Among bass anglers, there's a major misconception about fishing frog patterns. Many anglers believe that there must be frogs living in the reservoir, natural lake or pond for a frog-style bait to be effective. Others think you need to have mats, weeds or moss to fish a frog.

None of those are true.

"When you put a frog on the mat, bass don't know if it's a mouse, a baitfish flipping around or a black bird. A lot of times, the frog imitates a number of things, not just a frog," says professional bass angler Gary Dobyns, the all-time leading money winner in the West. "I've seen water snakes eaten when they are on top of a mat. Bass are ferocious predators. They just eat whatever moves on top of that mat and figure out what it is later. Half the time they don't know what it is. Twice, I've seen bass try to eat full-grown coots. They didn't get them, but they sure tried."

Depending on weather and water temperature, frogs can be effective all year. May, however, is the traditional start of the frog season. Frogs can be effective from May through the fall in most waters in the western United States. Regardless of the water's structure, most lakes, reservoirs, ponds, sloughs, backwaters, natural lakes and rivers in the West harbor a place for frog fishing. In fact, there isn't a place in the West where a properly fished frog bait won't catch bass.

"You can throw frogs on any lake, period, and they'll catch fish," says Dobyns. "I've caught my frog fish in Lake Mead, Lake Powell, Lake Oroville and in the Columbia River -- places where you don't have grass. You can catch frog fish anywhere."

POLLEN LINES
Every serious bass angler knows that frogs can be effective anywhere grass is found. But Dobyns' biggest secret is fishing frogs in areas devoid of greenery. For example, while few anglers fish pollen slicks with frogs, Dobyns wins tournaments by targeting them.

Floating pollen is common in most Western waters. Dobyns looks for areas where a breeze pushes pollen into a pocket or along the shoreline.

"Fishing frogs on a pollen line is my best-kept secret," he said, fully knowing his words would soon be printed. "If you fish a frog on top of the pollen scum line, you can catch a boatload of bass. The bass hardly ever see frogs, so they are easy to fool. They're sitting right underneath the scum line of pollen. It's like a mat. They get right underneath it. There's shade and no light penetration, so you always have bass there."

And because no one else knows those fish are there, Dobyns is busy catching fish other anglers simply overlook. "It's a secret. No one does it."