There is no doubt about it, bass love munching on frogs.
It is for that reason that fishing with topwater frogs has become one of the most effective and one of the most exciting ways to catch bass.
Because these lures have become so effective, it seems like every year there are more and more frog imitating lures on the market.
For that reason, I have put together this post to have a closer look at 9 of the most popular topwater frogs on the market in search for the best topwater frog.
My goal is simply to help you choose the best one for your fishing needs.
What is the best topwater frog?
Here is a preview of some great lures we are going to look at in this post.
- Lunkerhunt Lunker
- Livetarget Hollow Body
- BOOYAH Pad Crasher
- BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher
- Savage Gear Imitation Legs
- Savage Gear Action Legs
- Snag Proof 7512 Ish’s Phat
- Ima Dabeat Topwater
- River2Sea Spittin Wa
Let’s begin….
Lunkerhunt Lunker
Features:
- 2.5 inches long
- Realistic Look
- Soft Plastic – better hookups
One of the most realistic looking frogs that we are going to talk about today is the Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog. This is as real as you can get. It is 2 1/2 inches in length and can extend to 4 1/2 on retrieval because of the legs. The hooks sit tight up against the body making it a 100% weedless topwater frog. You will have no fear throwing this lure in the deepest of cover.
One of the biggest challenges when froggin is the setting the hook. If the plastic is too hard and doesn’t expose the hooks fast enough, you are going to be missing out on many, many fish. However, with this lure, I feel the plastic is really soft. This is good because it allows for better hookups.
While many topwater frogs nowadays are going to skirts. This lure, in particular, has legs. This gives it that lifelike frog kicking motion. When you pause it the legs sit up into the body just like a real frog. In my opinion, you can’t get a more realistic looking frog then the Lunkerhunt Lunker.
If you like the Lunker Frog, but want to create even more disturbance on the water and better your chances of catching more fish you may want to check out the Lunkerhunt Popping Frog.
This has the same design as the Lunker Frog the only difference is the popping action. It is available in two different sizes, 1/2 ounce and 1/4 ounce.
Livetarget Hollow Body
Features:
- Realistic Look
- 100% weedless
- Available in different colors and sizes
When you hear two fishermen talking about topwater frogs, without a doubt you will hear them talking about the Livetarget Hollow Body Frog. This is a very popular frog and for good reason. Time after time this lure has proven to catch fish, big ones!
Like the lunker frog, LiveTarget spent a lot of time creating a frog that looks realistic. This is important especially if you like to deadstick the frog. If the bass gets a good opportunity to look your lure, you want your lure to look as real as possible.
Like most frogs this lure 100% weedless lure, with the hooks hidden behind the body. The plastic is a very thin material, making it compress with very little effort and maximizing your chances of landing more fish.
It is available in several different colors and sizes.
See the LiveTarget hollow body frog in action:
BOOYAH Pad Crasher
Features:
- 2.5 inches long
- Thin durable plastic
- 100% weedless
- Narrow body
The next on our list is the BOOYAH Pad Crasher. This is a hollow body floating topwater frog. It is available in two different sizes. The BOOYAH Pad Crasher is 2 1/2 inches and weighs 1/2 ounce while the BOOYAH Pad Crasher Jr. is 2 inches long and weighs 1/4 ounce.
Which one should you choose? It really doesn’t matter. Both of them are going to catch you fish.
This frog is made from a thin, but durable plastic. The hooks are embedded into the plastic making it 100% weedless. You will have no problems throwing this into the heaviest of cover.
One of the best features to the frog is the noticeable narrow body. This really sets it apart from other topwater frogs on the market such as the ones that we have already mentioned. This narrower body allows for walking the dog with ease.
If you are looking for a frog that you can walk I would recommend you pick up a BOOYAH Pad Crasher.
Watch the BOOYAH Pad Crasher in action:
BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher
Features:
- 2.5 inches long
- Weighs: 1/2 ounce
- 100% weedless
- Popper Frog
If you like the BOOYAH Pad Crasher you will love the BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher.
This frog is very similar to the BOOYAH pad crasher by design but it has one very noticeable difference, the popper front. This is really designed to make as much disturbance to the surface of the water as possible.
I really like the design of the popper because it can be popped with very little effort. This can give bass the idea that the frog is injured or is trying to get away. This action is something bass just simply can’t help, but come up and get it.
This frog 2 1/2 inches long and weighs 1/2 ounce. It is made from the same plastic as the pad crasher and the hooks are 100% weedless.
Throw this the BOOYAH Poppin’ Pad Crasher in patches of cover. Remember to pause between pops.
Savage Gear Imitation Legs
Features:
- Length: 2 1/4 inches
- Weight: 2/3 ounces
- Flexible Plastic
- Lifelike legs
Another very realistic topwater frog is the Savage Gear Imitation Legs. This is a hollow body frog that is designed to be a floating frog. It is 2 1/4 inches and weighs 2/3 ounces. It is made of a flexible plastic that when compressed will expose a single hook.
The single hook design was to improve hookups. This is especially true with frogs that have legs because many times with dual hooks the legs can fold up and get caught on the legs. However, with the single hook design, you will better your chance of landing more fish.
One of the first things you will notice with this frog is that it looks just like a frog, right down to the legs. In fact, it was designed from a 3D scan of an actual frog. Because of the narrow body, it was designed to be a walk the dog type frog.
However, due to the legs and the way it sits in the water because of the weight in the back of the frog, many have found it difficult to walk it. What I have found to be effective with this frog is the design.
Take advantage of this design, it looks just like a frog. Thus it makes a great frog that you can slowly bring across the cover.
Make sure you give the bass plenty of opportunity to look at the bait. Sometimes the longer you wait the better your chances.
