Entry 204-2

Bass Fishing in June with Mark Rose

Part 2: Know What the Frog Knows

Question:  Mark, how are you fishing the rubber frog in the grass?

Rose: I keep my frog fishing real simple. If the wind’s blowing a little bit, I’ll work the bait really fast. If there’s not much of a wind, I’ll slow the frog down. Under windy conditions, the bass will be aggressive. Then I need to make more sound with my frog, and I’ll chug it really fast on top of the water. When the wind’s not blowing, the bass won’t be as active as they are on windy days. Therefore, I’ll slow down the frog and fish it much slower through the grass.

You have to get inside the bass’ mind with the frog, and you do this by pretending you’re the frog. When a frog comes through heavy grass, it’s not going to be hopping or swimming very much. Instead it will be moving really slow because the frog has cover between it and the predator bass. The frog can just walk on top of the grass, eat bugs and not be very concerned about becoming a meal for a bass. However, when that frog reaches an open spot in the grass, it realizes that when it swims across open water it’s subject to getting eaten.

Therefore, when that frog crosses that open water, the frog will speed up its pace and try to get across that opening before a bass can spot the frog and eat it. Then when the frog gets to the next thick patch of grass, it can somewhat rest. So, I work fast in the open areas of the grass and slow the bait down when I come to the thick sections of grass.

Question: On what pound test line are you fishing your rubber frog?

Rose: I fish it on 50-pound-test braided line.

Question: What do you do when the bass blows up and misses the frog?

Rose: I cast back to the spot where the bass has blown up with a “do-nothing” type bait like the Strike King Zero. I just want that cigar-shaped worm to hit in the hole where the bass has blown up, fall slowly and begin to wiggle slightly, to give the bass an easy meal to eat in the same spot where it’s missed the meal a few minutes earlier. Or, I may throw a Strike King finesse worm back into that hole, if I have one of those worms rigged-up on a rod and ready to cast.

Question: So, Mark, you keep an extra rod out on the deck with a subtle bait on it any time you’re fishing a rubber frog?

Rose: Yes, I’ll have 1 to 20 rods out on my deck ready for me to grab and fish any time I’m in a tournament. The difference in winning and losing a tournament can depend on how quickly you can get the right size, color, shape and action of bait to the spot where a bass has blown up, or where you’ve seen a bass move. The quickest way to get a different bait back to the place where you’ve spotted the bass is by having plenty of rods with numbers of different types of lures tied to them sitting on the deck of your boat.

At this time of year, you must have a top-water lure rigged and handy for when you see a bass break on the surface, chasing shad. You always need a Strike King spinner bait tied on your rod to be ready if you get some wind on the place you’re fishing. Too, you have to have a Strike King Zero tied to another rod. Then, if the bass blows up on the frog, and you miss that fish, you’ll still be prepared. In June, you must be prepared to be extremely versatile in an instant. Then, if the area you’re fishing gets a quick weather change, you see a bass, or you miss a bass, you’ll still have the appropriate lure to try to make that bass bite.

Question: How many of your rods will be spinning rods, and how many will be bait-casting rods?

Rose: I like to always have at least one spinning rod out on the deck at all times. I’ll usually have it rigged with some type of shaky-head jig and a Strike King finesse worm. A lot of times I’ll even throw that finesse worm in the grass. Under such tough conditions, you have to make those fish bite before you can catch them. Usually before I’ll give up on a patch of grass, I’ll fish that shaky-head Strike King finesse worm on 8-pound-test line. I’ve caught a ton of 4- to 5-pound bass using this tactic. Although when you’re fishing in the grass, you probably will choose to fish with 50-pound-test braided line, when I’m fishing that shaky-head worm, I prefer to fish with 8-pound-test line. This size of line allows the worm to work better, and I can slip the worm in-between the holes in the grass better than I can bigger worms.

Question: How do you get a big bass out of the grass using 8-pound test line?

Rose: I’ll let a bass bog itself down in the grass and get tangled-up. Then I’ll go to the fish. One of the biggest mistakes that most people make when fishing light line in the grass is that they try to control the bass on that light line just as they do when they’re fishing that 50-pound-test braided line. You just can’t do that because you’ll break your line and lose the fish. You have to go to the bass when you get it on and dig it out of the grass if you hope to land that bass. Bass in heavy grass won’t go very far, and you don’t have to panic when you hook a bass in that thick grass. You just go to the fish, untangle it, get it out of the grass and put the bass in your live well.

Question: What 8-pound-test line are you using?

Rose: I like the Seaguar 8-pound test. That line is really strong, and I can hardly break it.

Question: Mark, why do you like fishing out of a War Eagle boat?

Rose: I believe fishing from a War Eagle boat definitely gives me an advantage. When I start looking for a place to fish, the first thing I search for is some type of area where most bass fishermen won’t put their boats because they’re concerned that if they take their boats to that spot, they’ll tear up their boats. These $50,000 fiberglass boats are great for fishing open water and for running up and down the lake. However, when you spend that much money on a fishing boat, the last thing you want to do is to tear up your boat and motor by fishing a really-rough environment. War Eagle’s boats can go into fishing environments that will terrify a glass boat fisherman. I’m convinced I can take that War Eagle boat and jump a beaver dam, if I need to, if I want to find a secluded honey spot past it and away from other anglers.

Next: Where I Go Next

Contents:

• Part 1: In the Heat of the Battle
• Part 2: Know What the Frog Knows
• Part 3: Where I Go Next
• Part 4: Do It on Top
• Part 5: How to Fish Shut-Down Bass