Can bass get familiar with the same topwater frog.

[Bassin15]

Hey there,

 

Lately I have been throwing alot of topwater frogs, i don't have a boat so i fish this spot very often, and i was wondering if they can get accustomed to seeing the same frog over and over knowing that it's a lure. Because when i started to fish topwater at this spot the fish would just come up and kill the thing over and over, now i can hardly get a blowup. Just wondering if they do that or if any of you have had this happen. I was thinking of getting a different type of frog such as a prop frog or something thinking that might help. 

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks. 

[grimsbylander]

Sure they can. But I’ll bet you fish it they same way every time too. Change it up....try fishing it very aggressively or add in very long pauses(1-3 minute) before a twitch. Any bait can work differently just by fishing it differently. 

As for trying new baits, it would be more than a little hypocritical for me to not suggest buying more tackle. ?

Edited July 29, 2019 by grimsbylander

[Bassin15]

Thanks, i try alot of different retrieves, maybe i will try just letting it sit there along time before moving it and see if that works. 

[aplumma]

Something to think about as you fish is that fish look for the easiest meal available. This means that a fish that sees a frog that is health will not be tempted to eat it because it is not putting off an easy prey signal. When a fish is not healthy then it will swim with a different cadence. This means that if you are fishing with a pull pull stop cadence then try to switch it up with  drag drag drag stop stop rhythm. You also have a few different types of frogs to try. Some have a streamlined for dragging over top of the grass and pads and some have a popper type of face to make more commotion. The use of topwater lures is one of the most exciting bites for sure but it is less productive as the water warms up and as the sun  becomes stronger. I can throw topwater as long as there is shade on the water  but it becomes less effective as the sun shines brightly into the water. If I am not getting a topwater bite I will switch to something that goes deeper such as a crankbait or a spinnerbait. IF there is not action then I will go to sencos or soft baits to find the fish that are deep. 

Hope this helps

Art 

[jimmer]

I would try throwing a senko to see if there are fish around that just aren't in the mood for chasing.  Is it possible your spot gets hit hard by others since it's a shore spot? That might have an impact on your success.

[Old Ironmaker]

It might be that you aren't doing anything wrong it may be the fish have left for different water. Fish migrate for many reasons. And as has been mentioned what ever bait you use it should mimic an easy meal. Fish are smarter than they look. When fish, and us humanoids, see an easy meal that doesn't take much energy to catch we both go for it 1st. Buffets and fast food places for us, a slow injured bait for fish. Sometimes something like a bit of red nail polish on a lure will trigger a fish as it looks like blood. I've read that fish are colour blind,  maybe maybe not. Personally I don't think they are or they can tell the difference between shades of black & white. 

[AKRISONER]

Irons right, fish move all of the time, heck they move from hour to hour.

last week I had a tournament and did a pre-fish Friday, hit spot one, had a keeper within three casts, hit spot 2 around the corner, another one, said this is going to be awesome tomorrow.

was seeing schools of bait and surfaces all over the water. 

went back the next day in almost identical weather. And it was a ghost town. Got skunked for two straight hours and had to completely switch my game plan.

 

fish adapt, meaning you gotta too. Different spots, different baits, different depths, different retrieves. Keep switching until you find the pattern. 

I eventually found the pattern, but by that time I was limited on time and could only find the dinks.

[Big Cliff]

They sure can learn to recognize baits.  My son and I have often found that we get fish in a spot but after a couple of fish it goes dead. Switch baits and go to something like a bucktail spinner and we'll get more fish. 

[Bassin15]

Thanks all very helpful.