Tag: bait review

First and foremost, I want to hit the most important point:

It’s pronounced SUH-BEEL… as in Patrick SUH-BEEL…

… you uncultured swine!

To tell you the truth, I had never heard of Patrick Sébile and his company before I scored a Sébile Pivot Frog in either a Mystery Tackle Box or a Lucky Tackle Box… I couldn’t tell you which one…

(Remember in a previous video I mentioned that I was essentially collecting fishing lures just for the sake of collecting them? Well, this Pivot Frog sat as a part of that collection for years before I ever put it to use.)

In fact… the first one that I had was orange, and the only reason I even thought to get it out, was because I had missed a few fish on my Strike King KVD Sexy Frog when I started using it for topwater pond fishing. I knew that the Pivot Frog incorporated a sizable weight on the bottom, and I started to wonder what some of the other differences were between this odd looking frog and the more traditional Strike King… which also had a few tricks up its sleeve…

Make sure to hit up the video explanation as well for even more information on the pros and cons of these two baits!

Sébile Pivot Frog: Features

The Pivot Frog delivers clean, powerful hook sets through the use of Sébile’s Gravity Hook System. This allows the stout hook (with exposed external weight) to freely move up and down, while also adding a “keel” for easier “walking” over open water. The bait incorporates thicker, more durable plastic than a traditional frog, but the body is still collapsible. This, combined with the wide gap of the hook gives you more than enough room to stick those greedy pigs.

• 2.5″ body length
• Long durable “legs” (I always trim his biscuits)
• 1 high quality, pivoting, stout hook
• External weight makes “walking” this bait a breeze
• Large gap between body and hook for increased hookup ratio
• Harder plastic body for added durability
• Multiple color options
• Very buoyant
• Only $8 (at this time)

Up until recently, I haven’t been much of a frog fisherman. Now I take this technique seriously. The Pivot Frog caught my attention years ago even though I wasn’t ready to use it – and while hanging onto a bait that you aren’t going to use is not what a minimalist fisherman ought to do… I was glad that I hung on to this one!

That said, this year it will replace my Strike King KVD Sexy Frog. Let’s go over some of the features on this second bait and then we’ll jump into why I’m making the switch.

Strike King KVD Sexy Frog: Features

The KVD (Kevin VanDam) Sexy Frog is currently the top-dog-frog in the Strike King lineup. It works well in heavy cover and comes with a super-sharp Gamakatsu frog hook, a completely sealed nose section to reduce water intake and a semi-soft plastic body that will collapse under pressure. The bait currently comes in a wide range of colors.

• 2.5″ body length
• Long durable “legs” (I always trim his biscuits)
• Traditional high quality 2-point frog hook
• Slightly weighted
• Uh… comes with… with a butthole for squirting water
• No gap between hollow body and hook points
• Internal rattle (discontinued…)
• Multiple color options
• Very buoyant
• Very weedless
• Only $8 (at this time)

Quick note: $8 is an extremely reasonable price tag for baits like these that you could potentially get a ton of use out of. Not to mention, even if you only catch one fish on the bait… fish that hit topwater are usually the kind of fish you want. They are well worth a few bucks.

(Seriously. Go mow your neighbor’s lawn or collect cans. Getcha’ some a that spendin’ cash! I believe in you! Make it happen!)

We’ve all been on the water before, having horrible luck, thinking to ourselves “I would pay $100 for a quality fish right now”…

Don’t spend carelessly, but find good quality baits and invest in quality tackle, and quality companies. (When you are a minimalist fisherman this becomes easier, because you only purchase baits that work, that you believe in, that give you confidence – you ultimately spend less!)

Both of these baits are worth the cost of admission. They helped me catch my first frog fish:

It was on the Strike King – and again – this is a really good frog. It even has a butthole so you can easily squirt out any water that the bait takes on. Classy!

However, there are some things that I think the Pivot Frog does better. (Even though it doesn’t have a butthole.) I’m not making the switch because there is something wrong with the Strike King, so please keep that in mind – both are great baits – but consider this:

The Pivot Frog has a single hook point, and when you set the hook through sludge (which is what I have the pleasure of fishing a lot in Illinois) you are able to apply more force to a single location. All of the energy you impart is concentrated in that one spot. With the traditional frog hook, if both hook points are making contact with something inside the mouth of the fish, your energy is getting distributed.

In the video about my return to pond fishing, I mentioned that I had an issue with this traditional frog hook loading up with sludge that the bass gobbled up when it attacked my bait. A single hook is going to work better around this thick cover.

I also had an issue with a few fish smacking the KVD Sexy Frog up in the air. Now… I know that this is a common occurrence for all you hardcore frog fisherman out there… but dammit man, there must be something we can do to at least reduce this a bit!

So, this desire for more weight, and more focus on the hookset was what led me to the Pivot Frog.

But… I was Concerned for 2 Reasons

There were two things that really made me take a pause for the cause before I made the switch. First, the weight on the back of the Pivot Frog was something that I wanted to add to the equation, but I was worried that this would make the bait pick up more of that topwater sludge.

After using the bait, I found this wasn’t an issue. The Sexy Frog is slightly more weedless, but not to the point that it is worth trading the other benefits.

Sweet. Check concern #1 off the list.

Second, my Sexy Frog has a rattle… which I didn’t notice until I was tying on the Pivot Frog! Now interestingly, this isn’t an issue currently because the KVD frog is no longer manufactured with rattles. However, if I am using the Pivot Frog this year and strikes are noticeably reduced… I will be adding a rattle to the bait and testing it for several hours.

Check concern #2 off the list… for now…

The Big Question to Ponder

One last thing I’d like to leave you with is this – have you ever thought about what causes a fish to strike a topwater frog? What can they see? What can they hear? Are they hunting or reacting?

When you are considering the color of the next frog that you plan to buy, take extra care when looking at the belly.

The difference between a white belly and a black belly will have much more impact on your fishing than a bright pink frog and a dark green frog – if for example the latter two options both have white bellies.

The same thing goes for appendages. Those little molded plastic arms look sweet! But… do they catch fish… or fishermen?

Then select your bait with confidence – and remember, fish will hit all sorts of crap on the surface, not just oval baits with frog paint on top 😉

Bonus Tip – Trim His Biscuits!

Out of the package, most skirt-type frog legs are really too long. After opening a new one, I like to trim his biscuits! You can see the difference between these two baits:

This allows you to present a more compact package, which reduces the amount of missed strikes. Just like adding weight to my topwater presentation, anything that can even slightly increase the chance of a solid hookup is worth doing.

Need a bit more action?

Some guys will actually trim just 1 of the legs down to make the frog lopsided, which they believe helps the bait come through the water in a slightly more erratic manner, and also adds to that side-to-side motion.

If it’s early, late or overcast – it’s time to try a frog – and if you land some fish, make sure to tag me on social media and let me know – I’d love to hear from you.

Tight Lines & Godspeed, Patriots.

EDIT: on August 14th, 2023 this post was updated to link to the new frog I am currently using, as the Sebile Pivot Frog (and all Sebile products) seem to be discontinued.