# Will a Fish take a Frog lure where there are no Frogs?



## Envenomation09 (Oct 22, 2012)

Will a fish instinctively take a lure that looks like a frog where there are none there?


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Why don't we give fish a whole bunch of credit for having an intelligent brain, when reality shows they have a brain the size of a pea.

Their brains are programmed to respond to stimuli. Not analyze it.

My belief is that "yes" a fish might take a frog when there are no frogs in the system. Why? response to stimuli.


When was the last time you saw a wooly bugger swimming in a stream? Or powerbait growing in a lake?

Fish take lures all the time that don't necessarily represent any specific organism in their environment. Lures often times are designed to trigger a response. that's what anglers are trying to do: trigger a response.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

I don't catch as many trout on a hopper pattern in January as I do in June but some fish will still hit it.
The best way to find out if a frog will work when there are no frogs around is to give one a try.
You just never know till you do.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Grandpa D said:


> I don't catch as many trout on a hopper pattern in January as I do in June but some fish will still hit it.


See? You're stuck in the "match the hatch" crowd. Fishing is supposed to be a challenge. It's you vs. the fish. Getting a fish to "take" something that it _wants_ to eat is simple. The real challenge is getting a fish to "take" something that it _doesn't_ want to eat!

Getting fish to take hoppers when hoppers are abundant and fish are actively feeding on hoppers? My 4 year old can catch fish doing that! The challenge is using those hoppers in January. The reward is catching trout in January on the surface using big hoppers.

A frog pattern would be no different. It doesn't matter if frogs are available in the water to the fish or not -- fish it right and the trout will take it.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Which is why I said that I don't catch as many.
You have to work it harder and you won't get as many hits.
I'll stick to nymphs and BWO's, you can use the hoppers.
We will both be happy.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Envenomation09 said:


> Will a fish instinctively take a lure that looks like a frog where there are none there?


Abso-freakin-lutely. If you are talking bass, how much of the stuff we use bassin "matches" the hatch? I haven't seen too many natural things that look like senkos, tube jigs, and spinnerbaits swimming around in the water. I think we underestimate the percentage of fish we all do catch due to reaction bites as opposed to "matching the hatch".



PBH said:


> It's you vs. the fish. Getting a fish to "take" something that it wants to eat is simple. The real challenge is getting a fish to "take" something that it doesn't want to eat!


Not necessarily. I can go over to the lower Provo with gear and toss around a mepps spinner or a blue fox (which looks nothing like what the fish eat in an average day) and catch a bunch of fish using sloppy technique and bad casts. However, if I'm going to catch fish on the fly using sowbugs, midges, or other nymphs, I need to have the right color and (tiny) size, rig it up just right, and present it as perfectly as possible, or the fish won't hit it at all.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Catherder said:


> Not necessarily.


Actually, what you just described is exactly what I'm saying. The challenge is to get them to take what they don't necessarily want to take.



Catherder said:


> I need to have the right color and (tiny) size, rig it up just right, and present it as perfectly as possible, or the fish won't hit it at all.


Thus, the challenge. until you do everything just right, they won't hit. What you're doing is getting them to take something that they don't necessarily want to take.

If they're hitting spinners left and right, then obviously they want to take the spinners. That's not a challenge.

A good fisherman can go catch fish no matter what you put on the end of his line.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

PBH said:


> Why don't we give fish a whole bunch of credit for having an intelligent brain, when reality shows they have a brain the size of a pea.
> 
> Their brains are programmed to respond to stimuli. Not analyze it.
> 
> ...


Wooly buggers represent a leach or damselflies. Seen those in almost every river and lake in utah. The lakes that dont have them you wont catch as many using them.

Power bait sent smells the same as the crap you feed planter rainbows at the hatchery with.

You can go out a chuck your crap and ill match the hatch and catch more fish. Better yet ill fish rapallas and catch the fish that eat the fish you catch with bugs, and powerbait.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

swbuckmaster said:


> Wooly buggers represent a leach or damselflies. Seen those in almost every river and lake in utah. The lakes that dont have them you wont catch as many using them.
> 
> Power bait sent smells the same as the crap you feed planter rainbows at the hatchery with.


wooly buggers _could_ represent nearly anything at all. Or nothing. They could represent bait fish, nightcrawlers, crawfish, or leaches and damselflies like you mentioned. Or, they could just be a big 'ol nasty fictitious bug. The point is that there are many lures out there that don't necessarily match something in nature, but work.



swbuckmaster said:


> You can go out a chuck your crap and ill match the hatch and catch more fish. Better yet ill fish rapallas and catch the fish that eat the fish you catch with bugs, and powerbait.


you might catch more fish -- but is that the object? Numbers? For me, sometimes it comes down to the challenge, and going the easy route doesn't always satisfy the urges. The original poster is wondering about using frogs in a stream he's not sure has any frogs. Why? Sounds like he's looking for a challenge, and not looking for the easy route (match the hatch).

you might be able to catch plenty of fish using rapalas -- the point is to challenge yourself. Try using something the fish don't want, and when you catch one see how gratifying it is. If you piss it off enough, it will hit it!


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