Fishing tip of the week

Fishing Tip of the Week

Tuesday, 20 July 2021 15:27

Frog mats
by Mike Gerry

Not all grass areas are created equal. When you have miles of great-looking grass that all looks good, something must stand out so you can make a choice; where do you fish, and what makes one clump of grass look better than others? These are the questions you must answer every time you get on the water and start looking for that frog bite.
First, grass must have a couple of key things going on. The first things are some holes, or open areas where the bass can feed and see through. Secondly, the grass must have a void under it where the bass can gather and look for food underneath the mats. I also look for grass that has become burnt-looking, and cheesy, where your frog makes a trail through the grass. That burnt, nasty-looking stuff, is always the best place to catch a big bass.

Next, let your ears be your guide. As many of us painfully know, the grass gnats can be pests, but when you hear bluegill feeding on those nasty gnats and they are making a popping sound; you have found some perfect mat choices.
Once you have found some key areas, you can start narrowing the choices down even further. Other elements lead you deeper into frogging territory. For example: water current, if the area you have identified has water current moving around it from wind, or dam control, you have once again narrowed your choice to even a better set of elements.

Grass mats make all kinds of different formations, but when they form points, or have outside and inside bends where the bass can feed from, you have once again narrowed your choice and gotten closer to the some of the best frogging areas on the lake.

There are also other visual keys that can define a good frogging area. Blow holes are one. If you visually see where bass have exploded through the mat that’s a telling indicator that there are bass in that mat area. Many times, you can also see the drag lines where another angler has dragged a fish from that very blowhole, indicating that this area is being fished for a good reason.
Captain Mike