So here it is, the depth of summer with all the heat that comes with that and you’re looking at doing some frog fishin’. You’re throwing your best ribbit at ‘em but they just don’t seem to want it. Maybe its time to toss something with a little different take on the old hollow body frog, something that makes a little bit more noise?
If that’s ever happened to you, it could be time to give the Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher some serious consideration.
Crashin’ the Party
We’ve been testing the Booyah for a few months now and this is a serious bass catchin’ frog.
The specs are about as simple as they come, 2 1/2 inches long, weighing 1/2 ounce. Standard frog type rear legs, a double hook (sharp too) as well as some pretty standard color choices without great detail.
About the only thing that is out of the ordinary at all is the cupped front end of the frog. However, this is where the rubber meets the road.
What Makes a Frog
Of course we all want our frogs to float, not just for a couple of casts but long enough to get bit. The Poppin Pad Crasher does just that. Of the baits that we have been using, not one of them fills with water quickly. Yes, you may have to squeeze it out after its been thumped by a fish but usually not before.
We also want our frogs to be at home going over slop as this is where the big girls like to hang out. The Booyah does this better than the average frog. You can bend the hook points in ever so slightly, not down mind you, if you find that it is picking up grass.
And let’s not forget, we want our frogs to be nice and soft so that when a bass takes it, it will collapse easily to provide a solid hook up ratio. No worries, this frog is soft while at the same time, surprisingly durable.
We’ve been fishing the Pad Crasher when we see that the fish aren’t taking our regular offerings enthusiastically with excellent results.
Where they might just be boiling on a different kermy, they seem to be a little put out with the fact that this frog is making some noise while still walking well.
We’ve put this in some near impossible places, on top of grass so thick you can walk on it, in the heart of lots of lilly pads even running it through sparse coon-tail and stick-ups just to see what it would take to produce a snag.
Getting this frog snagged requires some hard work and dedication.
Rigging the Pad Crasher
We’ve fished it on braid and heavier co-polymer with equally good results. That being getting thumped and converting the strike.
We only have two of the colors, not even the ones that look the most interesting to us. Guess we’re gonna have to go get some more.
In spite of not having what we consider the “best” colors, the two that we have used have produced a lot of fish between them.
Both of these lures behave exactly the same way too. What that means to the angler is that it really doesn’t matter which color you choose, they should all have the same action, be just as soft as the other as well as just as durable.
One of the retrieves that has worked for us very well is casting the Poppin Pad Crasher out, letting it sit long enough for any ripples to mostly dissipate, then give it a solid, sharp downward yank with the rod tip. This produces a distinct “pop” that you can easily hear and seems to get the attention of nearby bass.
After the initial rip, we give it a few seconds then start a slow rhythmic retrieve with subtle “pops” every couple of seconds with some pauses thrown in for good measure. More often than not, the strike will occur just after the pause while the bait is sitting dead in the water.
We’ve had some epic hits employing this tactic. One in particular, the bass hit the frog so hard that he knocked it about three feet in the air while completely coming out of the water himself. He missed but a few seconds later, after twitching it a couple of times, he came back with a vengeance and annihilated the Pad Crasher.
End result, he choked it and we got him on our thumb.
The Best Part
As impressive as the action of the Poppin Pad Crasher is, the retail price of under $6 is even more so.
I suppose that you could get downright picky and say that the mold isn’t anatomically accurate, there isn’t a choice in sizes, the color patterns are too limited, there isn’t any proprietary engineering here, or find something else to complain about, but why?
This frog, for all its simplicity, performs consistently very well. Get a few for yourself by clicking here.
| Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher Frog | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| A noisy, durable, inexpensive frog | |
See ya’ on the water …
