From summer into autumn, Texas' largemouth bass become vulnerable to an affliction caused by their gluttonous appetite. And this makes bass anglers happy. The malady? Frog in the throat. Well, ...

The soft-plastic lure fluttered and kicked like a struggling frog across the weed mat and into the open pocket. Then, with the abrupt swirl that never gets old, a solid bass rose in a boiling strike.

Every topwater strike makes bass fishing more fun. But there’s something about topwater frog fishing—watching that almost comical-looking bait hop and sputter and then get suddenly obliterated—that ...