The Columbia spotted frog (shown here) ranges from southeast Alaska south to Nevada and is common in lakes, rivers, and low-elevation wetlands. There are more than 300 frog species nationwide, and almost everywhere there are large trout and bass, there are also frogs. (Patrick Clayton/Engbretson Underwater Photography photo)
September 17, 2024
By Jake Villwock
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In late spring a few years ago, my buddy and I had plans to explore a new piece of water for smallmouth bass. As with most days in the spring, we were rigged up with 8-weight rods and 4- to 5-inch white Roamers, Circus Peanuts, and crayfish. I had a 7-weight rod still in its tube sitting in the back of the truck, but decided on the drive over that it would stay there. As I backed the boat in, we saw a couple rises from some unknown species. It could have been a bass, trout, fallfish, or even a sunfish.
My buddy saw the rises too, and gave me a look that said, “Mere mortals would be fishing a baitfish imitation today.” I knew he was goading me into fishing a topwater pattern. I looked at him with a defeated look and said, “Fine, I’ll bring the 7-weight with a frog.”
Not long afterward, I was casting an Umpqua Swimming Frog at the bank and into every slow eddy I could find. Ten minutes later, a bronze glow waked its way from the shoreline and inhaled my frog before my brain could compute what was going on. Our fate was sealed for the rest of the day. We were frog fishing.
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Our Friend Kermit Some of my fondest angling memories are of fishing large deer-hair frogs. Whether I’m tossing those buoyant masterpieces under the bushes and tall grasses of large Pennsylvania rivers or chucking them near logjams on streams in Michigan, I’m hunting the top predators and looking for visual attacks. The results are often bone-jarring. Frogs aren’t just for smallmouth and largemouth bass. Big trout love them too. And frogs are abundant in almost every trout water except for alpine streams and lakes.
Before we get into the meat of fly fishing with big frog patterns , let’s dive into the biology of the amphibians themselves. There are more than 300 known species of frogs in the U.S., ranging in size from tiny tree frogs to bullfrogs. Anglers most often encounter common species such as the northern leopard frog, green frog, wood frog, or the Columbia spotted frog. The northern leopard frog is common in the Great Lakes region and in New England. The range of the Columbia spotted frog extends from southeastern Alaska to Nevada. Both species live in wet areas close to ponds, marshes, and lakes, and are adept swimmers.
Some of the author’s favorite frog patterns include (top row) Matt Zudweg’s Zudbubbler, Pat Cohen’s Deerhair Popper, Pat Cohen’s Deerhair Diver, (middle row) Umpqua Swimming Frog, Villwock’s Marble Top Popper, Pat Cohen’s Deerhair Slider, Silverio’s Tube Frog, and (bottom) Jon Hicks Slider Frog. Cohen’s patterns all use Cohen’s Frog Legs, which are available from local fly shops or online. (Jake Villwock photo) Frogs can live from 5 to 12 years, and most survive the winter by hibernating deep in water that never freezes. Adult frogs of all species spawn and lay their eggs near the waterline in early spring when their hibernation ends and water temperatures begin to climb. Typically, this starts in early April and sometimes continues until the end of June. The females lay their eggs in masses along the banks of farm ponds and other stillwaters, eddies near riverbanks, and in lakes. They spend a few weeks developing in the eggs, until they outgrow and consume all the nutrition from their yolk sacs. After that they hatch into tadpoles and spend about 14 weeks going through multiple stages of metamorphoses until they develop into young adults.
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This is all very important information for fly fishers chasing bass and trout during the spring months. Anglers don’t often think of cold spring temperatures as “topwater season.” But frogs are very common along the riverbanks in the spring when they are mating and laying their eggs. Don’t be afraid to match the hatch when you start to hear and/or see them on the banks.
Once we get into summer, the frog population is all full-grown adults, and they spend most of their time along the banks in wet, damp shallow water or wet grass, always risking becoming dinner for a wide variety of predators. If you examine the banks of any spring creek that holds trout, you will notice a similar bank structure, perfect for hiding and holding frogs and toads of many species.
In Pennsylvania where I live, we have 18 native species of frogs and toads, from the northern leopard frog to the rare spadefoot toad. Most of these find their ways to the banks of rivers and creeks throughout the year, both day and night.
In all the Lower 48 states, frogs cohabit many of the same places where trout live, especially at low elevations. Big tailwaters, the lower parts of river systems that hold big brown trout, lakes and ponds—anywhere there are big trout you’ll also find frogs, so don’t be afraid to swim or swing a frog pattern near some of your favorite deep trout pools.
A lot of people talk about “mousing,” or fly fishing at night with mouse patterns. This method really works, especially on rivers where water temperatures are high during the day and big browns in particular can become nocturnal.
