It usually happens in an explosive, splashy flash, one that heightens your senses and fires every neuron from head to toe with a dose of jet fuel. The impulse to set the hook is overwhelming. You’re dying to do it, to turn the reel handle about three quarters to tighten the line and drive a hook into the bass’ mouth.

But you can’t. For at least a second, maybe two, you have to wait. Only after pausing can you bow up and see the rod double over. Then you can start fighting the bass that wanted that frog.

Although frogs work for virtually the entire fishing season, late summer is when they truly shine. Vegetation is thick in lakes, bass are hungry, and real frogs are out along the bank. Rats and mice are out, too, sometimes skittering over shoreline vegetation, trying to find their way back to terra firma. Often, they don’t. Like your hollow rubber frog with twin hooks and skirted legs, they disappear in a lightning-strike explosion.

Professional angler Ish Monroe of California is a diehard frogger. From spring through autumn, at least one or two of his Daiwa Steeze rods is rigged with a Snag Proof frog. He’s thrown frogs on top of vegetation and in open water from California to Connecticut. Full Story Outdoorlife