Product Review: Bass Pro Shops Kermy Frog

Company Desciption:  Guaranteed to bring Miss Hawggy charging in for a place at the dinner table. The Bass Pro Shops® Kermy Frog features an incredibly realistic body design cutting through the wind and lands belly-down, ready to start kickin' its way through the heaviest cover. Superactive silicone rubber legs respond to every movement of your rod tip. Exciting blowups await!

Features & Benefits:

• Realistic body design
• Superactive silicone rubber legs
• Heavy Gauge Sharp Hooks

Review: The Bass Pro Shops Kermy is the budget hollow bodied frog that I'll buy whenever they go on sale.  At $2.99 on sale its a price you cant beat.  It's often said that you get what you pay for but in this case I think it would be misstated.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure people have had some quality control issues with this frog.  But for me I havent had a problem with them at all.  In fact I've used the same frog the last two years with no problems.  It hasnt begun taking on water, the belly weight hasnt flown out and it still rights itself when it lands upside down.  All of this and I've caught at minimum twenty bass on this frog.

The hooks are stout and sharp out of the package.  In fact after fishing last years season with it I checked the hooks and they weren't bad, hence the reason I fished the same black Kermy frog this year. I can honestly say I didnt lose any fish due to dull hooks on this frog and the fish I lost on this frog were due to me setting the hook too soon or having too much vegetation in the way of the hook set.

The only downside I've noticed about the Kermy hollow bodied frog is that the paint job doesnt last very long.  Don't get me wrong its a good looking frog out of the package but over time the paint comes off, which I expected.

The overall action of the frog is pretty good, much like any other hollow bodied frog.  However it's not the easiest frog to walk the dog with.  But with eventually I figured it out.

Overall the Bass Pro Shops Kermy frog gets a 5 stars for me simply because it does the one thing I want a hollow bodied frog to do.  Catch Fish!!

How I Used: I fished the frog over thick scum mats, lilly pads and even from the bank into open water.  When fishing in cover like mats and pads I fished it relatively slow so bass could zero in on the bait with no probems.

Set Up: 6ft. 6 inch Medium Berkley Lightning casting rod with a Abu Garcia Silver max reel spooled with 45lb braided line

Colors: 15 colors available
Length: 2 3/8'
Weight: 5/8 oz.

Price: $6.99 (2.99 during the fishing classic)

Pros: At 5/8 oz. the Kermy cast long distances.  As well it has held up very well for me, in fact I've fished the same black Kermy two years in a row without it taking on water or losing the belly weight.  Bass pro did a great job with this hollow bodied frog.

Cons: The only con I've found with the Bass Pro Shops Kermy frog is the fact that the paint job doesn't too long.  After a fair amount of fishing the paint begins to wear off. 

The Sluggo Saved The Day

It seems as though this year has been a year of late starts for me when it comes to fishing.  Every time I've had a chance to go I've either hit the snooze button too many times or due to my lack of organization gotten on the water far later than I would've wanted. So why should this day be any different, I got this day started a few hours later than I would've wanted because I was indecisive on whether or not I even wanted to go fishing. Not only was I indecisive but I failed to pack my stuff up the night before, despite my wife telling me I should get ready.  So the late bird has to spend more time than needed packing up the rubber worms.

Despite my late start though I made it to Newburgh lake excited and ready to fish. I jumped out the truck and reached into the back seat only to find that I left my tackle bag at home on the couch. Really... After all that work, I get to the lake and have no tackle to actually fish with. However, thank God I wasn't as organized as I'd like to be because I had my junky backpack in the back which had a couple of packs of plastics in it and I still had last years frog tied on one of the rods. Eureka!! Hopefully my pack of black sluggos would save my fishing trip or maybe I was already smelling a skunk.

 A quick paddle across the lake and three cast in and I hook up with this little guy under a downed tree.  At just over 13 inches he's no monster but a heck of a fish for a guy with no tackle. I assumed this little guy wasn't alone under this downed tree he was sitting in so I threw several more cast in and around it.  Probably around my fifth cast I hooked into fish number 2.  Shortly after pitching into the spot and a couple twitches with the soft jerk bait he smashed it.  This little guy was only about 15 inches but well worth the fight.