I’m sure there are a few mice out there swimming across the creeks and rivers during the dark hours of the night. But there are far more frogs swimming across the river at night than there are mice. I personally believe it’s more common for frogs to be the ones getting eaten out there. I say with confidence that if you went out at night and skated a frog across your favorite trout stream, your results would be exactly the same as fishing with a mouse fly. It is the size and disturbance more than anything that attracts predators at night. By no means am I saying burn all your mouse patterns—I’m just offering food for thought.
Flying Frogs In the frog game, fly lines are the most important part of your tool kit. If you do not have the right line to carry that big wind-resistant fly with power and accuracy, you will be left with nothing but a sore shoulder and frustration.
Most frog patterns are designed to move a lot of water and create a lot of noise.
When you “mouse” for trout at night, do the trout really think your fly is a mouse? Or could they also be looking for frogs? It’s likely they don’t care—it’s something large and it’s moving at the surface, waiting to be devoured. (Jake Villwock photo) They are often tied of deer hair, either in a popper or a diver style. They are not at all aerodynamic, so your line needs to be able to handle that.
My favorite fly line is the Scientific Anglers Bass Bug line . It is deliberately made two line weights heavy, which means that a 7-weight Bass Bug line actually has the weight of a standard 9-weight line in the first 30 feet. That weight helps carry the large fly, and the steep taper design is powerful enough to turn over big frog patterns. The fly line head is 40 feet long, which helps with line control and makes it easy to pick up and recast.
This line is perfect for large frogs, but when you get into some of the smaller frog patterns or floating green attractors made of foam, sometimes the Bass Bug line is a bit much. For smaller bugs, I really like the Scientific Anglers Infinity Plus line, which is only one line weight heavy.
There are plenty of pre-packaged tapered leaders on the market. When it comes to bass bugs and especially frog patterns, I always go with one that says “bass” on the label. Scientific Anglers , Cortland, RIO , and Airflo all sell bass or bass/pike leaders that are specially designed to throw big bugs. The butt sections are thick and long, to help transfer as much energy from the fly line to the fly as possible.
If you look at the specifications for each leader you’ll see two measurements; one is the tippet and one is the butt section. I like to see the 3-to-1 ratio for this. For example, with the Scientific Anglers Absolute Bass Leader you will see for an 8-foot 16-pound-test leader, the tippet section is 0.011” and the butt section is 0.30”, meaning the butt section is about three times the diameter and the weight of the tippet. One rule I try to stick with—not only with my leaders for frogs, but also for streamers—is that the larger the fly, the shorter the leader should be. This is typically okay, because when you’re fishing larger flies, the fish tend to be less leader shy so you can get away with shorter leaders. A 7.5-foot bass leader is about right.
Tapered leaders are easy to rig and don’t pick up extra weeds, but I also build my own leaders for frogs. Typically these are no more than 8 feet in total length. I use Scientific Anglers Absolute Hard Mono because it is stiff and easier to knot than fluorocarbon. My formula is as follows:
40 inches of 40-pound-test Absolute Hard Mono 20 inches of 30-pound-test Absolute Hard Mono 14 inches of 25-pound-test Absolute Hard Mono 8 inches of 20-pound-test Absolute Hard Mono 25-pound-test Micro Swivel 14 inches of 16-pound-test Absolute Fluorocarbon My tippet size varies, depending on conditions, but I try to stay in the 12- to 16-pound-test range if possible. I use Micro Swivels for all large dry flies and frogs so that my leader doesn’t get twisted up. That swivel allows the fly to move through the air any way it wants without messing up your leader.
You’ll want a fly rod with a stiff backbone, but that also has a fairly soft tip. I prefer rods like the Scott Centric or the new Scott Session. Both rods have the power to throw large flies like frogs, but they also have soft tip sections to help with accuracy and improve energy transfer to the fly. If you go with something too stiff, you lose your accuracy and lose your feel for the rod loading. You need a rod that loads deeply into the butt section when you put that extra-heavy fly line on it. I use a 7-weight rod for frogs, however a light 8-weight can also work. These flies are wind resistant, but you want to stay as accurate as you can to plop these frogs precisely into strategic areas.
Matching the Hatch When it comes to frog patterns, there are many different styles and sizes available today . The best known is the Whitlock-style swimming frog, a deer-hair masterpiece of color and movement. It is sold today as the Umpqua Swimming Frog or Whitlock’s Diving Frog from Rainy’s. It has a slender head with a tall hair collar, just like a Dahlberg Diver. This really helps getting it in a fish’s mouth. Some deer-hair bugs are just too big to fit in easily, so you end up with a lot of eats, but not enough hook-ups.
