There are a few select baits I make certain to have handy whenever I go fishing. Regardless of whether I’m fishing on a big lake or a small, private farm pond, I always have a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog rigged up. As a matter of fact, I have one rod that’s solely used for this lure—I’ve never rigged it with anything else. That’s how much I use it.
After years of experience and several hundred fish catches with it, I figured I’d let the proverbial cat out of the bag—if it’s not already. There are many things I like about it, including the following:
- Versatility
- Durability
- Hookup ratio
- Castability
- Color selection
One frog, three different options
You’ll come across several lures within the fishing industry that have just one application. Sometimes it’s inevitable and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but anytime I discover one lure that gives me flexibility when fishing it, I try to share it with our readers.
The Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog gives you three different options that can be utilized in different situations.
- Walk it—When most people think about frog fishing, they can’t help but imagine thick stretches of lush vegetation or gnarly wood cover. The Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog, however, is an outstanding choice for open water situations. Whether you’re fishing it underneath docks or capitalizing on an insane shad spawn, it will get plenty of bites. You can walk this frog just as you would a traditional hard topwater lure and draw some vicious strikes from pressured bass. Schooling bass always see the generic topwater baits, but when’s the last time someone chunked a frog at ‘em? Probably never. This presentation is also great when fishing in sparse vegetation as it allows you to incorporate plenty of movement into your retrieve while keeping the frog in the most productive strike zones.
- Chug it—This technique reminds me of watching those guys peacock bass fish in Brazil. If the conditions are right, you can enjoy a lot of success by chugging this frog around thick cover. Just a sharp, downward twitch is all that’s necessary to create a ridiculous amount of commotion. This works really well for me throughout the prespawn and post-spawn periods, but don’t expect to get a bunch of bites. You may only draw interest from three or four bass all day, but trust me—they’ll be bigguns. This is a great way to catch those elusive kicker fish on tournament days.
- Pop it—This is probably the most widely used technique for the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog, but there’s a good reason behind it. With small, downward twitches of your rod tip, the frog will make a very unique “spitting” sound that tends to draw bass from a long distance. It doesn’t sound like any topwater popper I’ve ever heard, which may explain its effectiveness in my home waters. It’s not uncommon to see bass waking from several feet away to annihilate this little dude.
Durability of Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog
It’s hard to find a topwater frog that lasts—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to toss expensive frogs in the trash after a few dozen fish catches.
I’ve always been super impressed by the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog’s durability. After about 20 to 30 fish catches, you’ll start to notice some color loss on the belly of the frog, but I attribute it to the fact that this thing catches a large percentage of my 5-pound plus bass. If you experience any color loss, don’t lose faith—it will still work just as well. I have several of these lures I’ve used since college and I still catch fish with them on an almost weekly basis.
The hooks are also ridiculously durable. They’re specially designed 3/0 Gamakatsu hooks that have never bent or rolled-over on me. They fit the frog perfectly and stay sharp for a really long time.
Hookup ratio of Bronzeye Frog
Truth be told, the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog is ready to catch fish straight from the package. Its hooks sit very tight to the body, making snags and hang-ups nonexistent when fishing in the crud. I have, however, been able to further increase my hookup ratio by barely bending the hooks away from the body with a pair of pliers. I’ll only do this in open water situations, but it seems to ensure solid hookups a bit more.
Video of Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog
I caught a good one on camera last year with this bait. To see the fish catch and learn more in-depth tips regarding this technique, click on this video of Frogging Shallow Cover.
Throughout my experience, I’ve learned something very important with this frog—when the fish eats it, don’t lose your mind and swing for the fences. Instead, wait about one second, reel down your slack and set the hook when you feel the weight of the fish. If you can train yourself to do this, you’ll rarely miss a fish with this lure—bent hooks or not.
Casting distance of Bronzeye Frog
This frog weighs 1/2-ounce, but it really doesn’t feel that heavy when you’re holding it in your hand. When I first started using the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog years ago, I was a little concerned about its castability, but it actually casts like a rocket with very little effort. You won’t have to fight backlashes with your reel or throw your shoulder out of socket to get it where it needs to go. An easy, smooth cast is all you need.
Although a lot of topwater frogs have a tendency to land upside-down after a long cast or skip, you won’t have that problem with the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog. I throw this thing a few times almost every week and have never had it land upside-down. It lands belly-down each and every time.
Colors of Bronzeye Frog
If you look on Tackle Warehouse, you’ll find 21 colors available in the Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog. These colors range from a beautiful (and perhaps my favorite) Red Ear color to an awesome looking Black Widow color. They have both “loud” colors and natural colors, so with little effort you’ll be able to find a color that looks unreal for your favorite fishery.
Look in my boat anytime on any lake and you’ll see a Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog tied on to a rod somewhere. After catching hundreds of big bass on ‘em, I’m hooked for life. When I need to catch a big fish during a tournament or guide trip, this is one of my all-time favorites.
The SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
