Fisholder7

Just to update everyone - I improved to a 50% hookup rate yesterday (hooked 5 out of 10 blowups) just by tying the braid directly to the frog. I think some of the misses were due to a little slack in the line when setting the hook... it's hard to not panic and immediately set the hook. I'm going to work on giving the fish a little more time (2-3 seconds) and calmly getting all the slack out of the line before hookset next trip. Once again they only bit for about an hour, approximately 2 hours before sunset. Then they turned off despite me still seeing large swirls and splashes on top - I think they were feeding on insects on top at that point. Thanks again everyone for all the advice. I'm hooked.

Hi all, Looking for a new spinning rod for topwater frogs and the Dobyn SA705 SF seems to be highly recommended. I've been using only Booyah poppin pad crasher Jr frogs which weigh 3/8 oz according to bass pro shops website. The recommended lure weights for the SA705SF is 3/8 - 1 1/4 so this would be at the lower end. Does anyone who has this rod know if I'll have difficulty casting such a relatively light frog? Unfortunately there are no dealers around me who sell Dobyn rods so I'll have to order online and won't get to hold the rod before purchase. Appreciate any advice.

I'm glad you were able to decipher my code 😁 That's what I thought regarding leader. I'm already searching for a heavier setup and will get rid of the leader. Thank you so much for all the advice and will keep everyone updated on any improvements next time I go.

I was just as surprised as you. These are a few local ponds and lakes in "upstate" NY I've been fishing. I went to three different places without even a single touch for hours but I stayed positive waiting for that big one. Then suddenly between 6:30pm -7pm at the third pond they started biting their heads off. Every cast the second I twitched it after it hit the water there was a hit. Then as if someone flipped a switch they turned off again (still plenty of daylight left). I can't explain it.

Thanks so much for the advice guys! I'll beef up the rod to at least a medium heavy and load with heavier line. Just out of curiosity, why tie braid directly to the frog? Is it to alleviate the stretch you get with mono leader? In saltwater fishing it's become frowned upon to not use a flourocarbon leader so this is a totally different ballgame to me. I'm assuming bass don't care about seeing the braid coming out of the frog's nose. Thanks again!

Very frustrated, hoping someone here can help me. I apologize in advance if this sounds stupid as using topwater frogs is new to me. I'm an avid saltwater fisherman in New York and started getting back into freshwater lately. The ponds and lakes I'm fishing have what I'd describe as mostly mild to somewhat moderate vegetation, mostly scattered lilypads that are sometimes bunched together. I'm using a Lew's Mach2 combo from Dicks Sporting Goods which surprisingly isn't terrible quality (based on my saltwater standards at least) - it's medium action with fast taper. Reel has 15 lb braid and I'm using 15 lb flourocarbon leader to a Booyah pad crasher jr. I understand this is considered very light tackle for classic topwater "muck" fishing but I haven't had any issues getting stuck in the pads or vegetation. Most of the fish are 1-3 lbs and yesterday I must've found a honeyhole as for about 30 mins straight every cast I was getting hit. However I only landed 2 (out of about 20 strikes) and both were barely hooked. Of the two I landed one inhaled the frog and the hook was barely imbedded inside the mouth and the other the hook was barely holding on by a thread in its lip. The majority of fish when I tried to set the hook the frog came flying back at me. I'm striking the rod straight up in the air full force. With that said, I've lost two huge fish over the past week that I never got to see, both were "hooked" for maybe 5-7 seconds then came off. I might need a stouter rod, perhaps medium heavy? But with too heavy tackle what will happen when I set the hook on those 1-3 lb fish? I'm envisioning them flying out of the water onto the bank... ok maybe I'm exagerating but you get the point. I appreciate any help you guys can provide. Thanks!