A crash course on different styles of topwaters; that while they don’t work 100 percent the results can be eventful when they do.

Story and photography by Matt Williams

I’ll always remember the early days of the Ribbit Frog. The late Lonnie Stanley helped popularize it in the mid-2000s. He sent me a few bags soon after his company, Stanley Jigs, purchased the bait and molds from Reaction Lures designer, John Dean of Louisiana.

As always, Stanley’s care package included a hand-written note with instructions on the proper way to rig the toad and how to fish it. He ended the note a captivating piece of advice — “Hold on Tight”!

Made from soft plastic with thin legs and boot-shaped feet that wiggle and stir commotion as it traverses the surface on a steady retrieve.  The bait was an instant hit with anglers with a zest for the explosive action that scratching the surface often brings whenever big bass are in the mood to look up.

Rigging the Ribbit early on meant using a single hook that caused  lots of missed strikes and occasional rolling. Realizing there had to be a better way, Stanley and his partner, the late John Hale, designed a double frog hook specific to the Ribbit’s body.

The prototype featured a pair of heavy duty 4/0 long-shank hooks soldered together at an angle so they could be stabbed through the base of the legs without hampering the buzz bait style action. There was a screw-lock spring keeper off the eye to hold the nose secure.

Lake Fork fishing guide Gary Paris and I helped field test the hook that would eventually become the “Double Take.” We both agreed after an afternoon of catching bass around grass in Birch Creek that the double hook was indeed a better mousetrap. Hook-ups were much more consistent. Better yet, more of the fish stayed pinned.

Frog fishing has become increasingly popular over the last two decades, resulting in dozens of new brands and several styles with catchy names. Some have become staples in the arsenals of thrill-seeking anglers drawn to the levels of excitement and anticipation that only topwater fishing can deliver.

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