I ended up fishing this area for about 15 minutes before deciding it was time to move about 30 yards down to another downed tree that was surrounded by scum.  I ended up fishing that spot for about 10 mins with nothing more than one swirl at my bait.  However right when I was about to leave I saw a bass blow up not far from where I was.  It was time to paddle on and grab the rod with my Basspro Shops Kermy frog on it.

When I got to the spot where I saw the fish blow up I pitched the frog close to where I had seen the fish.  However due to not so accurate casting I was a couple feet off from where the fish had shown itself.  "No biggie... I'll just make another cast", I figured.  One more cast to the bank just behind where the bass had blown up and I was walking the frog right back to where I had seen the largemouth.  That first few feet of walking the frog and nothing so I decided to pause the frog right at the spot where the fish was spotted.  No sooner had I paused it and "splash" she had nailed my bait and was quickly becoming the highlight of my day.

Once I'd gotten this fish to the yak I couldn't be more excited. At 18 inches this fish was not my largest bass by far.  However for a day that started out with me leaving all of my tackle at home and with it my hope of catching anything, this fish made the trip worth it.

After I caught that fish I ended up fishing for about an hour more.  I ended up losing 3 more bass 2 on the frog and one on the sluggo.  But hey, even losing 3 fish is better than sitting in front of a computer at work dreaming about fishing.  Tight lines everyone and thanks for reading.

Product Review: Abu Garcia Silvermax

Company Description:  Lightweight, powerful, and precisely designed, this attractive and affordable Abu Garcia® Silver Max™ Low-Profile Baitcast Reel gives you everything you need, including a handy flipping switch so you can make quick short casts to cover. Other features include five Ball Bearings plus Instant Anti-Reverse™ bearing, graphite frame and sideplates, Power Disk™ drag system, Duragear™ brass gears, and MagTrax™ brake system.

• Handy flipping switch
• Five Ball Bearings plus Instant Anti-Reverse bearing
• Graphite frame and sideplates
• Power Disk drag system
• Duragear brass gears
• MagTrax brake system

Specs:
Gear Ratio: 6.4:1
Line Capacity: 12/145
Braid Capacity: 30/130
Ball Bearings: 5+1
Max Drag: 15 Lbs.
Recovery: 28" Per Turn
Reel Weight (oz): 8


Review:  This is the first baitcaster I've owned and have to say I love it. I bought it specifically for frog fishing in thick weeds and lily pads and I have to say it worked out great.  The drag is pretty smooth for those times when I just happen to have had a couple of large pike explode on my frog. As well it's design and braking system are simple, so not too many bells and whistles to confuse someone new to using bait casting reels. I paired it with a Berkley Lightning six foot medium action rod (I know not the best for heavy weeds and pads but good for multiple uses).  I spooled it with 30lb Spiderwire Stealth braid and it worked out great.  I used this reel for both frogging and spinnerbait fishing and had a blast.
I would definitely buy another Abu Garcia Silvermax and recommend them to anyone in the market for baitcasting reel.

Pros:  It's pretty inexpensive and durable for the price.  The drag is smooth and holds up pretty well against larger fish.

Cons: The only con I found was that when the drag was completely locked down it would some times loosen up when pulling in fish covered in weeds.

Price: $59.99

Product Review: Matzuo Nano Kroaker Frog

Company Description:  The Matzuo Nano Kroaker Frog is the perfect floating bait for hard to reach bass.  Fish this bait in lily pads, timber or any other heavy cover.  The cupped mouth spits a large plume of water when popped. Offered in a variety of realistic finishes for nearly all conditions.  This floating frog bait is a true trophy producer!

Features Benefits:  The Nano Kroaker Frog has a cupped mouth for better popping action as well as multi-strand legs and duel weedless black nickel Matzuo hooks. The Nano frog comes in both 2 inch (1/4 oz.)  and 3.5 inch (5/8 oz) sizes to fit your desires.  Finally the Nano Kroaker has a small disk at the base of the frogs body which weighs the rear end down for longer cast as well as keeps the rear portion of the bait below the head for a more realistic action on retrieval.

Review:  Initially I fished this bait as is out of the box with no alterations.  To say the least  I was initially very happy with the bait as on the first cast a small 12 inch bass exploded from under some lily pads and inhaled it.

Honestly this was the case pretty often however what I learned pretty quickly was that this bait suffered

from the same issues as many of the other hollow bodied frogs.  First, the legs out of the packaging are far too long as a result when a fish took it out on open water many times the fish would grab the legs and pull it under on short strikes.  This ultimately resulted in more missed fish than I would've liked.