The tackle required for frog fishing isn’t so much about the fish, but about the size of wind-resistant frog patterns. You’ll need a stout, powerful rod that is overlined so it flexes deeply. The Scientific Anglers Bass Bug line is a good choice. Your leader should be designed for large flies, and have a long butt section to turn over the fly properly. (Jake Villwock photo) The Dave Whitlock frog is a slider style, but there are also many popper-style frogs spun from deer hair or crafted from foam or cork popper heads. A chartreuse/green Surface Seducer Double Barrel Bass Bug popper from Flymen Fishing Company is a great frog imitation. The other style I really like are the frogs tied with 2mm foam. Typically I use these the most in the summer or in low-water situations. They are much easier to cast at distance, and you can extend your leader length a bit if needed. Some of my other favorite fly patterns are McCoy’s Amphibious Assault, Pat Cohen’s Deerhair Slider, Silverio’s Tube Frog, and my own Marble Top Popper.
Whether you purchase flies or tie your own patterns, there are a few things I recommend to prepare your frogs for fishing. One thing I do with most of my store-bought flies is cut the weedguards off. I always leave a few with weedguards for when conditions call for them, but most of the time I find weedguards get in the way of hook-ups. Another thing I do with all my deer-hair frogs is add a small coating of Thin UV Glue to the bottom. This helps them land belly down.
Amphibian Strategies There was a time when the conditions didn’t matter when it came to fishing frogs or large bass bugs. But with today’s fishing pressure, low water, and let’s face it, smarter fish, we need to choose when and how we are going to fish these bugs. There are three styles of fishing frogs. The first is what I will call the traditional way.
This common method starts with casting the fly as close to the bank or structure as possible. Let it sit for a second, and then retrieve your fly by pulling aggressively to get the fly to chug or pop. To achieve this loud pop, make long strips of about 24 inches or from one pants pocket to the next. As you come to the end of each strip, give it an extra quick pop with your wrist.
Frog flies are usually tied either with a flat face as a popper, or slider style with a skinny head and a large collar behind it. Either way they’re designed to make noise. Consequently, the traditional way to fish them is loud and intrusive. This is a great way to fish if the water is on the high and dirty side, especially early in the season, because it helps both trout and bass find the flies in less than ideal conditions. This can also be a great way to get a trout’s attention in the dark.
When you’re fishing water that is low and clear, and the sun is high in the sky, aggressive predators like bass and trout become much spookier. They also require a more realistic presentation—and let’s face it, frogs don’t chug and pop that loudly.
Low-water frog fishing is a game of cat and mouse. You must be able to get the fly in front of the fish without spooking your quarry. I call this getting it in the zone of interest, and depending on water depth and clarity, that zone is about an 8-foot circle around the fish. Anything farther than that, you may as well be in the next zip code.
Low water means downsizing the frog, keeping it small enough that you can get it in the water without scaring the fish. Once you have successfully completed that, it’s time to do the work.
I prefer to present frogs with the idea of a slowly swimming frog, not a struggling frog. I make small, quiet strips to move the frog just slightly, then let it sit for a few seconds. I use the ripples created by the fly as my timer. Once they dissipate from the last strip, I pull it again. This allows you to present the fly to low-water bass without spooking them.
Sometimes the bass just come up and sip the frog the way a trout eats a mayfly. More often the fish will eat frogs with a vengeance, but you must be careful not to pull the fly out of their mouths. That’s a lot of hair they have to get in, so always wait until they go under before setting the hook.
The last—and in my opinion the most fun—way to fish a frog is without stripping it at all. This technique can be used for wade fishing or fishing out of a boat. I use it a lot when I’m trying to keep the fly close to the bank or structure. It’s a lot like dead-drifting a grasshopper pattern along a riverbank when you’re trout fishing.
If you cast toward a riverbank or a logjam with a frog and immediately start stripping it back, you are often pulling it away from the structure and moving it away from the fish. You’re taking it out of the strike zone.
So how do you keep it close to that structure? Mend the line. Don’t strip, just do a small mend that might move the fly a little but not pull it away from the bank or structure. Allow the fly to drift through the best feeding lanes, mending the line so the fly doesn’t get rapidly pulled away. This allows you to slide the fly along the bank longer, hopefully catching you more fish. Bass will hit the frog when it lands, when it makes some movement after the line mends, or most often while is it dead-drifting.
The recap for the three different techniques: pop it to make lots of noise; slow and light strips with a pause to show life without spooking; and presentation by mending, keeping the frog pattern in the zone longer.
Frogs are fun to fish, but there is an art to it. Casting accuracy, line control, and that cat-and-mouse game make it fascinating. Watch what’s going on around you, look for frogs, pay attention to the water conditions (temperature and clarity), and choose the pattern and the technique that best fit the situation.
Jake Villwock is the owner and head guide of Relentless Fly Fishing, a contract guide service that works in partnership with TCO Fly Shop in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. He is the author of the book Smallmouth Bass Flies: Top to Bottom (Stackpole Books, 2021.) @relentlessflyfishing | relentlessflyfishing.com
