Using Frog Lures for Topwater Bass Fishing

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Written By Donny Karr

Donny Karr is a Tournament Angler with more than 20 years of fishing experience and a writer whose work has been featured in magazines for over a decade. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He enjoys bass and crappie fishing in the lakes around the south-eastern United States. He also fishes for trout in the streams and rivers of the Appalachian mountains. Donny has written for Georgia Outdoor News, Paddling Space, Man Can Outdoors, Alabama Outdoor News, and Bassmaster.

REVIEWED BY FINN MATTHEWS

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The best frog lures for bass mimic a real frog closely in color, shape, and movement. They are manufactured from durable material that won’t be damaged easily, and have a weedless hook design that allows them to be fished around and over lilypads.

The SPRO Bonzeye Frog is my top choice because it can skip through weed beds without getting caught. It features a streamlined body that doesn't collect grass disrupting its action. It is ideal for bass anglers who are tired of stopped after each cast to remove weed.

Fishing lures in the shape of a frog have become increasingly popular over the last decade, for all kinds of North American fish species.

I have put together this guide of the best frog lures that are available on the market to help you catch more fish.

1. SPRO Bronzeye Frog  – Best Frog Lure for Bass

SPRO is among the top brands in the fishing industry for producing exceptional topwater frogs. The company’s design experts have created an impressive lineup of topwater frog lures for various environments. The SPRO Bronzeye Frog is easily one of the top picks among the best frog lures this season and plenty of professional anglers would agree. 

This lure is designed to skip over or punch through any grass, moss, or lily pads on the surface where frogs are prevalent. You can throw this frog into locations where others only get snagged on vegetation. The Bronzeye Frog has a streamlined body that helps it move through debris without collecting stray bits of grass or anything else that might ruin a cast. 

It features long streamer legs that replicate the kicking movement of most frogs and looks highly realistic when it’s worked across the surface in flat water. SPRO produces this and other frog lures in the biggest variety of color pattern options of any brand in the fishing industry. If you’re willing to do a little research to find out what type of frogs are native to the particular body of water you’re fishing, you can bet that SPRO has a color that looks virtually identical. 

This frog lure offers great weight balance so that it’s not overly heavy toward the head portion and can be cast out to great distances. The hooks are very close to the frog’s body, which help to prevent it from picking up vegetation as you retrieve it through various types of debris. 

2. Booyah Pad Crasher Topwater Frog

Booyah has been around for a few decades and has established itself as a brand that professional anglers trust to be of the utmost quality. The brand is more popular for their extensive line of spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, but the Booyah Pad Crasher Topwater Frog is one of the more impressive models we’ve seen lately. 

This frog is made with a hyper-realistic appearance that comes in various color pattern options based on the most common frog species found in North America and other parts of the world. This frog also features the same type of streamer legs that appear to be more like an actual frog kicking its way through the water to fish lurking beneath the surface. 

The Booyah Pad Crasher Topwater Frog features a hollow body that easily gives way when pressure is applied, which means fish will be hooked more easily when they bite the lure as the hooks will be more exposed when the body is flattened. One of the only downsides to this hollow body is the potential for the lure to get a slight tear or hole and easily fill with water, which renders it ineffective. 

3. Molix Supernato Frog

Serious anglers who know the difference between a quality frog lure and those that are mostly ineffective are well aware that Molix is one of the best names in the business regarding topwater frogs. Their lures are a bit more expensive than their competitors, but the high level of quality is undeniable. I’ve placed the Molix Supernato Frog in our No. 3 spot on our list of the best frog lures, but this one could be easily at No. 1.

This is one of the only customizable frog lures on the market and anglers have the ability to swap out the legs with other styles to get just the right one for the situation. The double tail leg design produces a higher amount of vibrational frequency, which fish detect to be much more like an actual frog than other lures that simply try to replicate the appearance of one. 

The legs are curved inwards to help provide added propulsion when you work this lure through the water as they will actually kick the frog forward in a spring-like action. The body is more stable and less likely to hold water than other brands and you can choose between nine different color options to get the most realistic frog for the particular body of water you’re fishing in. 

4. River2Sea Spittin Wa 55 Topwater Frog

River2Sea is another premium brand for producing the best topwater frog lures on the market today. This brand has gone above and beyond the call to create a realistic and attention-grabbing frog lure that will attract fish. The River2Sea Spittin Wa 55 Topwater Frog is a unique design that other brands have yet to match. 

This frog is made with a concave mouth section designed to ‘spit’ water out in front of the frog as it is worked through the water, much like a popper lure can do. This concave mouth helps create much more bubbles and greater amounts of water displacement as you pop the frog across the surface. This results in fish taking notice more quickly of what looks like an actual frog frantically making its way to safety across the water. 

It features streamer legs and can be purchased in either large or small size options that range from 2.25” to 2.75” in length. You can select between eight natural frog color patterns that are made to look like the eight most prevalent frog species in North America. This lure is perfect for days when fish are more aggressive and you need a lure that makes a bit more noise. 

5. TECKEL Sprinker Topwater Frog

Teckel is another top brand that is known for making high-quality frog lures for all types of environments. The Teckel Sprinker Topwater Frog is not your average topwater frog lure as it features a specialized paddle tail that delivers more of a splash and vibrations as you work this frog lure across the surface. 

