"Olebiker" wrote in message
I'm headed back to the lily pads early Saturday morning. I was wondering
if anyone here has any experience with the SPRO frog. I
bought a couple yesterday to use along with the Horny Toad.

OleB, I do a lot of lillypad and heavy cabbage fishing, and from the middle
of June on, I throw a lot of frogs and mice into the veg. Here are my
highly personal and very debatable conclusions on this type of fishing:

1. The SPRO frogs are (relatively) high cost frogs, and very good quality
goods. They are heavy and you can throw them a long way. This is both good
and bad. The longer the throw, the more veg to work back through. I have
come to favor shorter casts with the frogs because when the inevitable
hang-up occurs, it is easier to manage closer to the boat.

2. If the veg is heavy, I don't believe the fish give a rat's butt what you
are throwing. They react to vibration, movement and location more than
anything. I have actually caught more bass in the heavy weeds with my
little inexpensive frogs than I have with the SPRO. Plus, when the big
snapper you thought was a bass making all the fuss in the weeds takes your
bait, you are better off losing $2.99 than you are $7.99 (list around here
for the SPRO).

3. Speaking of rat's butts, I have come to favor throwing the mice lures
into the weeds as much as I do the frogs. I like the way the tail on the
mice works when you manage to find a water hole in the veg. The SPRO has
these long streamer thingies hanging off their butt attempting to imitate
legs and I have gotten more short strikes on these lures than with any
other. I don't seem to get the same short-strike reaction with the mice or
the smaller, cheaper frogs.

4. Whatever I throw, I have found light-weight braid to be the most
effective line with top water plastics in the pads. Any good braid under 20
lbs will do the trick because you aren't dipping and dunking a jig down into
the heavy stuff which will require heavier line. When you do get a hit, the
14 or 20 lb braid with handle the weeds just fine IMHO.

5. Finally, since I have entered my full geezerhood, my eyes and fingers
don't work quite as well as they once did, so I hook 'em up with an
inter-lock swivel snap. This allows me to change lures whenever I want
without having to re-tie braid. Since you are working in the weeds, this
will not have any noticable effect on the "action" of the lure. Hey, it's
just a frog twitching and crawling over the tops of the pads anyway. I
realize this is heresy to the young guns and heavy hitters, but it sure
saves me a lot of time and effort out on the water.

One thing for sure, the explosion when they hit these lures is dramatic and
gets the heart pumping to the max. I love to drop-shot, but it is subtle
and touch-feely. Sometimes you have to see the line begin to move before
you feel a fish on the line. No such thing with the eruption through the
weeds with a frog. Good luck out there.

John