Frog Lure for Bass Fishing

Frog lures are surface contact lures known for mimicking a frog and are weedless lures commonly used to target largemouth bass in floating/matted grass.

Anatomy: Frog lures are generally pre-rigged molded soft bait lures featuring a double hook. 

  • Hollow Body: [Figure 1,2,3,4,5,6] Common
  • Skirt Legs: [Figure 1,2,3] Common, where the skirt provides a leg like motion to the lure. Some trim the skirt slightly or completely to help eliminate short strikes.
  • Plastic Legs: [Figure 4]  Legs that will swim looking more natural. Some come with a paddle tail style.
  • Hard Body: [Figure 8] Not common, and sometimes a hybrid for example a popping frog.
  • Toads: Toads, are also known as soft plastic frogs, are soft plastic lures that are rigged with a single hook, sometimes weighted, or a double hook.

Variants & Other Names

  • Walking Frog: [Figure 2] Designed for the walk retrieve.
  • Popping Frog: [Figure 3, 4,9] Also, see popper lures, designed for a surface pop retrieve. 
  • Frog with Rattle: [Figure 9] Purchased or added afterwards. 
  • Frog with Blades: [Figure 6] Purchase lures with blades as legs or rig the blades as add-ons.
  • Finesse Frog: [Figure 10] Finesse frog would also fit under the category of a toad. It is also the name of some manufacturer’s soft plastics that looks like a frog. 
  • Kicker Legs – Buzzing Frog: [Figure 5] Some suggest more realistic than skirted legs.
  • Prop Frog: [Figure 7] The legs are propellers similar to a prop bait.

Lure Action. Generally, mimic a frog, with the main variable being the leg design.

Search Bait: Common

Pros’ Choice: Common 

Figure 1: LiveTarget Hollow Body Frog
Figure 2: Savage Gear DC Walking Frog
When to Fish Frog Lures

Frog lures are surface contact lures typically selected when:   

  • Targeted Depth is:
    • Shallow: Common 
    • Deep(Offshore): Not common.
  • Fishing Speed is:
    • Slow: Not commonly considered fishing slow but the lure can be slowed down slightly by adding pauses for example pretending it is a real frog and stopping it on the bank before jumping it into water or stopping on a lily pad before continuing the retrieve. 
    • Fast: Generally considered used to fish fast and to cover water.
  • Lure Visibility 
    • High Lure Visibility:  Commonly used in high lure visibility scenarios when bass are seeking shade and when it isn’t too wavy.
    • Low Lure Visibility: Not common in rough water while common in the morning and afternoon. The standard sound comes from the water displacement made during the retrieve with a popping frog making more noise. Some suggest frog lures with rattles. 
  • Targeting Cover: Some suggest all lures are good near cover where frog lures are common when contacting:
    • Grass: Common, as a weedless lure, especially when targeting matted/floating grass such as lily pads.
      • Heavy Matt: Heavy matt cover requires a heavier frog (potentially with added weight) to make more of a disturbance such that the bass can find it.
      • Inside Grass Edge: Add weights to your frogs to cast longer to hit the inside grass edge that other anglers can’t reach. Possibly, landing the lure on the bank prior to the retrieve.
    • Rock: Not Common 
    • Wood: Not Common 
    • Dock: Not Common 
    • Off Cover: Less Common, some suggest a popping frog or a buzz frog in open water often over submerged grass
Figure 3: SPRO Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin' Frog 60
Figure 4: Lunkerhunt Popping Frog
Figure 5: Blitz Buzz Phrog
Figure 6: SPRO Bronzeye Blade 65
Specific Frog Lure Selection

Selecting the Frog Lure Type, as a soft bait lure type, there are the following key decisions:

  • Soft Plastic: Generally, molded/pre-rigged frog designed soft plastic.
  • Size:
    • Small: 1.5″ to 1.75″  Some suggest in the spring.
    • Common: 2″ to 3″
    • Large: 3.5″ to 4″   Some suggest in the fall. Frog lures with tasseled legs and other legs could look slightly larger. 
  • Weight: The lure weight will impact castability including cast distance and cast accuracy but generally does not impact buoyancy. If desired a similar lure that will sink or can be fished slightly below the surface see the Toad Lure.
    • Light: 3/16, 1/4 oz
    • Common: 3/8oz, 1/2oz, 5/8oz
    • Heavy: 3/4oz, 1 1/8oz
Figure 7: Lunkerhunt Prop Frog
  • Lure Color: As lure color selection is mostly tied to the lure visibility download the Acute Lure Color Breakdown™ Infographic.
Rigging Decisions

As soft bait lure type, the common rigging considerations includes:

  • Hook:
    • Type: Double hook sometimes called a frog hook.
    • Hook Size: [NL]
      • Small: N/A
      • Common: Typically pre-pre-rigged/molded with a 4/0 or 5/0 double hook.
      • Large: N/A
    • Weight: The lure weight will impact castability including distance and accuracy but generally does not impact buoyancy. If desired a similar lure that will sink or can be fished slightly below the surface see Toad Lure.
      • Light: 3/16, 1/4 oz
      • Common: 3/8oz, 1/2oz, 5/8oz
      • Heavy: 3/4oz, 1 1/8oz
Figure 8: Rebel Frog-R (Hard Body Lure) (Walking Lure)
  • Main Line: Common for Braid.
    • Light: 40 lb test to 50 lb test in light cover.
    • Common: 50 lb test to 65 lb test.
    • Heavy: 65 lb test and greater.
  • Leader: Not Common.
  • Rod:
    • Baitcaster Rod: Common with Power = Extra Heavy and Action(Taper) = Extra Fast.  If fishing frog lure for long periods of time the extra cost of a lighter weight rod will reduce fatigue.
      • Reel: Some consider fast reel speed 6.3:1 to 7.3:1 to retrieve the lure quickly back to the boat once the lure is outside the strike zone to get ready for the next presentation.
    • Spinning Rod: Not common.
Frog Lure Presentation

Presentations for frog lures are commonly considered a horizontal presentation and a tight line presentation with the following considerations:

Additional Considerations
  • Add-On Weight: Some anglers do add a weight to provide longer casts or more accurate casts in wind. Some add weight in extra heavy cover. Some insert the weight into the soft plastic which can provide an added benefit of creating a rattle.
  • Add-on Blade: Not common, but possible, using a spinnerbait blade with the swivel can be added to each frog hook using a similar approach as you would for a trailer hook. Now the blades could mimic frog legs plus it will create additional weight for longer casts. The weight will also be lower the back of the frog helping with hook sets
  • Trailer Hook: Not common
  • Seasons: Common in summer, starting post-spawn and lasting until the floating/matted grass dies off in the fall.
  • Sight Fishing: Not common.
  • Suspended Bass: Not common. 
  • Follow Up Bait: Not Common.
  • Time of Day: As a surface contact lure some suggest morning and afternoon, but it is common all day.
  • Soft Soft body: Some soft body frogs are softer than others as such get better hook sets on the softer body lures. Some put their lures in hot water to make them softer.
    • Boil to Harden: Some anglers boil their soft body lures for a minute after unpackaging to toughen up the soft plastic.
  • Boat Position: Try to leverage the wind to move the boat to reduce noise that can spook or distract the bass.
  • Expensive Lures: Some say if you are going to spend a bit more hollow body frogs is a good investment as they won’t get water logged as much, better action, have better hooks and potentially last longer.
Figure 9: Fishlab Popping Rattle Toads
Figure 10: Lunkerhunt Finesse Frog - Pre-Rigged
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