What's Going On?

[BooyahMan]

Man is this getting frustrating.  Fished for 3 hours tonight and didn't get anything until the last half hour before dark, when I missed two good strikes on a frog.  I normally wouldn't mind but the only problem is that I've missed the last 6 fish now, which is odd to me as up until the last handful of trips I've been consistently hooking up fish that struck the top water frogs. In fact, I had a d**n near 100% hook-up rate through October. I thought maybe lately they were just missing the frog completely but during my trip tonight I clearly felt the fish dive with the lure. I don't think it's the frog either as I've missed an equal amount on a Booyah, a River2Sea Bully Wa, and a Live Target. I know missing fish is part of frog fishing but after nailing them last month, this is getting a little frustrating. Not to mention I want to make the most out of every last blow up before the bass completely turn off of the top water bite.

 

Is it possible that they are just spitting it much faster now? Tonight's fish almost felt like they weren't holding on to it for very long. Going to try again tomorrow night and hope for a bit more luck with sticking those hooks.

[deep]

Just my 2 cents, but I think they don't really want your frog. (Try another bait.) Good luck!

[Catch and Grease]

I generally don't try to force feed bass lures they don't want (Generally!). But maybe you could try a different color and make sure your hook points aren't rolled, they are sharp etc etc. Sometimes topwaters just won't hookup, I've had days where I've missed a lot more than 6 fish on a frog...

[WIGuide]

I'm guessing they aren't hitting the body of the frog and pulling it under by the tails. If you're fishing open-ish water try a trailer hook. I believe Lake Fork Lures makes one specifically for frogs. 

[fishballer06]

I'm surprised they're still coming up at a topwater frog in BC, Canada. The water is probably 50 degrees, maybe lower. Am I right?

[boostr]

Maybe those aren't bass, could be pickeral or pike. There are plenty of times I had Pickeral hit my frog and take it down and spit it. You can tell the difference between a Pickeral and a bass strike.

[einscodek]

If they are bass they cant be hitting it with any conviction and thats why yer having hookup issues

kudos to u for eliciting any strikes on a topwater frog this late in the season in Canada it must be cold up there unless yer in the western half..

[BooyahMan]

Thanks for the insightful responses! This is my first year that I've really started to figure out this lake and I've been continuing with the frog just because I wanted to see how late into the season they would continue to strike it. I don't know how cold the water is but the air temperature has been hovering just above 50 degrees.  No pike or pickerel in this area; only Bass, stocked Rainbows and the odd Chum Salmon but the latter two won't go for a frog. I kind of wish there were other species present as that would make things much more interesting at the very least.

 

It makes sense what you guys are saying as the strikes do seem a tad less aggressive and I have had to work quite hard just to get a couple hits. If my mistake now is just using the frog in the first place, I guess I don't have to worry too much about my technique for next year.

[BooyahMan]

As mentioned in the previous post, I went again tonight and brought my girlfriend along. Well *I* got completely skunked, but my girlfriend caught her first ever Bass on a frog. Second cast in MY spot haha. 

 

Not a giant by any means but she's d**n proud of it (and I'm proud of her)

 

:

 

 

[atcoha]

nice fish, don't you hate when the ladies "show" us up?

[BooyahMan]

nice fish, don't you hate when the ladies "show" us up?

 

I know the feeling all too well since she always catches more fish/better quality fish whenever she comes out. Maybe that's why I opt to go solo more often these days