Without a doubt slinging frogs around weed beds and watching bass hit em from below is one of the most exciting ways to fish in freshwater.
If you're anything like me you've got way too many rods and set ups for bass fishing.
Arming yourself with best frog rod is one sure fire way of getting that frog over the weeds and lily pads and hopefully right into the view of a spring/summer bass.
Although you can fish with artificial frogs on spinning gear the majority of fishermen will use a baitcasting rod.
But won't my lighter baitcasting set up do ?
In a word no.
Fishing for bass with frogs requires a somewhat beefier setup than worms, crankbaits, topwater or spinnerbaits.
A good frog rod needs a much stronger backbone. Retrieving in and around and on top of weed beds, lilies and other thick submerged vegetation needs a rod that can handle getting fouled up regularly.
This is not the place to be using an ultralight rod that won't stand the added pressures of snagging and bass running through weed beds.
Line needs to be heavy braid usually 50 lbs or heavier to be able to handle heavy cover.
Best Frog Rods of 2023
Rod | Type | Price | |
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Heavy/Fast | $ | ||
Heavy/Fast | $$ | ||
Heavy | $$ | ||
Heavy | $$ | ||
Heavy | $$$ |
Our top choice is the Dobyns Fury 735C. Both amateurs and tournament anglers swear by it's ability to handle bass is overgrown cover.
If you are one budget then the Falcon HD is easily the top rod under $100. Although it might be the cheapest rod in this line up it is still a pretty solid frog pole.
Best Frog Rod
The Dobyns Fury 735C has a purpose built rod blank for frogging. Power and action are specifically tuned to be magnum/heavy and fast respectively.
These rods come with a lot of backbone and the perfect balance for throwing larger baits long distances. It can also be used for small swimbaits and big jigs or Carolina rigs.
Built on high quality blanks the Fury line of casting rods are extremely well made and more than capable of handling bass that like to run in heavy mats of vegetation, power is definitely not an issue here!
At 7'3" its is right at the sweet spot between 7 and 7'6" in length. Line wise you be looking at using anything from 12 lbs up as far as 25 lbs of mono and braid wise depending on your preference you can go as high as 60 lb. And lure weights starting at 1/4 oz up to 1/1/4 oz.
Price wise the Fury is easily the best frog rod for the money, you get a dedicated frog rod(that suits other set ups too) that comes in at almost half the price of some of the higher end models.
Features
- Graphite blank 7'3"
- Magnum heavy power
- Fast action
- Fuji reel seat
- Sea Guides
The Daiwa Tatula Bass frogging is a heavy power rod with a fast action.
Constructed on Daiwa's X45 Bias graphite with SVF carbon the Tatula has plenty of backbone for working heavy cover. The SVF(Super High Volume Fiber) is said to add tonnes of strength whilst keeping the weight down and reducing blank twist also.
Although it may not have the Fuji reel seat as per the Dobyns above the custom reel seat from Daiwa comes with a machined aluminum clamp nut so although it might not have the stamp of Fuji on it, it is still a high quality seat.
The Tatula has a slightly heavier tip so you can actually use a reel that is not super light. Daiwa's "fast" action is known to be quite fast so if you are using braid be prepared for some stiff hook sets given the backbone of this rod.
Features
- SVF graphite blanks
- Fuji Aclonite guides
- Daiwa reel seat with aluminum clamp nut
- 5 year manufacturers warranty
Easily one of the most popular baitcasting rods of recent times the Mojo Bass from St Croix is available in a range of powers/actions and differing lengths
For frogging you'll be looking to get a 7'1" or 7'4" length Mojo with medium/heavy or heavy power and action as always should be fast like the MJC74HF.
These rods are built on St Croix's tried and trusted SC-II graphite blanks that are beautifully finished in a black cherry metallic finish plus two top coats of slow-cure.
The end result is a rod with lots of strength and all of the sensitivity you would expect from a high end rod whilst still remaining light enough for casting all day long without excessive fatigue.
They come with a high quality split cork grip, Fuji ECS reel seat and Kigan Master 3D line guides as standard.
