Frogs, Toads and Tadpoles

There are two frog and two toad species in the UK as well as number of exotic species that may have been released. They are widespread and found in a variety of habitats and can be predominantly green or brown although they can be cream, orange, red or black.  The adult common frog (Rana temporaria) and common toad (Bufo bufo), which can be 8 to 13 cm long, hibernate/shelter for the winter and emerge in early spring to begin breeding. Frogspawn can appear in ponds in the south in January, depending on the weather, with most ponds in the UK likely to have frogspawn by March. The tadpoles are black when they hatch. The common toad tadpoles stay black while the common frog tadpoles develop light bronze speckles as they mature. Tadpoles can be an important food source in the spring for trout and adult frogs for trout, bass and pike in the spring and summer.

Flies for those that don’t tie:

• Pike Swimming frog – Size 2
• Bass popper frog – Size 10
• Trout foam frog – Size 10
• Black tadpole – Size 12
• Olive tadpole – Size 12
• Hothead tadpole – Size 10

For those of you that tie rather than buy:

Tight Lines

Greg