Whistler
08-26-2005, 12:48 PM
Original post made by Brian McKee(Brimcowa) on June 20, 2002
As we head into the early summer and beyond, a bait worth mentioning is the lowly leapord frog! I have been known to waste more time catching frogs for bait right in the middle of a fishing trip. There are several ways to present them. Dependent upon size, I usually hook them through the lips with a 2/0 hook and use a very small egg sinker to keep them down. Problem with this presentation is that a frog will hunker down and shut down making themselves virtually invisible on the bottom. I haven't tried hooking one without the weight yet but hear it will keep the frog swimming and no self respecting cat can resist them!
Another way is to quarter them up like a chicken and again, with a bait hook, get them out there on the edge of that hole or brush pile and hang on tight!
Last year on the Wapsipinicon River in East Central Iowa I was walking along the bank and caught a small frog, hooked him and cast to the far bank between two huge drift piles. The spot was between two long bends in the river and below some slow rapids. Casting distance was perfect for the presentation. Far enough away so that I didn't spook anything in that pool but close enough that with an egg sinkered slip rig I was able to hit the water just below the first pile and let the little guy wander down stream into that dark water. That 25lb flattie hit that frog so hard that he almost ripped the pole right out of my hands! I was fortunate enough to have had my heaviest rig in my hands spooled with 20lb. test line fresh out of the box! I needed every ounce of that rig and my own strength to land that brute! My proudest moment when it comes to cattin'!! Talk about fresh bait...and all it cost me was a couple of calories burnt up reaching down and snagging him with my bare hands!
Oh, yes! Bring on the summer and the leapord frogs cause I'm ready and willing to "waste" another 10 minutes of my life determining who will get the last laugh...me or Mr. Flathead!! Come to think of it, if I had a dime for every frog and monster cat that I lost last summer, after finding out this trick, I could probably buy me a nice little cooler to sit on once I get back to that spot on the Wapsi and ring up Mr. Flatty's grandpop!!!
As we head into the early summer and beyond, a bait worth mentioning is the lowly leapord frog! I have been known to waste more time catching frogs for bait right in the middle of a fishing trip. There are several ways to present them. Dependent upon size, I usually hook them through the lips with a 2/0 hook and use a very small egg sinker to keep them down. Problem with this presentation is that a frog will hunker down and shut down making themselves virtually invisible on the bottom. I haven't tried hooking one without the weight yet but hear it will keep the frog swimming and no self respecting cat can resist them!
Another way is to quarter them up like a chicken and again, with a bait hook, get them out there on the edge of that hole or brush pile and hang on tight!
Last year on the Wapsipinicon River in East Central Iowa I was walking along the bank and caught a small frog, hooked him and cast to the far bank between two huge drift piles. The spot was between two long bends in the river and below some slow rapids. Casting distance was perfect for the presentation. Far enough away so that I didn't spook anything in that pool but close enough that with an egg sinkered slip rig I was able to hit the water just below the first pile and let the little guy wander down stream into that dark water. That 25lb flattie hit that frog so hard that he almost ripped the pole right out of my hands! I was fortunate enough to have had my heaviest rig in my hands spooled with 20lb. test line fresh out of the box! I needed every ounce of that rig and my own strength to land that brute! My proudest moment when it comes to cattin'!! Talk about fresh bait...and all it cost me was a couple of calories burnt up reaching down and snagging him with my bare hands!
Oh, yes! Bring on the summer and the leapord frogs cause I'm ready and willing to "waste" another 10 minutes of my life determining who will get the last laugh...me or Mr. Flathead!! Come to think of it, if I had a dime for every frog and monster cat that I lost last summer, after finding out this trick, I could probably buy me a nice little cooler to sit on once I get back to that spot on the Wapsi and ring up Mr. Flatty's grandpop!!!