The sun has not made its appearance yet on the horizon, but it won't be long. This is the time of the day to be on the lake with a topwater lure working the shallows, listening for the tell-tale plop of bass feeding somewhere on the top. Topwater lures like buzzbaits, and poppers are not weedless. An angler has to be quick on the draw with one of these baits if he or she is working weedy areas, floating hydrilla, lily pads, slop or other cover just waiting to grab the lure. You need to have one of the popular soft plastic frogs tied on. There are two primary ways to fish a frog. While holding your rod tip in the hookset position, slowly turn your reel handle in short bursts with long pauses. If that action is not provoking any strikes, work your rod tip in a downward motion while slowly turning your reel handle. Making sure to pause when close to cover or in open pockets. When the sun is out and the sky is clear and you know the fish are holding to cover, let the frog pause a little while longer when next to cover that is holding fish. Let the frog land and the surface disturbance to settle then start reeling with your rod tip down. The goal is to cover water looking for active fish. Twitch the bait once or twice, then stop for a few seconds and repeat. When the frog comes to a pocket, weed edge, lily pad or something else different to key on, let it sit, and sit, and then sit some more. Some frog aficionados often let the frog sit there for as long as 15-30 seconds, and sometimes up to a minute. It can be well worth the wait. If there hasn't been a blow up, just barely twitch it without moving the bait much at all. This will make the legs quiver a little, and most often this is when the strike occurs. High speed or slow speed retrieve? Anglers can play around with the cadence and speed of the frog retrieve based on how the fish are reacting. If they are aggressively hitting, speed up the retrieve and cover more water. If they are taking time to strike or are slurping the frog instead of attacking it, slow down on the reeling. Subtly shake your rod tip. This will create a big commotion on the surface and will also keep the frog in the strike zone longer. Different models of frogs are numerous. Choosing the right frog again is the one you have confidence in. The hollow-body frog would probably be my go-to bait. It features a hollow, pliable plastic body with a double upturned hook. The body snugs against the hooks to make it weedless, yet is soft enough to collapse and hook a fish when it strikes. Popular hollow body frogs include the Booyah Pad and the Lunker Frog. I hear some people say the frog is irresistible to bass; a guaranteed hook-up. I think that was probably one of the frog lure manufacturers talking. But all joking aside, they are a very realistic bait, and they do get their share of bass. If you haven't tried one yet early in the morning before the sun comes up, tie a frog on and see if you can tempt a frog eating bass.