missed hook sets on hollow body frog

[Big Bait Fishing]

I fish a frog hard all summer

Your not missing the bite, The bite is missing you

.

You will miss more bites waiting then you ever will with imeadiate hooksets. There is no logic behind waiting to set the hook with a frog(or any other bait for that matter). A bass does not nibble, or chew, he sucks in his prey in a vortex. Either he got it in his maw and you blast him or he missed it.

The true art in frog fishing is not pulling the frog away when he misses it, and letting him get another shot at it. The nature of frog fishing over heavy cover requires that you be able to deal with a few missed blowups.

I do agree with alot of the others on using a soft tip heavy rod, heavy braid, and hard hooksets.

oh yeah !! i live for summer frog fishing , the best and most exciting way to fish for big bass

[JDF]

Catching bass on a frog is my favorite. My buddies and I have a friendly tourney every summer on Guntersville and it is awesome to watch a big bass explode on a frog. Nothin like catchin em on topwater!!

[frogflogger]

fairly soft tip with very stout butt - switching to the light and strong daiwa frog rod increased our hookups. We fished frogs 12 months a year for 6 years and found that when a good bass goes for it - it is almost impossible to take it away from it. But with fast retrieves and bass under five lbs you are going to miss some.

[Crabcakes]

I fish a frog hard all summer

Your not missing the bite, The bite is missing you.

You will miss more bites waiting then you ever will with imeadiate hooksets. There is no logic behind waiting to set the hook with a frog(or any other bait for that matter). A bass does not nibble, or chew, he sucks in his prey in a vortex. Either he got it in his maw and you blast him or he missed it.

The true art in frog fishing is not pulling the frog away when he misses it, and letting him get another shot at it. The nature of frog fishing over heavy cover requires that you be able to deal with a few missed blowups.

I do agree with alot of the others on using a soft tip heavy rod, heavy braid, and hard hooksets.

I tend to agree. It's really about whether the bass actually took the frog. Waiting is just a tool to help you feel if he took it. It also prevents you from ripping it away should the bass come back for a second hit, which frequently happens. Many times the bass just flat misses. Sometimes it comes back for a second hit sometimes not.

Set when you feel him. Not when you see him. Could be 1/10 of a second or 3. Could be the first blow up or the third. Set when you feel the fish on the end of the line and not when he blows up the frog. It takes a lot of discipline and is very hard. But if you commit to an arbitrary rule like three seconds you'll miss bites.

[Big-O]

Some fish don't eat the frog on the so called strike... instead they slap at it then turn to enhale it. As some have mentioned previously, I also recommend reeling down quickly to feel the fish loaded prior to setting the hook. Also lubing the frog with something like Megastrike will make them hold it longer and/or go back after it if they missed it on the first swipe. Sharp hooks are a must!

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[Sam]

See frog disappear.

Count to three.

Set hook overhead, hard.

Hope for the best.        

[hyzer1]

I live near Chicago, and I throw frogs from April through October, in both wide open water and slop. I fish them because I'd rather catch one fish on a frog than two on a Senko. I like braid and a long stiff rod with a quick tip, but I suspect you are going to fish it on whatever you have. Here are my thoughts - If you fish your frog on a slack line - walking or chugging by snapping your rod and quickly pointing back at the bait -you really can set the hook as soon as the bass pulls the frog under water because there was no resistance to the fish taking the bait. If you are fishing on tight line, you really are pulling the bait away when the bass tries to suck it in, so dipping your rod and counting to three is probably a good idea. Even on slack line, you don't have to rush the hook set because bass hold on to frogs, so if you just took a bite of your sandwitch when the fish hit, take your time, square up your shoulders to the fish, pick up a bit of line, and slam the hook set straight up - you want to drive those double hooks straight into the top of the mouth. You can practice your hook sets with no bite. If the frog comes flying at your head, you are doing it right. It is also very important to use a quality frog. Plan on spending over $7 if you want a quality bait. There are all kinds out there and all serve a purpose, but if your worried about hook ups, you want a soft body with big hooks. I started my frog fishing with the bronzeye popper, and noticed that I got a lot better hookups on big fish than I did on small ones. When the bass takes it all the way down and the hooks are in the top of it's throat, you probably won't be loosing it. If the bait is just in the mouth, small hooks seem to just catch flaps of skin, which will be a problem on the way back to the boat. Now, I immediately replace the 3/0 hooks that come in the popper with 4/0 hooks. It doesn't affect the action and those bigger hooks go right through the lip. On a non popper style frog - check out the Snag Proof Bleeding Frog. Those 6/0 red hooks are money when it comes to hook ups, and it has a cool additional front weight that keeps the frog level for walking and keeps the frog from sliding down on the hook when you are fighting the fish. Once you get the feel, you can switch to any brand. They all have different plastic, some do long glides better, some chug better, some walk better, some skip better. Pick one that works for what you do, but make sure the hooks are at least 4/0.  On the topic of missed fish - I am never really sure what people are talking about. If a bluegil or 5" bass grabs the leg of the frog and pulls it down, it really doesn't matter how long you count, your probably not going to catch it (and if you do it will probably fly at you on the hook set). If on the other hand, you set the hook and feel the fish and move it on the hook set or better yet - it barely moves on the hook set, those are fish you should catch. I expect to land 85% of the bass I feel - and if I avoided stupid things while fighting the fish or bad luck while fishing extreme cover, world probably land more. If your are using a good frog with good (big) hooks and take your time to do a good hook set - those are fish you should catch. Again, when I started froggin' I often would fight the bass the same way that I would fight the same fish on 8lb test spinning line and a finesse worm. That is the wrong thing to do. A stiff rod, braid and double hooks are a disaster if you baby the fish in. There is no built in shock absorbsion with a stiff rod and braid, and double hooks are not ideal if you let the fish turn to the side or start running the other way. Instead, if you get your hooks in the fish, keep the rod tip up and bring the fish hard straigt toward you. Then use the heavy rod to flip it in the boat or hold it's head up if you need to lip it (you are probably better off just flipping fish up to 5 pounds into the boat). Bottom line - don't let the fish turn or bury themselves in slop, just bring it! In fact the most likely fish to lose are the ones that hit the frog and run straingt at you in shallow water. For them, pick up line, hit em hard, and wind like crazy til it's flipped in the boat. Hope this helps. If you do it right, you should be landing way over 50% of the fish you hit, and there is nothing you can do to catch small fish who just pull on the legs.

[bassmasterdb33]

How does stretch help hookups for frog fishing again?? 

sorry, but i dont buy that braid is a neccesity. while it may make some feel like they have an advantage with braid, i do just fine frog fishing with mono, it doesnt stretch like a rubberband as some people would have you believe...

The stretch will actually help your hookup percentage. Line like so many other things is just a tool. The right tool for the job.