Bad Frog Experience Please Help

[Green Trout]

Today, I had 30 blowups on my tiny toad, h20 xpress 3/8oz hollow body frog in black color. However, I didn't hook even one of them! It was so frustrating. I got bites around wood and pads and could not hook the fish. Frustrating! My set up was a MH 7ft 6inch St Croix Rod with Abu Garcia Reel and 15lb Trilene Big Game Monofilament. I even gave the fish a second or 2 before I set the hook. The fish were plenty big enough too to eat the frog. Any ideas as to what could be going wrong?

[BassinLou]

Here are a couple of thoughts. The first thing, I would personally change is the mono. You will not have the umph... you need to really drive the hook home. 30 blow ups and 0 connections means there is a problem. Are sure they were bass? If so, they were probably little guys. Your profile is very vague so I can't speculate what other species of fish it could have been because I don't know where you live or fish. Sorry. 

[BassinLou]

Here are a couple of thoughts. The first thing, I would personally change is the mono. You will not have the umph... you need to really drive the hook home. 30 blow ups and 0 connections means there is a problem. Are sure they were bass? If so, they were probably little guys. Your profile is very vague so I can't speculate what other species of fish it could have been because I don't know where you live or fish. Sorry. Your rod and reel are up to task. What ratio and IPT'S is the abu reel?  Lastly, check how sharp those hooks are. 

[a1712]

You need to FEEL the fish. You can give them all the time you want, but if they don't have it you're not going to hook up. As Lou said, Braid is were it's at for Frogs. Brian.

[ABW]

Use braid

[smalljaw67]

I use mono for most applications but when frogs are on the menu the line goes to braid. I don't think the line was causing the problems, I don't think the fish were eating it. I had 6 good, at least they looked good, hits in one small area a few years back and I could not hook the fish, it was the 7th strike that my buddy watched and told me that I'll never catch it. The reason was the fish was "tail slapping" the bait, and I've had it happen with spooks and poppers as well and when I have it happen more than once I switch up anymore. So switch out the line to braid and wait until you feel the fish before setting the hook, if you don't feel them, they aren't eating it.

[Big C]

Braid, change color, size, action, and try the Lake Fork Frog stinger hooks.  Doing one or more of these thing can really make a difference.

[gardnerjigman]

Waiting to feel the fish is a dangerous game. A big fish will either spit it, come towards you, or bury in the thick stuff making your hookset crap. If the frog disappears, set the hook. One thing I do is trim the legs down short. ( most of my frogs only have 1-2" legs.) As said above, put braid on but if you had 30 blow ups and you didn't touch a single fish when you swung, something else is wrong. I'm thinking extreme dinks, or not bass.

[long island basser]

Waiting to feel the fish is a dangerous game. A big fish will either spit it, come towards you, or bury in the thick stuff making your hookset crap. If the frog disappears, set the hook.

This is what I've been doing with frogs for years now, it's worked out well.

[FinCulture]

BRAID!!!!!! It'll make a much firmer hook set. also, it's possible the bass didn't like something about your presentation if this all happened in one day. If it happens again, try switching up size/colors and maybe the bass'll want it more and hit harder instead of just poking at it.

[TwoCan]

Use braid, 50-65lb. Also, wait until you can feel the wait of the fish. Much like setting the hook on a t-rig or jig, you set the hook when you feel the fish. When they blow up on it they might not necessarily have a hold of it. They can miss or grab just a corner or edge of the frog and bring it down in the water before gulping in. DO NOT be discouraged. It is hard for everybody to wait for a hook set on a frog, the blow is exhilarating and it gets the blood pumping.

 

Braid and wait for the weight.

 

TC

[stk]

I had this same problem until a friend told me lower my rod tip a little bit. I always thought you should keep the rod tip high, but it depends if you work the frog with your reel or rod. If you work he frog with your reel you have less slack in the line and having rod high is ok, but if you work the frog with rod, then lower rod a little bit and when you are ready for the hook set, reel down and swing. The swing will take out some of the slack in the line in addition to reeling down and then it's up to your timing and technique.

Kind of hard to explain, I hope it made sense. That's how I got better hookups on a hollow body frog.

[WRB]

If you are not feeling any weight on the hook set,bass has spit the frog, braid isn't going to help you.

Change size and color, the bass didn't eat your frog. You can also try letting it sit there for 30 seconds before moving it again. If the frog goes underwater set the hook!

Tom

[lecisnith]

The idea of "waiting to set the hook" is a bit of a misnomer of a a phrase. You can't just stop what you're doing and expect to catch any fish. I have gotten a lot better at my frog hooksets and ratios by A: shortening my skirts B: bending my hooks up and out ever so slightly, and C: when I get a strike I don't swing for the fences, but neither do I stop, I reel like I'm retrieving a lure on a steady retrieve. Then, when that slack is up and I feel any resistance, I set. It might not work for everyone but it's worked wonders for me. My frog fishing is better than anyone else I know since I worked on those three things.

[Tmmytomato]

As another poster suggested - a Lake Fork Frog Stinger Hook - if it'll work on your small frog - in addition to the braid. 

If the fish are not loading up on your frog even with your hesitation, they may all be striking short for whatever reason - color, size, something... A stinger hook will catch more of the fish that strike short, just like a trailer on a buzzbait or spinnerbait.

[Master Bait'r]

Using mono with frogs is like wearing a tutu and a tiara out to the bars trying to meet ladies... You might get a bunch of attention but you're just going to get your feelings hurt in the end.

[the reel ess]

Sunny conditions can cause the fish to just slap at the frog like they want to stun it. After they do and it doesn't sink they don't bite. 30X in a row would be a bit unusual though.