Prok Frog Tips...1976

 Fishermen and big bass alike JUS’ LOVE THEM PORK FRAWGS

By Gene Kroupa

👉 SKITTERING (weed beds, reeds and lily pad fields)

> You'll need a "weedless" spoon - like the Johnson Silver Minnow shown in the foto - and a medium size pork frog. Run the weedless hook through the slit in the frog's nose so that the frog's belly is facing up. I like to bevel the front edge of the pork frog by slicing off some of the fat.

> Start out by casting parallel to the cover. As soon as the bait hits the water, hold your rod high and retrieve at a speed that is just fast enough to keep the bait from sinking.

> Next start pitching your spoon frog deeper into the cover. You'll get hung up even with this supposedly weedless lure, but you'll also hang into some pretty nice bass, too.

> If the bass aren't in the mood for topwater action, then let the spoon sink near the bottom (The Golden Zone is within 2 feet of the bottom), before you start a very slow retrieve…When you get a strike, retaliate immediately and repeatedly.

👉 FALLEN TREES, BRUSH AND HEAVY WEEDS

> Just take a Shannon twin spinner, trim off the bucktail, and add a modified pork frog. You modify a medium size pork frog by beveling the front so it isn't square. Then cut (score) the underside of the rind, next to the chunk, to thin the hinge and make the tail section more flexible.

> You can rifle the resulting lure into the thickest stuff which looks impossible to fish. I usually let it sink to the bottom before retrieving, although you can fish it at any depth by starting the retrieve sooner.

(I'd imagine a spinner bait could take the place of the long defunct Shannon Spinner... David)

👉 CLEAR, SHALLOW WATER

> At times like this, I get rid of all the extra hardware and wing it "free-style," with just a green or yellow pork frog on a weedless No. 2 hook. I'll toss the bait up on the bank and then hop it into the water with a realistic plop and let it sink.

> If nothing happens, I kind of jig it back towards me trying to make it look like a lazy frog out for a Sunday swim. Once the frog has moved 10 feet from shore, I quickly reel it in on the surface.

Wisconsin Fins and Feathers, June 1976

Wis. DNR photo (fish)

NOTE: (Brian Portlock, the man behind Facebooks, "Structure Cafe", made the following observation...which I agree with.)

For whatever reason, I tend to view the demise of pork baits as ‘the end of an era’ - a generational change - more so than any other bait or lure, right or wrong.

I have heard that modern versions of the classic pork frog are on the market, but I've never tried the.