Monday, November 4, 2013

Top Frog Awards 2013 - Best Hollow body Frog


Intro:


Alright, another Frog review season has come and gone, and during the 2013 review period  I published 27 frog reviews, as always each frog was rated on Quality, Castability, Presentation, Hook-Up, Availability, Options & Price. Below is a list of the best of the best  for each category and of course the overall Highest rated frog (reviewed this year)..  This is kinda like the Oscars, you may not win best picture, but you still have the chance to win for cinematography.. so here we go






Quality Award: EverGreen Kicker Frog

Hook-up Ratio Award: EverGreen Kicker Frog

One of my favourite frogs from this season (or ever really) the EverGreen Kicker Frog was in the running for the overall best frog of 2013, and although it did not take home top honours it scored  high enough to place in the top 5 Hollow-bodied frogs of all time

The EverGreen Kicker Frog is a wicked combination of size, quality, presentation and hop-up ratio, the only real issues you will come across is getting your hands on one, and the hurt they do to your wallet. But if you are looking for the perfect bite-sized frog, this is one not to miss

For the Full Review click HERE





Castability Award: Snag Proof Ish Poppin Phattie 

Not to give anything away, but this is not the only award the Ish Poppin Phattie will be taking home this year, but I find it's important to highlight it's strong points, like castability

Often Poppin frog will rate lower on the castability scale as wide open mouths cause drag and will reduce the distance the bait will travel. I had no such issues with the poppin phattie and was able to cast it for distance or short pitches. I also like the flat bottom that allows me to skip this bait up under structure

Note: this is the second year in a row the an Ish frog took home top honours in the cast-ability section

For the Full Review click HERE






Presentation Award: Optimum Poppin Furbit

This was a very tuff category to rate this season, as multiple frog baits received a perfect score of 5/5 for presentation. One of those frogs was the Optimum baits Poppin Furbit, and why I chose it as the overall winner is it's fur tail

If you are not a believer in fur tails on baits, then you are really missing out, they not only move/slither in the water while walking a bait, but the also continue to move more naturally then silicone when paused. Fish eat these baits up.. PETA be damned!

For the Full Review click HERE



Availability Award : SPRO 

There are only 3 companies that can get a perfect or nearly perfect score when it comes to availability.. SPRO, Live Target and Booyah. For the baits I reviewed this season there was none that came close to the ease of purchase as the Spro series of frogs, hell you can almost buy them at the grocery store they are so common.

For the Full Review click HERE






 Options & Price Award: Booyah Popin PadCrasher

Booyah has been banging out quality frogs at amazing prices, the pad crasher series of frogs not only competes with other high end hollow body frogs on the water, but they are by far the easiest on your wallet.

Available colour options and sizes have been growing each year, and the addition of this popping model as made them an instant top contender with the likes of Live Target and Spro


For the Full Review click HERE




Highest Overall Rating:  Snag Proof Ish Poppin Phattie

Each frog is rated on the following criteria: Quality, Castability, Presentation, Hook-up Ratio Available Options, Product Availability & Price

Congrats to the team at Snag Proof, as I was truly blown away by all aspects of the Ish Poppin Phattie, it casts long and smooth, it walks with ease and spits up more then a new born baby. This frog is nearly perfect in every way and came very close to running the table and taking home all of thee above awards. 

If you are like me and are (were) on the fence a bit when it comes to poppin hollow body frogs, this is the frog you want to try.. just hold on tight

For the Full Review click HERE


Best Places to Frog Shop:

When if comes to service, price, shipping and availability, here are the 3 best places to build your frog arsenal


The Hook-Up

* For you Canadian shoppers, LBF is your best bet, they ship USPS and you will avoid all those messy brokerage fees that UPS charges. Tackle Warehouse is quick, but since they Ship UPS, you can expect a minimum $20 plus duty and taxes on any order over $19.99

Frog Equipment:

When it comes to hollow belly frog fishing there is no better rod on the market then the Dobyns 736c. On my boat it is used exclusively for hollow belly fishing and always has a frog tied on and ready to go.  http://dobynsrods.com/champion-series

If you are looking for a beefy reel that is not hard on your back, arms or wallet check out the Daiwa Lexa 300 series reel. It was my go to reel all season long and never let me down once

When it comes to line choice, Sunline FX2 is really up for the challenge that is frog fishing. It's tuff, yet smooth, and holds up well under the stress a frog line can be put under. This was my first season using it, and I could not be happier.


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