Evergreen 2010 Kicker Frog

A wide-gap original single hook sits over a six-keel weedless belly with an external metal belly weight, a combination built for easier casting and a higher hook-up rate than a typical hollow-body frog. That balance of action and durability matters most once the frog is worked into cover thick enough to smother a lesser hollow-body design after only a few fish.

Suited to matted vegetation, pads and slop where a weedless topwater presentation is needed to draw bass up through cover. Overcast skies, low light and the last hour before dark are typically when the biggest bass move up onto the mat or pads to feed on the surface.

Work with a walking or hopping retrieve across the surface, using the weighted belly to keep the frog stable and upright between pulls. Keep slack out of the line through the retrieve so the hookset can be driven home the instant a fish engulfs the bait rather than just swirling at it.

A heavy-power frog rod, a high-speed baitcaster, 40-50 lb braid and no separate leader suit punching this frog through mats and setting the hook fast on the strike. A stiff, fast-taper blank matters here, since it takes real rod pressure to pull a big bass clear of matted cover once it has been hooked.