The second problem I noticed was that they hooks are bent in too deeply which didn't really make much of a difference with smaller bass that took the bait.  However whenever I set the hook on larger bass because of the sharp bend on the hooks often I'd pull the bait out of the fishes mouth not getting a good hook set.  That's not to say that the hooks aren't sharp, in fact the hooks are very nice especially given the lower price point of the Nano Kroaker Frog.

Lastly one unique thing that happens with this frog, not sure if I want to call it a problem just yet, is that due to the weighted disc in the rear of the body this frog sinks below the surface.  While this flaw is something I'm sure the people at Matzuo didn't intend to have it actually didn't stop bass from attacking
this bait.  In fact I've caught at least ten bass that attacked this frog while it was swimming below the surface.  Overall I give this bait a 4 stars because of the lack of floating and minor tuning issues out of the package and the fact that the cupped mouth really doesn't add much popping sound to the retrieve.

Pros:  The best thing about this frog is that when fish are not really interested in eating bigger frogs the Nano Kroaker Frog draws them through the muck.  As well with the weighted disk in the rear of the bait it imparts a great life like action with the flick of a wrist.

Cons:  First the legs, like on other frogs on the market, are too long out of the package which often leads to missed fish because they grab the legs rather than the body of the bait.  As well the nickel hooks are angled too deeply over the body which has led to several lost larger bass due to inability to set the hook.  Lastly the same weighted disk which aids in casting and imparts great action, causes the bait to sink rather than float as designed. 

Price:  $3.49 - $3.99

Understanding Topwater Baits

Ask any angler what their favorite way to fish is and odds are your answer will be topwater fishing. Why? Because there is nothing like seeing a fish explode out of seemingly no where to engulf your bait.   The adrenaline rush it gives anglers is unparalleled and will have you eager to throw your bait back in the water after landing that fish.                

Not only that but depending on what bait you're using topwater baits give you a great way to fish areas blanketed with fish harboring weeds and lilly pads.  So just to simplify things a bit for you here is a list of the different types of topwater baits available.

Hollow Frogs & Rats:  Hollow bodied frogs and rats are probably the ultimate lilly pad fishing bait. This is due to the fact that they are weedless and easily crawl across weed mats and pads producing a big silhouette for fish to see from the underside of pads.  Don't be afraid to tie a frog or rat on and give it a whirl, fish love them and trust me you will too.



Poppers:  Poppers also known as chuggers and spitters have concave faces that cause them to pop, gurgle or spit water when you twitch them.  Unlike frogs and rats poppers are not weedless and need to be fished in relatively open water or in water where the tops of weeds haven't reached the top of the water yet (I've had great success in this case).  Poppers are retrieved with a series of rapid twitches but don't be afraid to vary it up.

Stick Baits (Walkers):  I believe the Zara Spook might be the most widely used stick bait there is on the  market.  It's cigar shape and weighted rear end allows it to have a walk the dog (side to side) action as your twitch the bait.  Stick baits are also baits for open water or waters where the weeds have not reached the surface as they, like poppers, have treble hooks at the front and rear end.

Crawlers: The Jitterbug is the standard for crawling topwater baits.  The wide concave lip causes the bait have a side to side action accompanied by a "plop plop" sound that fish can't resist.  Simply cast it into open water or waters that have weeds below the surface and hold on.  Crawlers are great baits for night time, heavily overcast and rainy day fishing.

Propbaits:  Propbaits look similar to stickbaits with a more narrow profile and small propellors at each end. They're fished with twitches and frequent pauses that make props spin simulating feeding baitfish.  Like many others on the topwater list they are good for open water and water with below surface weeds.

Buzzbaits:  Buzzbaits are great baits for covering large amounts of water within a short time.  They have a large propellor like blade that throw a lot of water making the buzz sound across the surface. Retrieve them slowly and steadily as they sink when you stop reeling.  As well you want to retrieve the slowly in order to keep the bait in the strike zone longer avoiding missed strikes.




Topwater baits are a great choice for fishing as any fisherman will tell you.  However don't get drawn in to the belief that they are only a bass fishing bait because almost all fish will take bait off of the top you just have to chose what they want.  In fact my preferred method of fishing for panfish is with a small flyfishing popper or a foam spider.

Thanks for reading
Kwan