The lure comes in a variety of color options, but there’s no need for a huge selection of color options as fish will mostly be attracted to the aggressive nature of this lure option. The Teckel Sprinker Topwater Frog’s body is hollow, meaning fish are likelier to be hooked when they bite. As the body is flattened, the hooks will be more exposed, which work to hook your catch in the upper lip and lessen the chance that you’ll miss many strikes. 

This lure makes a very distinct plopping sound as it is popped through the water and fish that are used to seeing the average style of topwater frogs will certainly take notice of something new and different. One of the only downsides to using this lure is that it’s a bit more susceptible to catching up on debris with the paddle tail portion. 

6. Zoom Baits Floating Frog

Zoom Baits is another company that has long been one of the best in the fishing industry. Their lures are designed with a no-nonsense approach specifically made to target fish in specific environments. The Zoom Baits Floating Frog is an ideal option for anglers who are not looking for a hollow body frog lure, but instead want the certainty of a solid soft plastic body that will float and skip across anything you come into contact with. 

One of the main complaints that come with hollow body frog lures is the potential for them to develop tears or leaks that cause the lure to fill with water shortly after you’ve made your cast. This renders the lure virtually useless as it will now sink down into the water instead of sitting on top of the surface where it should. The Zoom Baits Floating Frog eliminates all possibility of this happening as it is made of a highly buoyant plastic material that ensures your lure will remain on the surface. 

The Floating Frog comes in a huge variety of colors that lets you select the one that’s right for your specific needs and environment. The legs of the Floating Frog are made with paddle-tail ends that work to create a larger splash and more vibration in the water, which in turn appeals to fish’s senses better than the usual streamer legs that many other brands use. 

7. Lunkerhunt Prop Frog

One of the most realistic-looking frog lures on the market today is the Lunkerhunt Prop Frog. This lure is truly unlike any other in terms of the exquisite detail that the company has used in every aspect of the frog’s anatomy. The lure even features realistic feet that are the same size and shape as a real frog. 

This level of hyper-realistic appearance is beneficial when fishing clear water where fish will be relying on their sense of sight as much as anything else. The feet are turned inward to create a propeller-like effect on the water and make much more vibration when working this lure across the surface. 

The frog’s total body length is 3.5” long, but it features an added hook in the middle designed to help ensure that you don’t miss any strikes from fish that hit the lure just as you start to pop it once again. This frog can be purchased in various color options that are all very well done and appear to be more realistic than most other lures on the market today. 

8. Savage Gear Hollow Frog Imitation Legs

Another of the best frog lures on the market today that is also very realistic in appearance is the Savage Gear Hollow Frog Imitation Legs. Savage Gear is a relatively new company that prides itself on producing some of the most realistic-looking lures in the fishing industry today. This lure offers frog legs about as close to the real thing as you’ll get. 

You can order the Savage Gear Hollow Frog Imitation Legs lure in various colors depending on the specific region you’re fishing and what the natural frogs look like in that area. This lure’s super realistic and hollow legs allow you to more delicately work the frog across the water and produce bites when other lures might not cut it. 

The super realistic appearance is ideal for fishing in exceptionally clear water. This lure is about as anatomically correct as any frog lure on the market. Savage Gear achieved this level of realism by using 3D scanning technology of actual frogs. You can order this frog lure in a large or small size that are both highly effective during the summer months when frogs are active and fish will be looking for them along the surface. 

9. RUNCL Topwater Frog Lures

Sometimes it can be tough to decide which style of frog lure you’ll need in a given situation. The RUNCL Topwater Frog Lures is a solid solution to this common issue as it features five different frog models, each highly effective when used correctly. Each of these frogs have a lifelike design that is sure to attract the attention of fish in clear water, but the action they produce will also work to appeal to their other senses. 

This lure is made of PVC material, which is more biodegradable than other types of frog lures on the market. This means the frog will disintegrate faster than others if you lose it in the water. Each of these frog models feature a weedless design that is ideal for fishing in or around heavy cover such as grass, lily pads, moss, or other areas where you might commonly see frogs. 

This set of five super realistic and well-made frogs are available for about the price of one premium brand frog. This lure set is one that we highly recommend to novice anglers who are somewhat unsure of how each frog lure style works and wants to get an assortment to practice and learn with as they expand their tackle box selection. 

10. Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog

Our list of the best frog lures in today’s fishing industry wouldn’t be complete without mentioning one specific model that anglers have been raving about. The Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog was first introduced very recently and might be the most anatomically accurate frog lure on the market. The frog’s legs are tucked up against the body, but will easily extend out when the lure is popped across the water’s surface, making this frog look about as real as possible. 

This frog is also made with a weedless design that allows you to fish it in just about any cover or structure where frogs are expected to be. The body of the Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog is completely hollow, making it more likely that a fish will clamp down and be hooked when it strikes at this frog as opposed to other styles. 

This frog lure comes in ten different color pattern options that closely resemble actual frogs mostly native to North America. Unlike most other frog lures, this version is very effective when used at a slow or rapid pace as fish won’t easily distinguish between this lure and an actual frog. 

Last update on 2024-03-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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