I once fished a green plastic frog with black spots in a fishing hole called the Tractor Pond in mid-October. Along with a submerged tractor, there are big bass in there. But after fishing for more than an hour, I grew pretty much convinced this was too late in the year for frogs to be effective.

As the sun was dipping low on the horizon, one of my casts went over the edge of a tree, and a limb caught the line. I popped the frog and the line over the limb so that it jumped forward and splashed back down into the water.

A big swirl greeted the lure as it hit the water, but it was still floating. I paused a moment then popped it forward again. This time, there was another big swirl, and the fish was pulling the line from the tree.

I reeled my conventional rotating-spool reel as fast as I could to take up the slack. Then I set the hook, but was sure I hadn't gotten a good hookset. I just hoped the heavy tension I was applying would finish burying the hooks into its jaw.

The fish swam away, but came toward the surface. I got a good view of it and estimated it at about 4 pounds. But I'd never know for sure because the hooks finally pulled out.

Still, it only goes to show that fish can be caught on frogs late in the year, after most people quit using them.

TECHNIQUES
Longtime bass pro Don Payne's favorite frogging water is a narrow ribbon next to a shore that's covered in moss and weeds. He casts to the open water and start "walking the frog" on the open water.

Walking The Frog
"When your frog gets to the edge of the cover, you want the frog to move mostly sideways back and forth," Payne said, casting onto a lake to show how he makes the quick, short snap of the end of the rod.

The lure moves mostly laterally. These are short rips, moving the lure only a few inches at a time. That keeps the lure in the strike zone as long as possible.

When you are fishing heavy cover, Payne said, the frog is on the top of the mat, but the fish knows it is there and may try to bust through the moss.

Sometimes a bass will leave little "hills" in the cover where it tried to charge through the canopy. When the frog gets to thin cover, get ready. That bass is going to explode onto the frog.