Arrows have feathers. Rockets have fins. Kites have tails. Have you ever wondered why? The short answer is largely due to the stabilizing effect these features have on the overall object. By creating more surface area, these things add drag to the overall package, especially at the rear. By doing this, you effectively place the center of pressure below/behind the center of gravity. Think of how a wind vane works to perhaps get a better picture of where I'm going.
With the warmer weather and getting later into the season, hollow body frogs are entering into the picture as effective topwater baits. One of the more common complaints or questions is in regards to getting these baits to "walk." And while there are other design features that can help in this regard, as well as in selecting the proper rod to get this desired action, a large part can be attributed to the legs of your frog right out of the package. Most companies leave the legs really long (see above pic). So while this looks good, and is fine for straight retrieves over heavy slop, if you are fishing more open water and want to use a walking-type presentation, you usually need to shorten the length of the frog legs (skirting) to assist with this.
A good start is to pull the legs up and cut them off at the point equal to the length of the body. This is likely the longest you will want them to be and still easily walk. That was where I started last week after not being able to get a particular frog to walk right out of the package. Even after this initial trimming, more had to be removed. Start small and just keep taking off a quarter or half an inch at one time, then retest. As soon as you get it to the point where you are satisfied, then stop trimming. By removing the extra leg length, you are reducing the amount of drag the legs create in the water, thereby shifting the two earlier mentioned properties closer and closer together, actually making your frog more and more unstable, which is exactly what you want to be able to easily walk the bait.
Some guys like to offset the leg length, cutting one side shorter than the other. Again, this is to decrease drag on one side of the frog, thereby using physics to help turn the frog in one direction. However, I prefer not to do this. I'd rather keep the legs equal in length and just shorten them more until I get the right walking action. Making one side shorter than another makes the bait always want to favor one side of the frog. It has the same effect as the torque and rotation of a buzzbait blade, always causing the bait to run to one side or the other. I say keep the legs equal for better overall balance and straighter walking tendencies.
By following this procedure with my newly opened frog last week, I was able to bring half a dozen bass to hand with a walking type retrieve, including the nice 4 pound fish in the picture. Give it a try the next time you are having trouble getting your frogs to walk.
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