Alfred Williams' Dances With Frogs

Written And Illustrated By BERNIE SCHULTZ

When bass are lurking under a mat of vegetation, a hollow-body frog is the bait to send in after them...

      Since the earliest artificial lures, designs imitating frogs have played a significant role - so much so, in fact, that these proven bass-getters prompted a number of wacky innovations.
      Even today, you'll see everything from frogs with mechanical swimming legs to ones that really croak. In the early days, there were even hook-bearing harnesses for live frogs and wooden lures covered with real frog skins.
      Most current designs are much simpler. Popular types are molded of soft rubber and are hollow-bodied and buoyant. They have large tandem hooks that ride with the barbs

 

pointing up and fitting snug to each side of the lure's body, making them truly weedless. The intent is to have the profile of a true frog, yet one that will come through cover easily and collapse to expose the hooks when struck by a bass.
      Because of their castability and weedless nature, these lures are ideal for thick surface vegetation, such as pads or matted grass.
      When it comes to making fake frogs hop, none is better than Alfred Williams. He is the acknowledged expert, according to his peers on the B.A.S.S. tour. His skills with the bait have fooled fish from his home state of Mississippi to as far away as the Canadian

 

border of Lake Ontario.
     "Frogs work anywhere there's lily pads or topped-out moss," he claims.
     Not only do they work, they're Williams' first choice for bringing big fish to the top. "Whether it's milfoil, hydrilla, or lotus pads, there's nothing like a frog for quality fish," he contends.
     The advantages are obvious. Because frogs are hollow-bodied and buoyant, they can traverse virtually any kind of soggy terrain. And unlike metal spoons, they can be left in the strike zone indefinitely, continually coaxing disinterested fish.




 

  Lure Colors - (In order of Williams' preference) green frog with white/chartreuse skirt, white frog with white/chartreuse skirt black frog with chartreuse or yellow skirt and chartreuse frog with white/chartreuse skirt.
  Equipment - 6 1/2- to 7 1/2-foot pitching and flipping rods; 4.7:1 ratio casting reels spooled with 20- to 30-pound mono.
  Seasonal Effectiveness - Late spring to late fall, when water if 65 degrees or warmer. Surface temperature of 80 degrees is optimal.
  Water Clarity - Light stain to clear is best.
  Cover - Matted vegetation such as hydrilla, coontail moss, milfoil, peppergrass, etc. Large lotus pads and other forms of flat-lying lily pads.
  Depth Range - 1 to 15 feet, provided vegetation is matted at the surface.
  Presentation - Cast from 5 to 25 yards away.
  Retrieve - Slowly pull the bait with the rod, inches at a time. Recover slack line when lure is stopped. When a fish is near, begin a side-to-side "dance" by shaking the rod tip on a slack line.


TIPS FOR FROGGIN'

     When fish are positioned near the surface, they are usually easier to excite. When they are not, Williams employs a rattle, inserted through the leg opening. Glass rattles like the ones used in plastic worms are perfect. Williams feels the rattle will call fish from greater distances and will add something extra to his topwater dance steps.
     His most important tip is to be certain to sharpen the tandem hooks to a needle point. The fish has the advantage in heavy cover, and dull hooks will only stack the odds further in its favor.

      Williams uses 6 1/2- to 7 1/2- foot pitching and flipping rods fitted with slow retrieve (4.7:1) casting reels. He feels high-speed reels work against this technique, forcing the angler to retrieve the lure too quickly.
     He spools his reels with 20- to 30-pound Trilene big game mono to keep the advantage on cover-bound fish. His lure choice is the Snag Proof Tournament Frog. Offered in two sizes, these frogs maintain a higher hooking percentage than other models, Williams feels.
     The Tournament Frog evolved from modifications made to existing models by competitive anglers. Instead of molded lifelike legs, the Tournament Frog is fitted with a silicone rubber skirt, which runs through the rear of the body and exits where the thighs would be. (See Fig. 2.)
      Essential to the technique is locating the right area, Williams recommends. Large expanses of grass or lily pads can be confusing. More productive is to target areas that are somewhat different from their surroundings.
      Look for points and pockets, and areas where the vegetation is thicker or thinner than the surrounding weeds, he suggests.
      "Even a mixture of different types of cover can be good," he continues. "Like a lay-down stuck in a field of grass."
      Williams believes these subtle differences are what hold big fish.
      Once an area is selected, Williams uses a simple approach to eliminate water. If the edge is thick, he starts there and then works his way in. Casting distance ranges from approximately 5 to 25 yards. Simply cast past the target and let the lure lie motionless for several seconds. Then start retrieving slowly.

      The rod tip should be at 10 o'clock and the butt at your midsection. Gently lift the rod tip, pulling the bait forward, inches at a time. Take up slack when the lure is stopped. Williams feels this loose-line approach is essential for short-striking fish.
      When the lure has reached the potential strike zone, he then shakes the rod tip on a slack line, causing the frog to "dance" from side to side. This dance, as he calls it, is what incites the strike. And he feels it's particularly effective on hesitant fish.
      The key is a loose line. Shaking the rod tip will move the bait from side to side with little or no forward movement.
      And for Williams, patience with the dance in the right situation is a guarantee for provoking strikes.
      Hook-sets, on the other hand, are not so assured. The tendency is to set too quickly. Here is where Williams' loose-line method pays off.
      When a bass strikes, try to make sure the fish has the entire frog before setting. Visual contact with the bait is crucial. If you lose sight with the bait, wait until you feel the weight of the fish before you swing. Often, a fish will strike and miss the frog. But if you haven't moved the lure from the strike zone, resume the dancing movement, and it may return.
      If you swing early, removing the bait from the strike zone, quickly cast back to the area and repeat the process.
     When he doesn't get a follow-up strike after three or four attempts, Williams moves on, but he usually returns to the spot later for another try.


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