As the 17th Annual Snag Proof Open approaches, an original frog master Bobby Barrack offers up some tips for the original frog tournament.
As always, the two-day, frog ONLY event will offer the best of each tide on the weekend of August 4 – 5, with a first day (Saturday) blast-off at 11 a.m. and a final day (Sunday) blast-off at 5:30 a.m.
Barrack notes it will be a “higher tide tournament”.
“I’ve always preferred to fish lower water for frog fishing – for topwater – for summer,” said Barrack. “In fact, the lower the water, the better. There is not a super-high tide during this weekend; but the high switch will be in play.
The lowest tides of the tournament are going to be late Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning. That would be my preferred time. That would be the time that I would be looking for my winning bites – for my window.”
Barrack continued sharing his point of view on Delta froggin’. Here is what he had to say….
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
WHEN THE AIR CONDITIONING IS ON
The San Francisco fog turns the air conditioning on in the Delta.
With frog fish, the weather is the #1 determining factor in the intensity of the strikes and which is why the weather leading up to the event is critical, specifically the 24 to 72 hours directly prior to the tournament.
For the most part, that weather pattern (or lack thereof) will set the table for the aggressiveness of the fish.
We already said there will be a key, low water period on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
When you think about the key, low water period on Sunday morning, you have to think about Saturday’s nighttime temperature. If you have a cold night, it will dampen the bite on that morning’s lower tide opportunity.
If there is a warming trend or a nice, stable weather pattern leading into that Sunday morning, the low water frog bite will be really good.
If there is an in-and-out type of weather, with the influence of the San Francisco fog and wind rolling in, we lose temperature in the night or the daytime high never climbs to what it could be and this is when things can get tricky.
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
JUST LIKE THE STOCK MARKET
The bass bite is like the stock market. It is full of peaks and valleys.
Peak translates into the peak bite – the best bite.
When I say… the longer the peak lasts, I mean the longer the best, most aggressive bite lasts.
The valley is the lull.
Valleys are the time the fish are in a negative mood or less aggressive.
Shorter valleys mean the less time the fish are in a negative mood and the longer or greater the valley, the longer the lull lingers on – the longer the bite is turned off.
The more stable the weather, the sharper and longer the peaks or highs are and the shorter the valleys or lows are.
On the flipside, the exact opposite is true when there is volatility in the weather. The less stable the weather is, the shorter the peak is – the shorter the peak, the longer the valley – meaning the less time you will find an aggressive bite and the less intense it will be AND the longer the fish will be in a negative mood.
Yep… waiting for the bass bite is just like watching the stock market (peaks and valleys) and a main influence is the volatility of the weather.
In stable weather, 88-degrees every day, 7 to 11 MPH westerly or north westerly winds, you will see two 50-minute windows of peak activity in a 12-hour period.
It is like watching a seismograph with a big earthquake and little tremors.
When the big earthquake hits, you see the needle really move – that’s the big peak – the window with the optimum bite – the intense bite. The little tremors that come before or after the big quake are less intense, less aggressive, less frequent bites.
That peak and valley – that big earthquake and little tremors – that is how the frog bite is.
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
THIS IS THE $25 TABLE | THESE ARE THE $25 SLOTS
If you think about the correlation of the weather temps and water temps, you realize that the upper water column is the first to change and the most effected by the conditions. It is most effected by the cloud cover, the sun, etc.
Because of this, the fish that USE the upper water column – the fish that FEED in the upper water column – are the first and most effected by the conditions.
The volatile weather, such as fog at the coast and other in-and-out weather conditions, all prompt those rolls, jumps and misses that we see the bass do around, over and under the frogs.
We’ve all heard it…
Yikes, did you see that, it jumped right over my frog….
Awww man, I need a trailer hook…
Oh, this frog sucks…. Ugh, that frog sucks…
Wrong!
That fish – the three blowups you had around 11 a.m. – those two bites you had between 10:00 and 10:09 a.m. – those were completely uncatchable fish.
If the weather was different – if there would’ve been no fog at the coast – then a lot of those “shoulda been”, “coulda been”, “woulda” turned into bites and fish in the livewell.
When you’re targeting that upper 10-inches of water, you’re playing at the $25 slots – you’re playing at the $25 table. You’re not playing the penny slots. Your probably not going to get 20 bites – 20 payouts. You’re probably going to get three to six bites – three to six rewards.
A frog tournament is the $25 slots. There is no option to drop in pennies. You’re not fishing a frog against a guy droppin’ back with a Senko or throwing a dropshot. It’s frog on frog – topwater to topwater – there are no pennies here. This is the $25 dollar table.
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
STABILITY DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN GOOD WEATHER
Stable weather doesn’t mean warm, sunny days. It can go the other way too. If it happens to be one of those stretches where it blows for nine days in row, that can be a dream come true.
Let’s say every day around noon, the wind picks up and it blows and it blows and it blows – up to 22 to 23 MPH every single day. It is consistent for five days, for nine days or for 72 hours straight. That is still stability. It is windy; but the pattern is steady and it is stable and it has been the same way for days… and fish fall right into stability.
The point is the weather can be consistently bad and that is the same as consistently good. It is still stable.
You give me stable bad weather daily, several days in a row and it can be dangerous.
BUT, the up-and-down, the in-and-out, changing water temps, fluctuating barometers – that is no bueno.
When things fall into a pattern – good or bad – a pattern – any pattern, so do the fish and then they become predictable.
This is when your windows of activity are the best and the pattern falls in line to what you expect.
This is when frog fishing becomes most predictable with the best peaks and valleys and the longest, most intense window of opportunity.
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
COMBAT THE FISH’S TEMPERAMENT
Now that we understand how conditions will decide the fish’s temperament, we need some ways to combat negative mood bites.
#1 Tempo is always a key.
Good or bad weather, tempo is key; but a low cadence is going to be the best bet in a negative mood situation. When I say slow, I mean sloooooowwww. If you think you’re going slow enough, you’re probably not.
#2 A smaller presentation can help get a strike.
You can either scale down to one of the smaller Snag Proof frogs or you can trim the tails for smaller profile.
#3 Other stuff can help; but always remember rule #1.
Rattles and scent can also be another way to get a frog’s attention; but if you focused only on one thing… tempo, tempo, tempo.
2018 Snag Proof Open | August 4 – 5 | California Delta | Russo’s Marina
Presented by Best Bass Tournaments | Register Here Pros or Ams
Advertising