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 When
I was young, I enjoyed visiting my grandparents on the old the old family
farm in Alabama. My father and grandfather would take us kids fishing
for bream in the stock ponds. The ponds were small and had great weed
center for fish. While fishing those ponds one summer day we noticed a
small green tree frog struggling on a branch over the water. Eventually
the frog fell in the pond right in hunt of a stand of cattails reeds..
It lay still for just a moment and then a dash for the bank. Suddenly
there large, noisy swirl and the little frog vanished almost as if it
had disappeared by a magic trick. I asked my dad what happened to the
frog and he replied, simply, "Bass." He said it with a tone
that made it clear that no further explanation was required
In that instant I understood why many of the lures in my dad's tackle
box were shaped and colored like frogs. I had played with those deer-
hair bugs many times and always wondered what fish ate frogs. That day
I received a dose of reality in the workings of the aquatic food chain.
I filed the experience away, but now recall it fondly when I'm sitting
at my tying bench concocting a new frog imitation.
Chain of Food
As I grew older. I learned more about the biology of frogs and how they
fit into that aquatic food chain. Frogs are amphibians that differ from
toads in that they have smooth skin and live their lives close to water.
Toads have bumpy skin and live in a more terrestrial setting. Frogs vary
in size front as small as your fingernail to as large as 12 inches long.
Frogs are responsible for eating many mosquitoes and other insects that
we classify as pests.
After hibernating
through the winter, frogs awaken with a fierce urge to procreate. A male
frog doesn't seem very bright as it tries to mount anything, but that
moves, but eventually it will find a female and attach itself to her back
.She lays eggs in the water in a gelatinous mass.. It is during the mating
time- early spring through about early summer-that frogs are most vulnerable
to fish. The males, in particular. become so active in their pursuit of
a mate that they'll venture into places where the bass lie in wait, That's
one reason why you'll often find bass patrolling within inches of the
shoreline early in the season: the fish are looking for frogs that make
it mistakes.
 The
fertilized frog eggs are left in warm, shallow water to incubate and hatch.
Small tadpoles emerge from the egg mass in a matter of days and swarm
in the shallows. This stage of development should not be overlooked by
the fisher man. Predator fish find the tadpole delicious and plentiful.
Then. too. tadpoles are available through out the year. The tadpoles of
two common frog species. the bullfrog and the green frog, can take up
to two years to reach adulthood. I have found that a Marabou Tadpole fly
works very well on many ponds and lakes, as long as the shallows remain
fairly warm.
Later, as the tadpoles metamorphose and start to grow legs. they become
prime fish food for the larger predator fish, Smallmouth and Largemouth
bass find frogs especially tasty, I have found that small (up to a bout
size 1/0) frog hit imitations will work when almost nothing else will
elicit a strike.
Old Fashioned Fun
One of the earliest references to frog lures for the fly fisherman came
in 1893 from Mr. M. D. Butler. a warmwater fly fisher and fly tier from
Indianapolis. Indiana. He sent cork and turkey feather "bass bugs"
to Dr. James Henshall, a renowned fly-fishing author, for consideration
in his writings. These were perhaps some of the earliest "frog flies"
designed for the long rod. In the 1881 first edition release of his book,.
Book of the Black Bass, Henshall described bass-bug fishing as falling
far short of true fly fishing. but he would later change his mind as he
experienced the thrill of warmwater fly fishing, and he eventually went
on to create the eponymous Henshall Bug.
Early versions of cork-bodied frog imitations were blunt on the front
end. An early pioneer in lure making, B. F. Wilder, was responsible for
rounding the cork and creating a sliderlike bug. With further improvements
on the design b Will H. Dug, the bass hug that simulates a frog became
popular and was marketed by Heddon for years as the Wilder-Dilg.
F. H. Peckinpaugh, who many consider the originator of cork and balsa
fly lures, dug out the face of a cork bass bug and produced the popping
bug. The Peckinpaugh lure company has gone through many changes over the
years, but they still make some of the best cork-body poppers on the market.
Every kid with a fly rod has
used a Miss Prissy or Froggy popper to catch one of their first fish.
In the '20s,
Joe Messinger developed a new way to spin deer hair and created his eponymous
frog. Joe Messinger. Jr. has stayed in his father's footsteps and continues
to tie the Messinger Frog. More recently, the Dahlberg Swimming Frog from
inventive tier Larry Dahlberg has become the fly of choice for many bass
fly fishermen.
Ersatz Frog
Frog imitations made of spun deer hair are effective and good looking.
