Like any lure, frogs can diminish in their effectiveness if you keep throwing the same pattern over and over throughout your fishing career, especially if you isolate your trips to the same waters. You don’t have to spend money on new colors, though, just because your favorites aren’t producing like they used to. Instead, you can actually make some minor tweaks to your tried-and-true patterns to add new depth to their prowess. Today we’ll take a look at a few ways you can do this.
One way you can make your frog more deadly on the water is attaching a clear suction cup to its head. This little modification will cause the frog to create a surface disturbance that mimics the sound of a frog hopping off a lily pad. To do it, you simply poke a hole through the cup’s middle, thread it over the lure’s hook eye, and then secure it in place with superglue. When you work the frog through open water, the cup creates a popping action that draws more attention, but without spooking the fish. There’s also a hidden bonus to this addition: If you find that fish are more skittish than usual, you can push the suction cup backward, like a broken umbrella, to reduce the pop. This will also cause the frog move in a side-to-side motion.
Just because your frog was made for the water’s surface, it doesn’t mean you can’t let it dive. Our next modification involves Texas-rigging your frog on a 5/0 hook with a split shot about a foot up the line. This allows the normally buoyant frog to run just below the surface, where you can weave it through vegetation. Here, you’ll want to go with a steady, medium speed retrieve, but this rig also tends to attract followers, so keep an eye on the water behind it, even up to the boat.
Lastly, if you throw sinking frogs, cut ½ inch off each leg, which reduces the amount of noise they make in the water, but allows the frog to keep just enough kick for it to stand out. Pitch this beauty to a hole in the grass and just let it fall. The shorter legs cause the frog to flutter on the drop, which looks like a real frog swimming below the grass.
With as much money as anglers tend to spend on their tackle, anywhere we can save a buck or two is something to celebrate. Furthermore, when doing so can increase your fish catching, it’s exponentially better! If you’ve found that your frog action has been slacking, turn to modifications rather than simply buying more patterns. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.
