Frog Gets Bites, But Hook Doesn't Set.

[out_doors_guy]

As others have said, your rod and line are to light for this type of fishing. A heavy or medium heavy fast action rod preferably 7' and MUCH heavier line will be a big help. As far as the hook-set, I always delay my hook-set until I feel the fish. Bass often smack the bait first, as if trying to stun it then circle back to eat it.

[guest]

Frog rod attributes:

It needs to be long for pulling the fish out of cover and taking up a lot of line on the hooksets. I like a 7' - 7' 6" rod.

It needs to have a good backbone for solid hooksets and pulling fish out of cover.

It needs to have a soft enough tip so you can launch the frog way back into cover.

It does not need to be sensitive if it is strictly a top water rod, you can save some money here.

Frog fishing with mono is asking for hook up problems. I get frog hits from up to 100ft away, I can't expect to get a good hook set with a 100ft rubber band between my rod and the fish. Even if you do manage to set the hook, good luck getting a big boy back to the boat once he gets tangled in vegetation. Braid is the way to go on all non treble hook top water lures imo, especially those used in heavy cover.

The hookset has to be hard and I find that waiting three seconds is often too long with a hollow body frog. The fish will spit them out pretty quickly. As soon as I see a blowup I simultaneously look for my frog and reel up slack. If I feel the fish or have minimal line slack and can't see my frog I immediately set the hook.