Savage Gear Action Legs
Features:
- Length: 2 1/4 inches
- Weight: 2/3 ounces
- Lifelike Legs
Very closely related to the Savage Gear Imitation Legs is the Savage Gear Action Legs. It has the same exact body design including the one single hook on the back. It is 2 1/4 inches long and weighs 2/3 ounces.
The only difference between the two is the legs. They call these legs action legs for a reason. They are designed to cause a disturbance on the backside of the frog. Just like with a popper frog you want to cause a commotion to attract the bass.
The Savage Gear Action Legs does just that except rather than the commotion being in created in the front of the lure it is in the back of the lure.
Since the design between the two lures is different we can expect the way they are fished to be different as well. The imitation legs are designed to be worked slow, while action legs are designed to be worked quickly across the water
Throw the Savage Gear Action Legs when you want to cover a lot of water quickly. This is a great lure to quickly fish across lily pads.
So what do you think? Is the Savage Gear Frog the best? Watch it in action below:
Snag Proof 7512 Ish’s Phat
Features:
- Length: 2 3/4 inches
- Weight: 3/4 ounces
- 100% weedless
- Inner Tube Technology
Another popular topwater frog amongst our readers is the Snag Proof 7512 Ish’s Phat Frog. It is a topwater floating frog. It is 2 3/4 inches and weighs just about 3/4 ounces. It is made of a plastic that hides the hooks making it 100% weedless.
One of the best features of this lure is that it has what is called ITT or Inner Tube Technology. What this means is that the seal of the hook is completely separate from the body of the frog. This helps to ensure that no water gets into the actual body of the frog causing it to sink.
Another thing you will notice is that it is a little bit heavier than other frogs that we are reviewing today. I actually like that it is heavier because it will allow you to launch it a mile.
It comes standard with a glass rattle inside which can act as a dinner bell to bass. Which is really a unique feature because not many frogs come with a rattle.
Because this lure can be cast very well and because of the rattle I think the Snag Proof 7512 Ish’s Phat Frog is great for throwing in situations where you want to cover a lot of water quickly.
Is this lure the best topwater frog? Learn more in the following video:
Ima Dabeat
Features:
- Length: 1 4/5 inches
- Weight: 1/4 ounces
- Smallest hollow body frog
Another unique frog, one perhaps you haven’t heard of is the Ima Dabeat Topwater Frog. As you can see this frog is a small frog. It is 1 4/5 inches and weighs 1/4 ounce. This is definitely one of the smallest topwater frogs that we are going to talk about, but don’t let the size fool you, this lure will definitely catch you some fish.
You will notice it has a popper in the front of this lure so it is designed to be a popped. It is very nicely made with the hooks hidden behind the body to make it 100% weedless.
In my experience, you are going to either love this frog or you are going to hate this frog. Many times when froggin we want to offer the bass a big fat frog. We want to create a lot of disturbance to invite bass to come up and take our lure.
However, because the Ima Dabeat Topwater Frog is so small you have to fish it a different way. This is especially true because the size also limits your casting ability.
I would recommend this frog a finesse frog to be thrown around cover, but necessarily directly into cover.
When to throw it: This frog isn’t designed to be bombed into heavy cover and cover a lot of area. Rather I would use it whenever you want to finesse the frog around cover such as laydowns, trees, docks etc.
River2Sea Spittin Wa
Features:
- Length: 2 1/4 inches
- Weight: 9/16 ounces
- Popper
Another great topwater frog to be added to our list is the River2Sea Spittin Wa Frog.
It is 2 1/4 inches and weighs 9/16 ounces. The first thing you will notice is the popper head on this frog. This lure is designed to be popped to create commotion and attract attention. Right behind the popper are holes which are designed to create a bubble trail.
It is not the best to be walked but does a great job making its presence known and bringing the bass up to come and get it.
See the River2Sea Spittin Wa Frog in action in the following video:
The Perfect Frog Fishing Setup
As was mentioned earlier, when fishing with these lures it can be difficult to get a good hookset. Oftentimes when anglers miss a fish they quickly push the blame on the lure, but the problem might not be the lure itself, but rather the equipment.
Let’s briefly talk about the best rod, reel and line to use when froggin’ for bass.
Froggin Rod. One rod that I would recommend for frogging is the St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod. This is a meaty rod that will give you enough power to quickly get the fish out from cover before it has an opportunity to get hung up in structure.
For more information on froggin rods, check out this previous post: Landing More Bass With The Best Frog Rod Of 2019-Extreme Froggin’
Froggin Reel. When froggin you are going to want to cover a lot of water and to do it as quickly as possible. For that reason, you need a reel that has the ability to cast far as well as bring in a good amount line per turn. The Abu Garcia Revo X High Speed is a good option with a 7.3:1 gear ratio.
Froggin Fishing Line. Fishing around cover calls for powerful gear and an abrasion resistant line. One such fishing line that I always recommend for any type of heavy cover fishing is Suffix 832 Braid. This is a heavy duty line made with 8 different fibers ensuring that once you hook a bass it stays pinned. I would also recommend to always fish with at least a 65-pound test.
Final Thoughts….
So which frog is your favorite?
As you can see from the few that we talked about, that is a very difficult question to answer.
If you like finesse fishing you might enjoy checking out the Japanese Ima DaBeat. If you are simply looking for something that best resembles a frog you can’t beat what LiveTarget and the Lunker have to offer. Lastly, if you like to draw fish in by creating a lot of disturbance on the water, then check out the River2Sea Spittin Frog.
In fact, even though this post is pretty long, we didn’t even talk about them all. There are so many more on the market. The important thing is to get out there a find out which one works best for you.
What do you think is the best hollow body frog? Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Leave a Reply