Caught my largest bass of the season today on a black Koppers with a orange belly. Actually got it on a pretty long hook set and pulled the boat towards the fish about halfway until we hit a rock. Overall it was an extremely slow day since we had a thunderstorm pass through a little earlier. It only took one bass to salvage the trip though.
I’m writing this post to see what you guys out there want to see on The TopWater Bite. It doesn’t even have to necessarily be about topwater frogs or topwater for that matter. I know it’s probably boring seeing posts about my fishing trips every once in a while, and I think I’ve covered just about everything on frogs, so what else do you guys want to see? Are their any techniques, lures, knots, rods, reels, etc that you want me to write about or review? I also see the search terms you use before you click on the link to this site, so if my post doesn’t answer your question, just ask. I’m really open to anything. I work at one of the most well known fishing/outdoor stores in the United States and regularly order lures and stuff on TackleWarehouse.com so I can probably get, or know someone who has used, just about anything. I’m also thinking about getting back into carving lures, as I was recently asked if I could carve a topwater jointed mouse or large swimbait for a guy I work with. So just leave a comment on this post or Facebook or shoot me an email if you have anything in mind or what you’d be interested in. Thanks guys.
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Believe it or not a sailfish was caught on Tuesday night at the Cape Cod canal. I know that this isn’t a saltwater fishing page but this is a story that happened pretty close to home for me so I had to post it. Pretty amazing that a sailfish found its way into the canal and was then actually caught by a dude who thought it was a shark. Sad part about this story is that they couldn’t revive the fish in the end. Most of the talk now is about the legality of the catch since it was kept and not released. Here’s the video-
The guy is lucky that some more experienced fisherman was there otherwise he would have definitely lost that fish. If he hadn’t been told to turn up his drag, that sailfish would have spooled him or snapped that mono. If any legal action is taken, he might end up hoping that’s what happened.
With the swimbait revolution in full effect a couple of weeks ago I decided to place an order for a 6″ Spro BBZ floating swimbait on Tackle Warehouse. For under $20, this is a great entry level swimbait on just about any budget. At 2 ounces (2.25 slow sinking, 2.5 fast sinking) its not impossible to get a rod that can throw it either. When I first received the BBZ in the mail I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of work in this swimbait. It was a little smaller than I thought it would be, but that’s not really a bad thing. I had read some complaints online about the wide gaps between the segments and the treble hooks, neither which I saw any trouble with. The wider gaps actually produce a clicking sound which only adds to the action in the bait and calls in more fish. Treble hooks are actually Gamakatsu trebled so I don’t really have an issue with those either.
To be honest I was a little weary of throwing this bait for the first time. I do have a rod rated up to 2 ounces but something about throwing this big of lure was almost intimidating. I decided to really give it a test run this past week at some small ponds I’ve fished for awhile in Norton, Ma. I had high hopes that I was going to catch a fish but want really sure because most of the fish at that spot are pretty small. Of course it never helps your confidence when your own fishing partner laughs when he sees you have a 6″ swimbait tied on to fish tiny ponds.
We actually made a little side bet of $5 that I would catch a fish on it that day. I should have made that bet $5 a fish because I actually
ended up getting 5 hits and landing 3 fish.
This swimbait swims beautifully in the water. The 3 piece design allows for great action, too. The only downsides to this lure are that sometimes the line gets caught up on the trebles, but that’s to be expected with treble hooks anyway. At first I thought the rubber fins an tail were going to be a problem with this bait but they are actually not bad at all. I thought maybe they would break down fast but that doesnt seems to be the case at all. And if they do ever wear out, Spro sells replacement sets online for around $5.
Overall, if you’re looking to gets into the swimbait game, without breaking the bank, the Spro BBZ series may be the lures for you.
Only managed to get one bass to hit the frog yesterday, and luckily I hooked it. Actually been having better luck on the new swimbait which I didn’t expect at all. Caught a small bass on it yesterday, too. I’ll be doing a review of the swimbait also, so be on the lookout for that. Still no slob this season but I’m staying on the hunt.
Caught my first couple of swimbait fish today on a floating Spro BBZ1. Didn’t really expect to catch anything because of the size of the fish a the ponds but their aggresion proved me wrong. Got hit 4 times but only landed 2. May be my favorite way to catch bass now other than the frog.
It’s been a good start to the frogging season. Started off a little slow but I’ve been catching some decent bass so far. Caught this one today along with 3 others. Got caught in a rain storm and got absolutely soaking wet. Caught all my fish before the rain but it was still worth it. Still haven’t come across a true monster but I’ll get one sooner or later. Here’s a collage my girlfriend made of some of my fish so far
Ordered a Lunkerhunt frog off of Tackle Warehouse last month and have been waiting forever to get it since it was back ordered. Just wondering if anyone has tried it out and what you think of it? It looks like one of the most realistic frogs I’ve seen and I’m pretty excited to use a frog with actual legs that work. I’m also trying not to get my hopes up because I know that kind of stuff doesn’t usually stand up to big hits but we will see. I’ll make sure to do a review as soon as I get it though. In the meantime here’s the link so you can check it out yourself- http://www.lunkerhunt.com/lunkerfrog.html
I couldn’t find any youtube videos of any bass actually caught with this frog which could be a good or bad thing.
One question that many people have is whats the advantage of using a hollow body frog, such as a Live Target, over a soft body frog such as a Zoom Horny Toad. It all comes down to how and where you want to fish. No frog is going to be 100% weedless but a hollow body frog is going to be the closest thing you get. Texas rigging a soft body frog will be weedless, but not as weedless every cast as a hollow body. Another thing to keep in mind is that the soft body frogs will sink. This could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you look at it. If you’re fishing really heavy cover then a soft body frog probably won’t be for you. Soft body frogs are a good choice for less dense cover where it won’t get tangled up if it sinks. Definitely going to want to keep a soft frog moving in that situation.
Another point is hook sets. Hollow body frogs are notorious for having a poor hook up ratio. Most of those problems can be solved through switching gear but if you want to keep your same setup then soft body frogs may be the frog for you. The hook set will be easier since it’s just Texas rigged.The last decision is the price. A lot of people look at a good hollow body and say “I’m not going to pay $11 for a frog.” Here’s what they don’t realize though. Say you go through 1 bag of soft frogs every time you go fishing. At about $3.50 a piece that’s going to add up fast. Now lets say you buy a good hollow body frog for $11 or $12. If you go fishing 10 times that frog cost you about $1 per trip whereas you could have spent $35 on soft body frogs. Bottom line is that nothing is going to get you more pounds per dollar than a hollow body frog.
Either route you decide to go, hollow or soft, there’s no question that frogs catch big fish.
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