I love throwing large, hard or soft bodied frog poppers for big bass. I’ll try to fish them at all times of the day, and under a wide variety of other fishing conditions where many anglers would think they wouldn’t work.
The profile of these frogs makes them easy to cast, unlike deer hair poppers and divers that seem to be incredibly air resistant. They still have the feathers and flash in the back of the fly, and the soft rubber legs kicking along the side of the frog. There is also a high lb test nylon weed guard that helps prevent some weeds.
The newest version of Rainy’s Foam Frogs feature a built-in rattle. When your basic presentation isn’t working, or you are trying to find fish, the built-in rattle is going to help you get them to come to you. Once you have the attention of the fish you can start working your presentation of the fly to entice a strike. If the fish don’t know you’re there, though, you never get the chance to give a lifelike presentation.
Rainy’s Frogs used to be built out of balsa wood. Now, Rainy’s use a soft foam that contains the rattle, and seems to help fish hold onto it long enough for you to set the hook. I think that a fish biting down on the harder balsa wood baits would probably spit it back out quickly, knowing that it is not a real piece of forage. The softer foam baits squish between the lips of the fish, giving you, what I believe to be, extra seconds to set the hook.
You can get them in 3 basic colors. Either natural frog, black, or chartreuse. All 3 colors have their own place and time where they excel. For instance, the black frog is going to be primarily a low light situation, either overcast days, or in the morning and before the sun sets. The chartreuse color is going to work great for smallmouth bass, and in muddy or heavily stained waters. The rest of your fishing can be done with the natural color.
It all comes down to your presentation with Rainy’s Foam Frogs.