Tadpole Imitation 2025

hookset on 3 reply :

My home lake has tons of 3or4 inch tadpoles.

What soft plastic would match the hatch? Keep in mind they have a large head that tapers back to a thin tail? Grub or goby maybe?

Thanks and Happy New Year BR members.

Hookset on 3

Dan: reply :

I was under the impression that bass did not like to eat tadpoles but I imagine a goby style bait would imitate tadpoles well.

hookset on 3 reply :

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I was under the impression that bass did not like to eat tadpoles but I imagine a goby style bait would imitate tadpoles well.

Hi Dan, where'd you hear that?

fourbizz reply :

I have heard that over and over again myself.

Avalonjohn44 reply :

You can't beat a Bagley's Fat Cat for imitating a big bullfrog tadpole. Check on Ebay, there's always a few on there.

ww2farmer reply :

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I was under the impression that bass did not like to eat tadpoles

Some one once told me that too, but I had know idea if it was true or not, nor did I care, but I did accidently find out one day. One of our farm ponds has a dike with a large pipe/valve in the bottom of it that we can use to drain some water off that pond to another pond below the dike if it gets low on water and the suction pipe that goes back to the barn is in danger of being on dry land. In many years of me fishing these ponds I always liked to open the valve a little while I was fishing, the current attracted fish and I always got a few good bass doing this. One day I opened the valve and the water came out the pipe BLACK, the pipe was jammed full of tadpoles, the bass moved in and started sucking them down AND spitting them out as fast as they could, they may have eaten a few but for the most part they rejected them, bluegills wouldn't eat them either. It's not like a bass to pass up an easy meal so they must be offensive to them in some way.

I don't think a tadpole imitating lure wouldn't work as it would be struck out of reaction anyways, and the bass in my pond still attacked the tadpoles, in fact over and over again, but they just spit them out over and over again too.

Bass Junkie reply :

I'll second the goby suggestion. Also, I've rigged up an 11/8oz Chatterbait with a Vibra Tail grub in the spirit of tadpole imitation. Never tried it though.....

Crestliner2008 reply :

Bill Dance's "Dancin' Eel", in the small 4" size, looks about right. However, I've also been told, or read somewhere, that fish don't like them. That never made sense to me though. Bass eat frogs, don't they? And what's a frog? A morphed tad pole....right? The premise that bass do not like tadpoles is "a bit hard to swallow", from where I stand!

Another thing. As far as bass hitting and rejecting tadpoles goes, the program "Hook N' Look" on TV showed smallies mouthing crayfish and rejecting them one after another! The host premised that they were actually "testing" the hardness of the shells.

So who knows for sure? In any case, I'll take a hit any day for whatever the reason. Just increases my odds for buttoning up.

Dan: reply :

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I was under the impression that bass did not like to eat tadpoles but I imagine a goby style bait would imitate tadpoles well.

Hi Dan, where'd you hear that?

I don't remember. It was something about a coating or slime they have on them that tastes bad to bass but who really knows?

broncoboxer reply :

The Rebel "Tadfry".

Blue Streak reply :

I have seen hungry bass hit a tadpole and spit them out. I don't know what it is but they just don't seem to like them. If that pond has tadpoles it has frogs and that is what I would go with.

bassdoctor88 reply :

Snag Proof Wiggle Wog Tackle Warehouse

bilgerat reply :

As kids we would hook them and try to catch fish with them. It never worked for us. They must secrete something nasty

Chaz Hickcox reply :

Rage Tail Eeliminator Check this out -

Why am I the first to post this? Who has ever seen an eel with a fat body and a long slender tail. The eeliminator has to be a tadpole immitation, but they won't market it that way because of what y'all are saying about tadpoles. Who cares? We're not trying to feed the fish just get them to attack right?

hookset on 3 reply :

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Quote

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I was under the impression that bass did not like to eat tadpoles but I imagine a goby style bait would imitate tadpoles well.

Hi Dan, where'd you hear that?

I don't remember. It was something about a coating or slime they have on them that tastes bad to bass but who really knows?

Yup,that's got to be it.

Hook

hookset on 3 reply :

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Snag Proof Wiggle Wog Tackle Warehouse

Good Doctor, those look great.

Thanks.

hookset on 3 reply :

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Bill Dance's "Dancin' Eel", in the small 4" size, looks about right. However, I've also been told, or read somewhere, that fish don't like them. That never made sense to me though. Bass eat frogs, don't they? And what's a frog? A morphed tad pole....right? The premise that bass do not like tadpoles is "a bit hard to swallow", from where I stand!
Another thing. As far as bass hitting and rejecting tadpoles goes, the program "Hook N' Look" on TV showed smallies mouthing crayfish and rejecting them one after another! The host premised that they were actually "testing" the hardness of the shells.

So who knows for sure? In any case, I'll take a hit any day for whatever the reason. Just increases my odds for buttoning up.

Crastliner, maybe I'll pick up a few Dancin Eels and we'll try them out on the Connecticut River or Quabbin Resevior!

hookset on 3 reply :

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Rage Tail Eeliminator Check this out -
Why am I the first to post this? Who has ever seen an eel with a fat body and a long slender tail. The eeliminator has to be a tadpole immitation, but they won't market it that way because of what y'all are saying about tadpoles. Who cares? We're not trying to feed the fish just get them to attack right?

