Just Ordered My First Frog Set Up, Any Advice On Frogging?

[CYP]

I just ordered my first frogging set up

 

Shimano Chronarch Ci4+

Dobyns Champion 735C

8 Spro Frogs, poppers and normal mostly dark or black

Sunline FX2 Braid 50lb

 

Any tips and pointers on frogging is greatly appreciated.  I love topwater but really on have used poppers but frogging seems like so much fun.  

[Tywithay]

I like to try different retrieves. Some times I have to let the frog sit, other times they hit it moving quickly. If you're walking it, try different cadences as well. I usually don't catch much on frogs, but the few hits are worth it.

[Mr Swim Jig]

Don't be to quick on setting the hook....

[iabass8]

I have the same frog rod. Great choice. I love it. Enjoy!

[Maico1]

Throw your frog deep into cover and look for open spots or lanes. Twitch or pull it like a frog would be kicking its legs as it swims. You will be surprised how the bass will follow it and attack it in the opening or open lane at the weeds edge. Do not be afraid to throw it over a bog and then retrieve it so you can hop it off the bog. Same goes for logs and fallen trees I will even throw them into trees at the shore line and then pop them out and let them fall into the water....at the end of the day just play around with it altering your retrieve as well as finding objects that would hold a bass and throw it at them.

[BassinLou]

Nice set up. You are going to enjoy it. When it comes to frog fishing let the fish tell you what they want. Sometimes they want the frog walked, twitched, chugged, popped, burned, you name it. Trust me when frog is on the menu they tell you how they want it served. Good luck. Enjoy!! 

[CYP]

Nice set up. You are going to enjoy it. When it comes to frog fishing let the fish tell you what they want. Sometimes they want the frog walked, twitched, chugged, popped, burned, you name it. Trust me when frog is on the menu they tell you how they want it served. Good luck. Enjoy!! 

 

Thanks,  I like the combo,  I have the same type of set up for my crankbait,  Ci4+ with Dobyns Champ Glass 705.  Figured I may as well stick with it for the frogs

[ColdSVT]

Careful...froggin is more additive than heroin

I currently have a fever and the only prescription is more froggin!

[tcbass]

Get some dark Ragetails and try this: I love hollow bodies, but have about 90% more success with these.

 

 

Firstly, as I've posted before, I think the Ragetail Toad is one of the greatest topwater bass lures of all time. It has outfished almost every other lure for largemouth bass that I've ever used.

 

I've noticed when I've read a lot of reviews and comments on the Ragetail Toad that people say things like, "One of my only complaints is that it sinks, so you have to start cranking right away to get it up on plane."

 

 

Well, I learned something when I was first using it, which is also the same time I was learning to use a baitcasting reel. I threw a long cast under a dock that was in about a foot deep of water and immediately got a big backlash. So I let the Ragetail sink as I undid the birdsnest. After about 30 seconds of dealing with that I started reeling the line in assuming it was just going to be a burn back to the boat and cast again type situation. Well, as I reeled up the slack I realized there was a bass on the lure the entire time. He had eaten it on the sink or when it was sitting on the bottom. This was an epiphany for me! I think it's a lot like swim jigs, guys used to only cast it and let it sink and if they didn't get a bite on the initial drop they'd burn it back to the boat and recast. Now people are letting it sink and slowly fishing it back to the boat and catching fish both ways.

 

 

After that I started letting it sink and about 1/8th of the time you will have a fish on it. Like the pro's say, "Let the fish tell you what they like that day." When I first start using the Ragetail Toad for that day I'll let it sink and sit for about 5 seconds about 20 times and if fish aren't eating it on the sink or at the bottom then I'll just cast regular and reel it back in the rest of the day. If fish are eating it on the sink or at the bottom then I will let it sink a lot the rest of the day and will most likely get more fish that way. And when it's sitting on the bottom, I'm not moving it or twitching it, just letting it sit and then I just start reeling it in quickly to get it on plane and fish it back to the boat normally. I just let how the fish are initially taking it dictate how I fish the bait the rest of the day.

 

 

 

So, let that Ragetail Toad sink and sit on the bottom a few times, you might be surprised what you were missing out on.

[jignfule]

Don't be to quick on setting the hook....

Good advice, you've got to teach yourself to wait that split-second before you set the hook.

[Megastink]

Here's my biggest tip that's helped my success frogging: take the time to learn how to skip a frog under docks and overhangs. The fish that live there rarely if ever see topwaters. Not to mention if you botch a cast, you have a weedless bait tied to 50lb braid.

Don't hesitate to throw the frog across open water in place of a spook or popper. It's every effective.

[BrianinMD]

One thing that has been successful for me that I see a lot of others do not for some reason is working the frog with a quick pace across the cover then killing it when you get to a hole or break in the cover. A lot of times will get a big strike once its sitting still, have a few come clear out of the water then land on top of the frog. Very hard to wait for the fish to actually take it, great site to see. Do the same thing when there is a different in types of vegetation or wood mixed in.

 

Otherwise, like others have said experiment with different speeds and cadence of pops to see what provokes a strike that day.