Deer hair frogs also have all that tradition behind them. which may not
make them catch bass any better. but it sure lends them a lot of class.
I have found that spinning (leer hair requires special training and lots
of practice to become proficient. For those who are not proficient with
spinning deer hair. there are other things from which to make fake frogs.
 Closed-cell
foam, braided tubing. and plastic coated materials have caused a new wave
of designs and patterns that are making a splash on t fly tying scene.
One such design is the Flexo Frog. This simple pattern is tied with Flexo
tubing an coated with Softex. The Flexo Frog was designed to be east to
cast. and can be fished in heavy weeds The Softex covering over the Flexo
tubing makes for a rugged fly.
Cork is also excellent for making ersatz frogs. You can cane and sand
your own custom frog bod ies wit relative ease, or you can order pre-made
cork bodies from any number of places.
For those who don't tie, there are quite a few commercial frog imitations
available. Traditionalists can find all sorts of deer-hair frog patterns
from the likes of Umpqua Feather Merchants. Premier Fly Company, and many
others. These looking for hard-body imitations might try sonic of the
offerings from Gaines or Accardo/Peck. You can even find fly-rod size
frogs magic of soft rubber hanging in the aisles of Wal-Mart and Kmart.
No matter what your fake frog is made of. it should have a couple of key
features that make bass strike. Color
is very important. Your fake frog should be white, off-white, or yellow
on the underside. (Male frogs tend to have white bellies that shade to
yellow near their chins.
Shape is also important. A fairly wide, blunt head and a tapering body
give the ersatz frog the proper profile and make it easy to cast. You
can skip the front legs. but your fake frog must have back legs of some
sort. The back legs can he anatomically correct with knees, ankles, and
toes, or they can be "suggestive" -a clump of appropriately
colored marabou works great.
Fishing
Frogggies
Fishing frog imitations doesn't call for any truly special skills, It
does, however, require some attitude adjustment, and sonic knowledge of
what it is that you're trying to imitate. In the wild, frogs lead fairly
secretive lives. You might say that frogs' are paranoid. and you wouldn't
be far from wrong-after all, frogs are favorite foods of everything from
to bass to herons, so it's not like every carnivore around lie pond isn't
out to get them.
 The
frog's paranoia means you should cast your imitations as close to shore
and shoreline cover as possible. Frogs don't usually stray more than a
couple of feet from shore and it's exceedingly rare that they'll venture
into deep or open water, They know that death awaits once they get out
from the protection of the shore
The bass, on the other hand, know that frogs that venture even a little
distance out from the shore make a delicious meal. If you've spent any
time prowling quietly along the banks of a pond 'a where both frogs an
bass live, you've probably seen bass sitting right up against the bank.
Those fish are waiting for something to drop in. and that something will
most likely be a frog.
So you're casting your frog imitation against the banks. Don't use a delicate
presentation. Frogs that get frightened off the bank usually hit the water
with a health splash. and your ersatz frog should do likewise. Overpower
the casting stroke to drive the bug down onto the surface and make it
land with a good splat. Not only is this a true-to-life imitation of how
a real frog hits the water. it also rings the dinner bell 'or any nearby
bass.
Actually retrieving due bug opens up a whole bunch of other possibilities,
The traditional retrieve is to let the  bug
sit still for a long time after it lands The old-tune advice is to let
the hug lie until all the rings have disappeared. then to give it one
gentle twitch and le it rest again. That works much of the time. but its
not the most accurate imitation of frog behavior. When frogs get panicked
off the shoreline and leap into the water, they start swimming instantly.
So it's sometimes a better bet to make a fairly quick retrieve as soon
as the bug lands.
One situation where the resting bug does provide a truly lifelike imitation
is when you're trying to mimic a frog that's come up for air. You'll occasionally
see frogs floating motionless on the surface, and your bug should do likewise.
How ever. when a basking frog finally does start moving, it will always
head clown and dive for the bottom. Your mutation should do the same.
and you can make it do so by fishing a buoyant bug on a full-sinking or
sinking-tip line. Let the bug rest motionless as the line sinks, then
make a couple of vigorous strips to pull the bug under. This is an almost
perfect imitation of the behavior of a real frog. Use this trick along
the outer edges of weedbeds and in pockets in the weeds.
Bass have been eating frogs for as long as there have been both bass and
frogs. Through summer and into early autumn, few flies approach the effectiveness
of frog imitations. especially when the imitation looks like, and behaves
like, the real thing.
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