Nemesis, those eels are spot on tadpole match, maybe in green pumpkin.

Thanks, Hookset on 3

Thai reply :

I was going to say it has to be defense mechnism like a foul secretion from the skin since they are pretty much helpless in the water, I've seen bass and perch swimming around ignoring tadpoles and when I used to raise cichlids I caught crayfish for them to eat and the ocasional tadpole would make it in and I'd drop them in my pike cichlid tanks and they would mouth them than spit them out immediately.

Avalonjohn44 reply :

It's an interesting subject, but I wonder about why a bass will spit out a tadpole, but eat a frog. If it is a secretion causing the bass to reject the tadpole, I wonder why that secretion is not kept when the tadpole grows into a frog. I also wonder why some bullfrog tadpoles are eaten when others are not. I've seen bass both eat taddies as well as reject them...

I would hazard a guess that much like many frogs and toads, it is not a bodily secretion exactly, but a quick expulsion of bodily wastes that turns the predator off. My dog loves to grab those little brown toads, but always spits them out and shakes his head afterward. Every one of those toads do exactly to my dog what it does to me when I pick them up - urinates when it feels threatened. I wonder if that is it instead of the secretions... Could be either or, I suppose.

If anyone can find a scientific reason/explanation, it would be appreciated... All that my google searches turn up is anecdotal evidence, nothing definite...

Avalonjohn44 reply :

OK to follow up, I found an article on how bass learn to differentiate between different species of tadpoles. Some species the bass will reject, some it will readily eat... It is just the abstract of a research paper, you have to pay to receive the entire study... Interesting though...

Avalonjohn44 reply :

Sorry to post again... Found this one where LMBass control the Bullfrog tadpole population better than any other method...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0928_040928_bullfrog.html

Quote from the article on page 2:

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Predatory insects, such as dragonfly nymphs and diving beetles, may help mitigate bullfrog populations, according to Rosen, the biologist who studies bullfrog-prey relationships. However, to date, the fish found to be most effective at killing bullfrog tadpoles is the largemouth bass, a non-native species in Arizona.
"No conservationist wants to hear that, because bass are a significant problem in their own right," Rosen said.

NewAngler reply :

I was thinking the rage tail eeliminator as well, good call.

I have an opinion as to why I think a tadpole lure might work. I have no experience with fishing one, nor have I seen a bass take one, take one and reject it, or pass up on one, so this is all hypothesis;

1. We know (from what you guys say) that a bass will take one into their mouths, but spit it out immediately. Maybe from a secretion, or maybe from urine, I vote Thai to take a mouth full of Tadpoles and give a full report back.

2. We know that bass feed on different species at different times of the year

3. We also know that bass have the aggression to feed on just about anything, from squirells to baby gators.

Why would'nt a tadpole imitator work? It obviously replicates its swimming pattern, can get it to the correct depths, and matching the color shouldn't be an issue. Tadpole lure DO NOT pee when they are threatened, and therfore I think the tadpole lure theory should be a hit.

midnighthrasher reply :

here is one from storm..........

http://www.stormlures.com/products/luresdetail.cfm?modelName=thundercore_squirter&freshorsalt=Fresh&type=hybrid_lures

hookset on 3 reply :

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Sorry to post again... Found this one where LMBass control the Bullfrog tadpole population better than any other method...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0928_040928_bullfrog.html

AVJ44, that was a very informative article from NatGeo.

Looks like I'll have to take up frog spearing in my local ponds and lakes. These bodies of water are host to leopard and green frogs as well. It's time to cull out some off the big bullfrogs. They are quite voracious,as a matter of fact I've hooked many on bass lures thru the years.

Quote from the article on page 2:

Quote
Predatory insects, such as dragonfly nymphs and diving beetles, may help mitigate bullfrog populations, according to Rosen, the biologist who studies bullfrog-prey relationships. However, to date, the fish found to be most effective at killing bullfrog tadpoles is the largemouth bass, a non-native species in Arizona.
"No conservationist wants to hear that, because bass are a significant problem in their own right," Rosen said.

hookset on 3 reply :

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here is one from storm..........
http://www.stormlures.com/products/luresdetail.cfm?modelName=thundercore_squirter&freshorsalt=Fresh&type=hybrid_lures

Yeah, looks just like a taddie to me.

Thanks

hookset on 3 reply :

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I was thinking the rage tail eeliminator as well, good call.
I have an opinion as to why I think a tadpole lure might work. I have no experience with fishing one, nor have I seen a bass take one, take one and reject it, or pass up on one, so this is all hypothesis;

1. We know (from what you guys say) that a bass will take one into their mouths, but spit it out immediately. Maybe from a secretion, or maybe from urine, I vote Thai to take a mouth full of Tadpoles and give a full report back.

2. We know that bass feed on different species at different times of the year

3. We also know that bass have the aggression to feed on just about anything, from squirells to baby gators.

Why would'nt a tadpole imitator work? It obviously replicates its swimming pattern, can get it to the correct depths, and matching the color shouldn't be an issue. Tadpole lure DO NOT pee when they are threatened, and therfore I think the tadpole lure theory should be a hit.

Just ordered some in melon red. Thnx

Avalonjohn44 reply :

You should keep the bullfrogs you catch and fry up those legs...

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Tadpole Imitation 2025

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