Giants Eating Frogs: Full Video

When River2Sea approached us about their new and improved frog called a Bully Wa 2 we weren't sure what to expect. The Spittin' Wa is such an amazing frog how could it possibly get any better? (If you haven't seen the Spittin' Wa Video, see it here) Well much to our surprise, it got better!

The Bully Wa 2 is a fast-walking frog with a tall body that pushes a tremendous amount of water with ease. The hook comes with a unique bend that is ready to fish out of the package resulting in a great hookup ratio. Open the packaging, trim the legs to your desired length, and you're ready to fish!

For us, there were 3 colors that stood out the most. The first is called "Little Allen" and yes that name came from Tim (Little) and Matt (Allen). We were so excited when they decided to include this color scheme in their lineup because day in and day out, its both of our favorite! The other two are "Ghost" and "Yellow Head".

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This frog fishes great in slop but its specialty is open water. Walk it along docks, over cover, or even for suspended fish, and you're going to love the result! You can see by the video that the bass had no problem coming up from the depths to explode in the open. The days of only throwing a frog around cheese or pads are over!

Do yourself a favor and check out the River2Sea Bully Wa 2!

Note: If the video won't play its because you need to watch it from a desktop. Unfortunately its not mobile-friendly.

What is a Front Runner and Why Should You Use One?

I spend all Winter dreaming about topwater explosions. As the cold months tick by and the warm weather draws near, the dreams get more explosive, the fish in my head get bigger, and the excitement builds! The fantasies start getting so far out there that I begin dreaming of catching those bass two at a time!

Here at Tactical Bassin we're all about learning so I (Matt) will be the first to admit that Tim taught me something new last fall. I'd seen front runners but I really didn't understand their effectiveness until I saw Tim put one to use. Forget dreams, these little baits make double hookups a reality!

If you fish schooling bass and you aren't using a front runner in conjunction with your walking topwater (Spook, Rover, Vixen, etc...) you're missing the boat!

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For those that aren't familiar, a Front Runner (Click here to see what they look like) is a small topwater bait armed with a single treble hook that is designed to be tied inline, ahead of your main topwater. When your spook goes left, the front runner goes right, and vise versa. The effect is that your spook is chasing a smaller baitfish across the surface and the bass go crazy for it! In addition to being a unique look the bass rarely see, it gives you an extra hook attached to a small bait that is free swinging when you're fighting your fish to the boat. If you fish schooling bass you already know what that means... Double Hook Ups!

Do yourself a favor and pick up some Front Runners. These little guys are DEADLY and will make a big difference as you step up your topwater game this year!

Topwater Poppers: How to fish them effectively

Every kid that grew up bass fishing knows what a Hula Popper is. We all fished them and agree that they were deadly on those old pond bass. So why now, as we grow older, do we turn our backs on poppers?

Far too often the popper falls by the wayside in favor of newer, louder, and flashier topwater offerings. Its great to be well versed with a variety of baits so you can adapt to changing conditions but don't fall into the trap and forget your first love all together.

When conditions get tough, especially those cool early summer mornings, the popper is a deadly way to catch GIANT bass that are unwilling to run down a faster moving bait. The quick tips outlined in this week's video should help you get your mind in the game to slow back down, pull out your favorite popper, and lure one of the dormant giants to the surface!

While poppers can be thrown on very light tackle, Matt prefers (to the surprise of no one) to step up his tackle when targeting big fish with these finesse baits. He prefers to use the following:

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For the Yellow Magic, Rico, and other small poppers he uses a 7' light to medium light baitcaster spooled with 15-20 lb braided line.

For the larger poppers like the Bubble Walker he will step up to a 7'-7'2" Medium baitcaster but still prefers a moderate action, and spools it with 30 lb braided line.

Matt insists that braid is key with these baits as you can get maximum responsiveness from the bait with minimal rod movement.