FW Installment #4 : A Frog by Any Other Color is Still a Frog

Introduction: We conclude Frog Week on TackleTour with a discussion of baits that look like traditional hollow bodied frog baits, but are built with different purposes in mind. What differences? Well, how about a hollow bodied frog you can crank? Or how about a bait that looks like a hollow bodied frog but instead of being soft, it’s hard? Or maybe one that doesn’t look like a frog at all, but instead it’s a mouse that behaves like a hollow bodied topwater frog? Yes, it’s the category of “other”, and are the baits.

Wait, is that a frog or a crank or something else?

Molix SuperNato: When we first saw this bait several years ago, we found the concept quite odd: a hollow bodied crankbait with frog hooks. In the tradition of TackleTour and our Year of the Crank, we tried to keep and open mind so we tied one on, tossed it out, and cranked it up. What did we discover?

It's Molix's Supernato - a cranking frog!

Action: The Molix Supernato behaves like a standard square billed crankbait. The bait's bill allows the bait to dive, and the side to side wobbling action is very good! The bait's tail only serves to enhance its action making it a tad more snake like than a traditional crank. Naturally, the tail can be trimmed to whatever length you desire.

At first glance it looks more or less like a typical hollow bodied frog.

Weedlessness: This is where the Supernato shines. Imagine a square bill crank you can cast into and bring back through the nastiest of cover with little worry of hangups. That's this bait. Because it has the frog style hooks shielded by the bait's body, there are no free swinging hooks to get caught on tree limbs and weeds. You can retrieve this bait through almost anything.

But then you take a closer look at the head and notice the square bill and it's a crankbait!

Taking on Water: Water intrusion is the least of your worries with this bait because it's made to dive and be fished beneath the water. If you don't like the water, squeeze it out, but fill it with some water, and it will dive deeper, so you can even tune your retrieve with the bait by adjusting the amount of water that's in the bait.

But the back is indeed hollow soft plastic.

Hookup Ratio: Unlike a traditional crank however, hookups can be tricky with this bait. Because the hook points are hidden, and in the style of a frog, you don't always stick those hits. But the places you can throw this bait makes it worth the frustration sometimes.

And the bait comes with frog hooks and a single tail.

Durability: This bait actually has two parts. The bill of the bait is attached to a solid, plastic head while the back part of the bait is the traditional soft, hollow body. Abuse from being retrieved through structure is taken by the bill and head while the body compresses during a hookset to expose the hooks. It's a very clever design and one that's held up well for us over time.

The design allows you to throw this bait into the thickest cover imaginable.

Availability: The Molix Supernato is now available in two different sizes. Originally only offered in two and three quarter inches in length, you can now get it in a mini-size at one and three quarters of an inch. They are available in about a dozen different colors and retail for $14.99 for the larger size and $13.00 for the smaller. You can find them all at TackleWarehouse.

You still might get caught up after the fish strikes, but if you react quickly enough, you can pull them right out for a CPR (catch, photograph, & release) moment!

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