Cut your frog's leg in half, cast it out, and watch what happens

Hey, it's Keith.

Summer is here, and with it comes one of the most exciting times for bank anglers: frog season.

But here's the mistake most pond and lake anglers make: they grab a frog straight out of the package and start casting.

While other anglers struggle with frogs that barely move and make no sound, a few simple customizations can turn any store-bought frog into a bass magnet.

I learned this lesson 10 years ago while fishing for speckled trout with my friend Justin, who was consistently outfishing me until he revealed his secret modification.

Today, I'm sharing three tricks that transformed my frog fishing success in those critical early morning hours.

Fellow Fishing Fanatic of the Week 🔥

Our Fishing Fanatic of the Week is Michael Patrick with a chunky 5 pounder from the Seneca River near Liverpool, NY.

Sharp hat, sharper hook set. Solid catch, Michael!

P.S. You could be next. Just hit reply and send in your favorite photo from a fishing trip. Make sure to include your name, where you're from, and a short story if you’d like.

BEST LINKS

What I looked at this week

• 7 best frog tweaks for better bass fishing (Wired2fish)

• Let’s hear your frog modification secrets! (Westernbass.com)

• 8 frog enhancements to help catch more bass (Karl’s)

• Frog hacks that will catch big bass (BassFishingHQ)

• Fishing a frog for pond monsters (KickingTheirBASSTV)

Deals of the week

• Tackle Warehouse has Kalin’s Rattlin Google Eye Lily Stalker Frogs marked down 62% from $10.49 to $3.

• FishUSA  has LiveTarget ICT Freestyle Frog marked down 30% from $9.99 to $6.99.

• Spro has Bronzeye Pop 60 Frog marked down from $12.99 to $4.99.

DEEP DIVE 

Three game-changing frog customizations for bank anglers

About 10 years ago, I learned one of the most important lessons of my fishing career, and it didn't even happen while bass fishing.

I was out fishing for speckled trout with my friend Justin Derringer. While I was struggling to get bites, Justin was consistently catching fish using what looked like the exact same Marker 54 shrimp I was using.

After an hour of watching him outfish me, I finally swallowed my pride and asked what he was doing differently. Justin dug into his tackle bag, pulled out a tiny rattle, and told me to swing my shrimp over to him. He made a small incision with his pocketknife and inserted the clicker into my shrimp.

I cast out and immediately started catching speckled trout at the same rate as Justin.

"It's that little click that they like," he told me. "It sounds real to them."

That moment sparked an idea that would transform my frog fishing forever. If adding sound could make such a difference with speckled trout, why not try it with bass and frogs?

From that point on, I started experimenting with customizing my frogs, and now every single frog in my tackle box gets modified before it hits the water.

Here are the three modifications that turned my mediocre frog fishing into consistent early morning success:

Customization 1: Perfect the presentation

The biggest mistake bank anglers make is assuming all frogs need to walk exactly how they were designed. But that’s not true. 

Most factory frogs have perfectly matched legs that create too much balance. For pond fishing, you need maximum action to trigger strikes in calm water, so you want that frog to be slightly off-balance.

Here's what I do: I trim one leg about halfway or remove it completely. This throws the frog off balance and makes it turn side to side much more aggressively during your retrieve.

Why this works for bank fishing: in ponds and small lakes, you're often casting into dead calm water. That exaggerated walking action creates more disturbance and triggers more strikes than a perfectly balanced frog that barely moves.

I've found that straight out of the package, frog legs are usually the same length: about two inches of round rubber. The legs create drag, and by trimming one of them, you throw the frog off balance, which makes it turn from side to side more naturally.

The result: bass that were ignoring a standard retrieve suddenly crush modified frogs.

Customization 2: Add sound that matters

Hollow-body frogs like Spro Bronzeyes are notoriously quiet, which works against you when bank fishing early mornings. In low-light conditions, sound becomes critical for helping bass locate your lure. 

I learned this trick from my speckled trout experience: push a few BBs inside the frog's body through the hook holes. Every time the frog moves, those BBs create a subtle clicking sound that drives bass crazy.

You can also experiment with small jingle bells, which create a muffled rattle when inside the plastic body. I've tried everything with these things over the years, and there's no end to what you can add to make them give off sound.

Why this is crucial for pond fishing: unlike rivers with current that creates natural noise, ponds are often silent in the early morning. A subtle clicking sound, like the kind you get from rattlers and tickers, gives bass another sensory trigger to home in on your frog.

Customization 3: Add weight for thick cover

This modification saved my frog fishing on heavily vegetated ponds. When lily pads and grass mats are too thick, standard frogs just sit on top without creating any action.

I add a small frog weight inside the frog body. A cheap option is to add small split-shot weights inside the frog. This gives the frog enough "muscle" to push through vegetation and create more movement in the water.

The key is finding the right balance: enough weight to penetrate cover but not so much that it sinks.

For bank fishing success: early morning is when you need to get your frog into those thick shallow-cover areas before the sun drives bass deeper. A weighted frog lets you work areas other anglers can't effectively fish.

Sometimes you need the frog to move the lilies, and I find that adding a little weight gives it more muscle to handle thick grass and vegetation.

My complete setup for bank fishing frogs

• Rod: 7' 3" medium-heavy with fast tip (helps with walking action and hooksets)

• Reel: High-speed ratio (7.3:1 or higher) to take up slack quickly

• Line: 50-pound braided line in moss green

The bank angler's edge:

Remember, when pond fishing with frogs, your window is narrow. Once the sun climbs high and heats up those shallow areas, the bite shuts down fast. These customizations help you maximize that precious early morning window when bass are most aggressive.