They look like a frog and feel like a frog, and just like a frog the plastic legs on Stanlely Ribbits kick up a commotion when they're retrieved across heavy vegetation, triggering strikes from big bass.

It’s time to go topwater! The sweltering, humid, dog days of summer are here, and many of our ponds and lakes are covered with thick vegetation, including one of my favorite fishing grounds, Susquehanna Flats. I have found the new Stanley Ribbit to be extremely effective on both largemouth bass and stripers when worked over the huge grass mats that cover acres of the surface on Susquehanna Flats.

As the name suggests, the Ribbit is a frog imitation, a favorite food source for bass and other predators. The lineup of Ribbit baits features the original 3-1/2-inch Ribbit, a 4-inch Floating Ribbit, and a 4-1/2-inch Bull Ribbit. Ribbits are unique in that they provide the benefits of both a soft plastic bait and a buzzbait.

The Ribbit I’ve been using so far on the Flats is the 3-1/2-inch original. As recommended by Stanley, I rig it weedless by inserting a 3/0 to 5/0 wide gap hook into the plastic body, then I run the Ribbit across surface vegetation so its two legs kick up a fuss, attracting the attention of any fish in the vicinity. Because a Ribbit can be worked over the thickest vegetation without hanging up or fouling with grass, you’re not restricted to fishing only the edges of grass mats; a Ribbit can be cast with confidence deep into thick cover and retrieved across surface vegetation.

As I have learned the hard way, when a bass or striper erupts through vegetation to engulf a Ribbit, most instant hook-sets will come up empty. It’s best to resist the urge to immediately set the hook, instead, lower the rod tip and pause several seconds, giving the fish time to get the Ribbit well into its mouth - then set the hook with authority!

In addition to a buzzbait-type retrieve across surface vegetation, the original Ribbit can also be hopped across weeds and pads, and when it comes to an opening in the vegetation, the retrieve can be stopped, allowing the Ribbit to slowly sink. A falling bait is often too enticing for bass to resist. Other tactics recommended by Stanley are to add a small weight and let it sink along dock pilings and stumps, and to fish a Ribbit like any standard Texas-rigged or Carolina-rigged plastic bait.

Original Ribbits are available in nine colors: white, black, watermelon seed with black flakes, watermelon seed with red flakes, watermelon seed with red flakes and a pearl belly, green pumpkin with red pearl, lily pad (chartreuse and white), watermelon seed with green and gold flakes, and watermelon seed with gold flakes. In a bag of Ribbits is a plastic bead to slide on the line so that it’s right at the nose of the frog. The bead improves the performance of the Ribbit and helps keep weeds and other debris off the line.

While I haven’t used the Floating Ribbit yet, Stanley tells me it’s just like the original Ribbit except that it won’t sink, even when rigged on a 5/0 hook and even when there’s a pause in the retrieve. An angler can fish it with a stop-and-go retrieve, and pause it right next to stumps and dock pilings, and it will stay right there, on the surface.

The 4-1/2-inch Bull Ribbit, available in six colors, should be fished with a 5/0 to 6/0 wide-gap hook for lunker largemouth, northern pike and other large predators.

For more information about Ribbit frog baits, visit fishstanley.com, or call Stanley Jigs, Inc. in Huntington, Texas, at (936) 876-5713.