Ribbit Frog, Weighted Or Weightless?

[BassinNCstyle]

Gonna give them a try soon, I know some fish with weighted hook and some weightless. What is advantage of weight vs weightless? Also hook do you use? THANKS!

[Hanover_Yakker]

If you are using the standard sized Ribbits, I use a 4/0 Mustad UltraPoint or Zoom Horny Toad hook unweighted.  If you are going to use the Bull Ribbits, you will need to step up to the 5/0 size.  Some people prefer EWG hooks, but I do just fine with the Mustad and Zoom ones.  One rigging tip though on the Ribbits - they do tend to flip wrong side up or belly up on the cast, so  you can do a couple things here.  One, on the cast, start your retrieve before the frog hits.  Two, keep your rod tip up during the retrieve.  Three, if the belly up still occurs, a little twitch and lowering of the rod will sometimes right the frog.  Lastly, and possibly the best tip in my opinion, is to rig the frog with a slight bow in the back not straight like a tex-posed fluke or worm.  The arch in the back helps the Ribbit right itself during the retrieve.

 

Oh, and per your original question, I have tried the Stanley weighted frog hooks and all they did was collect every piece of debris and algae/grass floating in the water.  I use them now primarily with flukes, large power worms or stick baits for a weighted presentation during deep drop casts and jigging.

 

Last thing, when rigging the frog, apply a little scent to the hook shank then work the shank through the body of the Ribbit a couple times.  The plastic on the Ribbits is a little firm, so the first strike or two may result in a missed fish even if you do everything correctly simple because the hook didn't budge.

 

Hope this helps!

[B@ssCrzy]

I prefer the weighted hooks because the added weight lets you cast them a lot further.  I mainly just fish them like a buzzbait so I don't need them to sit on top of anything, or be able to pause or sink slowly.  I have used the weighted double hooks mainly, but recently switched to the single weighted hook to see if my hookups improve. 

[Marty]

For the standard Ribbit, I use a keeper-style hook, 4/0, extra wide gap and fish with it unweighted.