is sparse or clumpy, whereas walking hollow bodies shine around denser grass mats and pads.

One of the best walking hollow bodies I’ve seen is the Slither K by Deps. The 2 1/4 inch frog weighs 3/8 ounce, has super soft body and a pulsating rabbit hair tail that adds casting weight when wet.

The Slither K also comes through heavy cover remarkably well, is simple to walk and provides an excellent hook-up ratio. The downside is the frog is somewhat pricey. The Slither K sells for $20.99 on tacklewarehouse.com.

There are plenty of other good ones with catchy names at a cheaper price. Strike King’s Sexy Frog and Booyah’s Pad Crash both sell for under $10.

Popular buzz frogs like the Stanley Ribbit and Zoom Horny Toad are made from soft, solid plastic. These frogs are designed to swim across surface using a steady retrieve and they sink when idle. The Ribbit is equipped with boot-style feet that churn the water like a buzz bait; others have flat feet that produce more of a subtle “pitter-pat.” 

Gear for Frogs

Frogging is no different than any other specialty technique. It demands specific gear to be most effective.

It also demands the proper mindset and discipline to avoid overreacting when a fish slams the lure unexpectedly. Many anglers set the hook prematurely and wind up jerking the bait away from the fish before it has the chance to eat it. Always wait a couple of seconds or until you feel tension on the line before setting hook. 

• Rod: The main body should be stiff enough to drive the hook deep into the bass’ jaw and provide the necessary leverage to overpower fish before they wrap you up. Meanwhile, the tip should be light enough to help launch the bait. Two more attributes to look for in a good frog rod are high quality line guides that can take the punishment dished out by braided line.

• Line: Premium braided line with a breaking strength of 50-65 pound test is the only way go in frog country.

Braided line is super strong and resistant to abrasion. Plus, it casts extremely well, has no memory or stretch, and cuts through vegetation like a knife.

• Reel: You need a high quality baitcasting reel built with some guts to withstand the shock of hard hooksets on large fish in heavy cover with braided line. 

It also helps to have a reel with a relatively high gear ratio, 6.4:1 or higher. The high gear ratio makes it easy to get a buzz frog up and running. Plus, it gathers line quickly.

 Bass are natural born bullies, and few baits bring out their mean streak better than Kermit does. Though frogs won’t work all of the time, the results can be magical when everything lines up just right.

Fall brings with it some of the best frog action of year.

 

Email Matt Williams at ContactUs@fishgame.com

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