Frogs, grass, and bass; together, a lethal combination on any reservoir and few lures more exciting to fish with. The topwater explosions can make even the seasoned professional angler weak in the knee. Professional FLW Tour angler Kyle Mabrey knows this feeling all too well, but also has experienced bringing that giant across the mat in to the boat. Mabrey loves fishing with hollow belly frogs like the new Pad Crasher.

The Pad Crasher by Booyah Bait Company (www.lurenet.com) is a hollow body frog that features a bass boat-style belly allowing it to walk back and forth when twitched. This action is referred to as “frog-walking” and extremely effective in open water. “I am likely to fish with a Pad Crasher any time of year in certain places as long as there is grass; although the best time to fish a frog is post spawn or later in the year around September and October.” Mabrey likes sunny days with a south wind blowing during the pre-spawn as bass are getting ready to spawn. “During pre-spawn around early March lots of quality bass will be moving up. I look for the water temperature to be near the 57- to 58-degrees and start fishing a hollow belly frog,” said Mabrey.

If the conditions are right, all an angler has to do is locate where the bass are hiding. The Pad Crasher was designed to be fished in heavy aquatic vegetation. Their double hooks are slightly imbedded into the back section of the frog to keep it from hanging up or getting snagged. An interior weight system that is built into the Pad Crasher also increases hook ups and allows an angler to cast it farther. Another feature unique to the Pad Crasher is a flow through design that drains water from the body cavity as it moves back and forth in the water. Mabrey did have one tip when fishing with the Pad Crasher. “I like to take BB’s and insert them into the hollow body of the Pad Crasher. This gives it a louder sound as it moves back and forth resulting in more strikes,” explained Mabrey.  

Before Mabrey makes his first cast with a Pad Crasher he checks possible locations with his sonar and eyes. “My sonar will show me what’s under the surface like creek channels, river channels, depressions, stumps, humps, brush piles, or lay downs, but my eyes are the most important thing I have for finding where the bass are hiding,” said Mabrey. Of course, Mabrey has the advantage of being tall; he’s at least 6’4” giving him a bird’s eye view and can scout for sweet spots just like a Blue Herron does.  Mabrey noted that even lakes with a lot of grass would not have bass everywhere. “There’s lots of spots on a lake I like to fish a frog like boat lanes where the grass has been cut by a boat’s prop, soft spots in large areas of thick matted grass, open areas next to grass, and around scum,” said Mabrey. If Mabrey had to choose, he would fish the scum before the weed beds. “I really believe that there are more bass in areas with scum, easier to catch and land,” said Mabrey.

Mabrey keeps it simple when fishing with a hollow body frog using braid fishing line, a Powell model 735 rod with lots of backbone and a high quality reel. The Pad Crasher is available in six colors including Swamp Frog, Leopard Frog, Cricket Frog, Bull Frog, Albino Frog, and Kuro Frog. It comes pre-rigged with a double 3/0-hook and weights ½-once.

The one drawback to fishing a hollow body frog is hook sets. Some anglers will set to soon and not get a hook into the bass. It’s easy to do when a bass comes smashing on your frog squirting water everywhere. “When I do a hook set on a hollow body frog, I like to feel them pulling on it before setting the hook then reel in the slack and set the hook hard,” explained Mabrey.

Back and forth; back and forth; across the surface a frog goes swimming and hopping before the inevitable happens. As an angler, you never get over the excitement of watch a bass come out the grass to annihilate their frog.