Frog Fishing Help!

[Bass NC]

I've never had much success frog fishing but today I tied on a Booyah Pad Crasher on one of my rods and hit a local lake. Within the first few casts I it a huge hit and when I set the hook I thought he was in the bag. After bringing him in 10 more feet I see the bright yellow frog pop right out of it's mouth and float up to the surface. This happened to me two more times and then I decided to switch to the KVD sexy frog and the same thing happened! Any tips or advice to land these fish?

[fishguy613]

what line / rod are you using? sounds like when you set the hook it wasnt enough to puncture so the bass just held it in their mouths for a moment and eventually spit it out. to maximize hook sets with frogs go with braided line 50-65lb test, the rod should be MH, heavy or stronger with an extra fast tip. fairly new to frogs myself but thats what ive learned and it helped me put fish in the boat last summer

good luck

[Bass NC]

what line / rod are you using? sounds like when you set the hook it wasnt enough to puncture so the bass just held it in their mouths for a moment and eventually spit it out. to maximize hook sets with frogs go with braided line 50-65lb test, the rod should be MH, heavy or stronger with an extra fast tip. fairly new to frogs myself but thats what ive learned and it helped me put fish in the boat last summer

good luck

Thanks man! I had everything yu recommended except the 50lb braid. I'm using 30lb powerpro but I guess I'll just have to replace it.

[gulfcaptain]

As per fishguy613 asked, what line and rod.  Fish a frog you need to use braid.  Size is up to you, most prefer 50/65lb, I choose 30lb. But braid is important.  Now here's the hard part. When you see the bite, wait, wait for the feel of the fish.  When that bass blows up on a bait you must wait till you feel the pressure and weight before swinging.  You must wait for that fish to get his mouth closed.  He just came up through the weeds to eat his possible meal.  So there isn't a magic number to count to, you are gonna have to get the feel of it.  As for your rod, MH/H rods are good choices, taper/action is up to you and a personal preference, fishguy613 likes an XF, I prefer a Mod/fast action.  But the main thing is to wait till you feel the fish and make sure you have braid fishing frogs so you can get the proper hook set you need.

[5dollarsplash]

Braid is good, I like a nice heavy fast rod, but a mh can work too. When you feel the fish, swing for the fence and keep the pressure on. Don't let them have any slack. I've pulled 3lb fish covered in 5lbs of crud out of areas with that method.

Keeping the pressure on the fish could be the issue if you have them on in weeds or slop.

[noway]

Frog fishing = missing some fish. 

[fish365]

+1 on what gulfcaptain says. once you feel it set the hook like you are hooking a grizzly bear

[fishguy613]

last year i used a st croix H/F with good results just mentioned that as this year im switching to a H/XF, not for that reason

the frog i learned on was the pad crasher too, this year ill probably be using the koppers alot i really dig that frog

[frogflogger]

Don't let up keep the reel winching against them

[je1946]

Your getting very getting very gd advice,another thing you can try is to take a gd pair of pliers and bend the hooks out just a bit at the bend of the hook,wait until you feel the fish, drop your rod quickly while reeling at the same time then snap the tip of the rod up quickly and hard almost like your trying to break the line and reel like crazy. I like a 7'2" heavy ex fast rod with 50lb braid and a high spd reel, but whatever you use snap that rod tip up quick and hard and reel like a mad man.  Froggin is fun but your hookup to landing ratio isn't always as gd as it is with other types of fishing  just the nature of the beast.  Gd luck

[RipSomeLips]

You can also buy a trailer hook for your frog. I would recommend the following:

http://m.basspro.com/Lake-Fork-Trophy-Lures-Frog-Tail-Hook/product/11111505010510/

[fishnfreak410]

+1 to what je1946 posted. My brother is a die-hard frogger. He uses and taught me the same method. He jerks like he is trying to ****** a gator out of the water but ONLY AFTER he feels the rod load up and then reels like his life depends on it. It's all in the rod-heavy with ex-fast tip.

Just my .02

Good luck

[iceintheveins]

The guys are right on the money here. Minimum of 50 pound braid, at least a 6.3:1 reel (7.1:1 is better), and a heavy action graphite rod.

[paangler13]

I will second the hard hookset.  Really cross there eyes! 

 

Jim

[mjseverson24]

I fish frogs quite a bit, you said earlier in your post that you have the MH-H action rod and braid(30#)... so your set up is where it needs to be... I see in your avatar a picture of you in a kayak, is this where you were fishing from with your friend??? if so it is more difficult to catch fish with frogs from a kayak mainly because of leverage... the height of your rod tim is about 5 ft lower than it would be if you were fishing from a boat, and also as you pull hard on a fish in a "yak" you actually move towards the fish, which reduces the pressure on the fish... If you are doing everything they guys above have already posted by getting the proper hookset and fish fighting technique down and still have an issue, i would look to the issues i have pointed out to potentially be the problem... Good luck...

 

Mitch

[Drewski73]

One last thing to add here, with that swing for the fences hook set, if your drag is slipping while youre crossing his eyes, its all useless. Button that drag down, or thumb it for the hook set. Two large hooks need a lot of pull to penetrate a bass' mouth.

[hatrix]

Frog fishing = missing some fish.

This ^^

[Catt]

When I'm missing fish on hollow frog I'll change to solid frogs like a Ribbit.

[John F.]

One last thing to add here, with that swing for the fences hook set, if your drag is slipping while youre crossing his eyes, its all useless. Button that drag down, or thumb it for the hook set. Two large hooks need a lot of pull to penetrate a bass' mouth.

 

 

This happened to me today. I have decided to just throw frogs for a bit til I get familiar with them. Got a couple of little strikes and yanked it away from them before they tasted it. Big hit, fish swimming with the frog, tried to set the hook but the drag was light. Guess I need to be more patient and check my settings next time. Totally different bite than senkos or flukes. 

[primetime]

I miss alot of fish on Frogs no matter where I am fishing from, and I find that the River2 Sea Bully wa and the Monroe Phat Frog have helped me out since they are much softer or crush down easier so the hooks seem to penerate better. I always struggled with Booyah, Live Target and some others. I know often times Bass just stun the Frog and will come back, so waiting for the rod to load is key but hard to do fishing topwaters...

 

I find if I miss a fish, even if I had the fish hooked for a little bit, I can usually get that fish to strike a small 4" finesse worm or little flipping craw worked slowly and usually if not the first cast, usually by 3rd or 4th. Usually you will find more than the fish you missed.

[L a r r y]

+2 on bending the hooks away from the hollow body some.  By doing that, it gives the hook an extra 1\8th of an inch when the body is compressed.  Wait till you feel the fish, and swing your hook set FAST AND HARD