All bass fisherman rely on the technique of flipping or pitching a jig or Texas-rigged soft plastic to a bedded bass in the spring, but what happens when that bass is bedded underneath heavy cover, or is positioned underneath an overhanging or boat, or you’ve emptied the tackle box with every jig and soft plastic you have and that bedded bass still won’t bite, what do you do!? You go overhead to catch that bedded bass!
Tying on a topwater frog, such as the Snag Proof Bobby’s Perfect is a great lure choice to target this bass up shallow spawning, why you may ask, well in the spring time the vegetation is beginning to grow and there are frogs and other creatures on the shorelines, so a hollow bodied frog not only allows you to put it in places other baits can’t go, but it also mimics real life creatures that pose a threat to a bass on a bed.
To begin you want to present your frog in a very subtle manner as bass on a bed can be very skittish, so a simple, steady retrieve is all it may take to get their attention and trigger a strike. By wearing a good pair of polarized sunglasses you’ll be able to see the bed that the bass is guarding, this is important because you can pause your frog right on top of that bed and provoke that bass into biting.
Now if these tactics haven’t gotten you bit and that big ol’ mama bass is still locked on her bed, you may need to get a little more aggressive with her, such as making some commotion on the water’s surface, such as with the Snag Proof Poppin’ Phattie. Another tactic is to put some extra weight in one of your frogs so that it will slowly sink, this way when you pause it over the bass’s bed, it will sink down.
For spring frogging like this, I use a Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman 6’10” extra heavy rod, as it gives me the power to get a solid hook set on a bass that is up shallow and get it into the boat. I’ll spool my Wright & McGill Victory II high-speed reel up with 65-pound Seaguar Smackdown Braided line.
As for frog colors, a natural looking pattern is a good choice if there are creatures running along the shoreline and getting into the water. I’ll go to a vibrant and loud color pattern if I really need to trigger a bedded bass into biting.
Glenn has been fishing tournaments for over ten years, spreading his passion and knowledge of the sport via articles and videos. For more information check out glennwalkerfishing.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/glennwalkerfishing.
Advertising