Features
- SC-II graphite blank
- Medium/heavy power
- Fast action
- Fuji ECS reel seat
- Kigan Master 3D guides
Another well known rod the Abu Garcia Veritas casting rods have a huge following and you'll see plenty of them at bass tournaments.
Again the medium/heavy with a fast action is the one to go for.
Abu deigned the Veritas to have three main standout features; rod blank, guides and the reel seat that combined make for a very durable, lightweight and sensitive casting rod.
The rod blank is made from 30 ton graphite with a spiral carbon core. The spiral core according to Abu give the Veritas 22% more strength at the breaking point and an added 33% more strength at the rod tip.
Frog fishing definitely needs a strong rod with a good backbone and this is probably why the Veritas range has remained so popular for so long.
The line guides are built for speed and to be as light as possible; titanium alloy guides combined with Zirconium give a balanced feel along the rod blank whilst allowing the line to move with ease through the full length of the rod.
The reel seat is exposed and features a double anodized screw down top that helps to give a lot of feedback from the rod blank.
Features
- 30 ton graphite composite blanks
- Zirconium inserts with titanium alloy guides
- High sensitivity reel seat
- Spiral carbon core
The Falcon Expert offer a high end rod for a mid-range budget price so if you are on a budget then these are one of the best performers you can get.
They are very well balanced and still retain a good light weight feel once the reel is on them. They have high quality Fuji guides used throughout and are made from 100% graphite blanks.
Features
- Graphite blanks
- Fuji guides
- Split cork handle
Probably the least well known rods in this line up. 13 fishing are gaining huge traction in the baitcasting reel arena with their Concept A and Inception reels, their rod ranges are soon to follow suit.
The Omen Black in heavy at 7'1" is a great performer as a frog rod. If you are looking to try something a little different and branch out from the more popular brands then this is the one to get.
Built with 30 ton graphite blanks and very high quality guides. This rods are a little stiffer than others so be aware of that before you purchase.
The rod butt/handle is also a little shorter than usual so be aware of that also.
Features
- 30 ton Japanese Toray blanks
- ALPS guides with Zirconia inserts
- Evolve engage reel seat
Frog Rods
A good rod setup for frog fishing as discussed earlier needs to be quite a bit heavier than a lot of other bass fishing styles.
When you are frogging the main reason for the heavy set up is based on the type of water you will be fishing in.
Frogs tend not to swim in deep open water. Their natural habitat is in vegetation where they can use their natural camouflage to help keep hidden from any predators.
Bass know that this is where they will find frogs and a frog to a bass is a pretty big meal, so they'll happily stalk them in weed beds and hide down in the cover or lily pads waiting for a frog to move and reveal it's position.
Bass like to strike hard from below and it makes for some very spectacular fishing. Once a bass strikes your frog lure they will naturally want to run into deep cover.
It is this deep cover that requires a heavy setup. Snagging on lilies and running into deep weed beds is hard on you rod, reel and line.
Frog Rod
As we have discussed earlier in the article a good frog pole will generally have the following attributes:
- Power - heavy
- Action - fast
- Length - 7' to 7'6"
Power wise you need a rod with a lot of backbone that can take a bass running head down into a large weed bed. All that extra weight on the line needs a rod that can handle it and won't snap when things get serious.
Reel for Frogging
Seeing as most people will choose a casting set up over a spinning set up then the choice of baitcasting reel is obvious if you are going to use a casting rod.
Everyone has their favorite baitcaster and all you really need to be aware of is that the reel can handle the choice of line that you need for frog fishing.
Line for Frogging
The line used when fishing for bass with frogs needs to be strong, have little stretch and preferably be able to cut through weeds and lily stems.
The obvious choice for those prerequisites is braided fishing line. Mono is rarely used for frogging, too much stretch and in the heavier ratings not as good for casting.
Braid is low stretch so you can get a quick and sharp hook set. It is also a lot thinner than mono meaning it can cut through vegetation easier and in the heavier weights it casts a lot better too.
Ratings wise when choosing braid for frog fishing you'll want to go from 30 lb anywhere up to 65 lbs. In fact 50 lb or above is probably the most popular weight used.