36 FISHERMAN'S LURES 



size, shape, and color. The most abundant, cover- 

 ing a wider range, is the black-spotted, green 

 leopard -frog; also the brown, banded pickerel 

 frog; it is to these two kinds I have devoted much 

 time in the last several years in developing a per- 

 fect artificial imitation so as to give the angler 

 a worthy substitute for the live frog. In all my 

 long fishing career I do not know of a more pain- 

 ful or cruel pastime than casting out a live frog 

 hooked by the lips. If not taken by the fish in 

 the first few casts, the frog turns over on its back, 

 swells up like a rubber ball, and is then worse than 

 useless. In that condition some anglers take it 

 from the hook, give it a short respite by hooking 

 a new one. A far more effective way to fish a frog 

 is to just drop it on the water, sit still and wait 

 while froggie wends its own path without restraint 

 till it happens to meet its doom in the shape of 

 a savage fish on the lookout for just such a gastro- 

 nomic tidbit as the bass considers it to be. 



The ideal frog water is a weedy, shallow lake, 

 and although very prolific, they are never abun- 

 dant where game-fish abide. Being both a land 

 and water creature they live in constant danger 

 of being devoured, not only by fish, but by rep- 

 tiles, birds, and animals which take the frog as 

 part of their diet, from the smallest tadpole to 



