Froggin’ Fall’s Flooded Brush Like Clifford Pirch

The strike happens in an instant. The water ripples, its surface erupts and a bass swallows a frog. It is perhaps the most thrilling moment in bass fishing — a moment that Clifford Pirch remembers well. He’s felt that bite in tournaments in nearly every region in the continental United States, and the three-time U.S. Open champion says there may be no better time to fish the frog than early fall.

“It’s a good time of year to get bites on a topwater,” says Pirch, “and a frog will get some of the best bites, for sure.”

What makes the bite so perfect? This time of year, lake levels typically draw down, leaving thick grass mats or flooded, formerly