8 Frog Enhancements To Help You Catch More Bass

The sight of a big bass inhaling a hollow-bodied frog like the Live Target Hollow Body as it slides across cover is one of the most adrenaline inducing things you can witness while fishing for bass. For that reason, frog fishing has seen an almost unprecedented surge in popularity in recent years, and now you’d be hard pressed to find any serious basser that doesn’t have at least a couple frogs in their arsenal.Although the quality and performance of the hollow bodied frogs on the market these days has gotten to the point where most catch fish right out of the package, it hasn’t changed the fact that fishermen are tinkerers at heart – and we like to add little tweaks to any presentation to make them more effective.Take a look at these 7 tweaks you can make to your frogs to make them more appealing.

1. Add A Rattle

Sound is an important component to many fishing presentations. Rattles are incorporated into most hard baits, and many anglers even slide them into their soft plastics for additional attracting power. Because they have hollow bodies, a rattle can easily be added to a frog to increase its drawing power. Use plastic or metal rattles, because glass rattles will usually break after a fish or two from contacting the hook inside the body. Rattles also add weight to keep the frog riding lower in the surface film.

2. Trim The Skirt

Although there are many frogs out there designed to walk, like the LiveTarget Walking Frog, trimming the length of the legs can dramatically change their action. The shorter the legs, the better it will walk. Also experiment with trimming them unequally, as this can make their action even more erratic. An ideal leg length for walking is around 1.75 inches.

3. Superglue The Nose

There’s nothing more frustrating while frog fishing than having to continuously squeeze the water out of a frog because it is leaking. Leaking frogs sink, and don’t have nearly the action they should. Leaking primarily occurs at the nose of a frog, when wear and tear causes it to open up around the line tie. Placing a couple drops of superglue around the eye and pressing it down seals it back up, and even prevents further damage for a short time.

4. Bend Out The Hooks

This used to be more important when there weren’t so many good frogs on the market, but it can still be a valuable tweak – particularly if you’re frogging in open water where weedlessness is less important. Grab the hook shank at the bend with pliers and slowly open each barb up about an 1/8 of an inch. This will cause the hook to get more bite into the fish, and result in less lost fish. Make sure to do it slowly though, you don’t want to weaken the hook.

5. Change Out The Legs

Most frogs today come with fine rubber legs, and although they obviously work most of the time, you can completely change the look by removing the legs and replacing them with an alternate color, or different material altogether. Some materials, like marabou, rabbit fur, or tinsel will dramatically impact the way a frog looks in the water, and give it a unique look that the bass have not likely seen.

6. Add Scent

Just like adding a rattle, the hollow body of a frog like the River2Sea Bully Wa II also lends itself well to adding scent. If you use a gel scent, just squirt some right in the body chamber. If you’re using a liquid scent – insert a piece of foam earplug soaked in the scent. This adds a more natural taste profile to the frog and can cause them to hold onto it longer.

7. Make It Glow

Glow lures have long been a staple of the ice fishing and night fishing crowd, but they are also effective in open water. Get some glow fingernail polish, and paint some stripes down the belly of a frog like the River2Sea Dahlberg Diver Frog to give it additional attracting power and a completely different look in low light.

8. Use A Marker

The most simple alteration method. Add stripes, color the body to match the hatch, or fill in areas where the paint may be chipped. Take a Sharpie or other permanent marker to the body to spice up any part you think may need it!