Biggest bass in several years

[dsaavedra]

I got out on the lake around sunrise on Sunday and had a good topwater bite. I was working a frog in the lily pads and had 6 blowups. Of those 6 I connected with 4 and landed 3 - par for the course when frog fishing.

The quality was outstanding though. After hooking and losing a fish on the frog, the first fish I successfully landed was a 5lb 2oz bass, bigger than any bass I have caught in the last 2 or 3 years. This fish absolutely inhaled the frog, you couldn't hope for a better hookset on a frog.

20220619_062230.jpg

20220619_061940.jpg

A little while later I caught this little guy that could barely fit the frog in its mouth. Really puts in perspective just how big a 5lb bass is.

20220619_064532.jpg

I decided to give my wrists a break and stop throwing the frog and started tossing a squarebill crankbait and on the 2nd cast I landed this nice bass. It was 4lb 7oz and larger than anything I caught last year, and probably the year before that. I consider this a totally lucky catch because I was not really giving any thought to lure placement when casting the crankbait, and even the decision to throw a crankbait was pretty random and not deliberately thought out. Right place at the right time, I guess.

20220619_085428.jpg

The wind started really picking up later in the morning so I called it a day and was off the water by 11am. I caught 4 bass in total - 3 on the frog and 1 on the crankbait. This was one of the better trips I've had at this lake in a long time... I was starting to think I lost my freshwater mojo so I will happily take this confidence boost.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice catches Dave. You are doing well in both fresh and brackish water this year.

[Big Mike]

Mojo never leaves, it just takes a break every now and then. Beautiful fish

[dsaavedra]

Mojo never leaves, it just takes a break every now and then. Beautiful fish

Ha, I like that. Tough days keep you humble, that's for sure, and breaking a tough streak with a really good day is so rewarding.

John, this has been my most productive year of fishing by a long shot, and I'm enjoying (almost) every minute of it.

[gliebig]

Very nice!

[Red_Beard]

Those are some awesome fish, Dave! I still have yet to get on a good frog bite, but it seems to be a technique that produces some big fish.

[dsaavedra]

Those are some awesome fish, Dave! I still have yet to get on a good frog bite, but it seems to be a technique that produces some big fish.

Thanks. Frog fishing is probably my single favorite freshwater technique. It is by no means the most productive way to fish.... you might get more bites by fishing a different technique, and of the bites you do get you'll miss plenty, and of the ones you hook up with you stand a good chance of losing the fish in heavy cover if you don't get it out of there quick. But it is such an exciting way to fish. The anticipation of a blow up keeps me laser focused all day and when you finally do get strikes it's so exciting.

Frogs do draw out the big fish, I've caught a handful of 5+ lb bass and several large snakehead on frogs, but little fish aren't afraid to hit a frog too. If you're having a lot of fish blow up on the frog but not get hooked up, they are likely little fish. The big ones know what they're doing and inhale it.

[Red_Beard]

Its not so much that I miss too many fish on the frog, so much as I rarely fish waters where its the right technique to use. Most of my freshwater fishing is on lakes and rivers that don't have abundant emergent vegetation. When I have fished them, the topwater bite just wasn't really on that day. The most action I've ever had with a frog was one day several years ago on Mattawoman when a barred owl tried to snatch my frog off the water twice! For once my tendency to set the hook too quickly actually worked in my favor LOL