Lost A Fish On My Frog....what Happened?

[Bass newb]

Lost a fish on my frog....what happened?

So I'm fishing my trusty frog and I start burning it back in and I see a 2lb bass hit it, he misses, so I freeze the frog, slowly start to reel it...then Mr. Bass hits it again and takes it down under. I give it a short pause, then a half hearted hook set ( I didn't want to pull the fish completely out of the water and flying by my head, he was literally just a couple feet in front of me). I start reeling again now and he breaches the water and I see my frog is not IN his mouth, but outside, and I'm thinking that I'll be lucky to land this one, and just like that he's off the hook and gone.

Did I set the hook too soon or not hard enough? Or does this kinda thing just happen sometimes? I feel like I didn't set the hook hard enough, but I really don't know.

Thanks for your comments.

[Big Bait Fishing]

post in the '' fishing tackle '' section ....

[Bass newb]

post in the '' fishing tackle '' section ....

Why? It sounds like a fishing report if ever there was one. That brings me to another point. Why is there a two page long topic on "what am I doing wrong" in the general section? When I made one identical a couple weeks ago it got moved to the fishing reports section.

[gardnerjigman]

I give it a short pause, then a half hearted hook set ( I didn't want to pull the fish completely out of the water and flying by my head, he was literally just a couple feet in front of me).

Did I set the hook too soon or not hard enough? Or does this kinda thing just happen sometimes? I feel like I didn't set the hook hard enough, but I really don't know.

Thanks for your comments.

Pretty much answered your own question. Nobody here will make you feel better about it. Give it your all or stay home basically. If the fish comes flying, so be it. I take it you've never flipped water willows? Lol. Swing for the fences buddy

[Bass newb]

Pretty much answered your own question. Nobody here will make you feel better about it. Give it your all or stay home basically. If the fish comes flying, so be it. I take it you've never flipped water willows? Lol. Swing for the fences buddy

Feel better?

I'm about 7-8 weeks into this hobbie. I don't know any better, that's why I'm asking. I'm not asking to "feel better".

Did you note my handle/screen name?

So what was it anyway? Both too quick and not hard enough? Or just not hard enough?

[FinCulture]

allow me to take a more passive approach to your issue. Yes, it would help to set the hook with a lot of force to bury those thick frog hooks. I'd wait until the bass's head goes under, don't wait for him to be fully resubmerged. just watch the head. what power rod are you using, by the way? If it is a medium, I would recommend upgrading to heavy or at least medium heavy for all your frog applications. I've done all my frog fishing with a medium, and it's the WORST! I lose a lot of fish on it. You just need more force.

[Bass newb]

allow me to take a more passive approach to your issue. Yes, it would help to set the hook with a lot of force to bury those thick frog hooks. I'd wait until the bass's head goes under, don't wait for him to be fully resubmerged. just watch the head. what power rod are you using, by the way? If it is a medium, I would recommend upgrading to heavy or at least medium heavy for all your frog applications. I've done all my frog fishing with a medium, and it's the WORST! I lose a lot of fish on it. You just need more force.

Thanks...yeah it's a med heavy...I incidentally landed my first three bass from a frog without any particularly hard hookset, one I didnt even set at all...so I just did what ive been doing, and now this is the first one I've lost. I guess I was just lucky before and now I will do hard hooksets.

It's 7' long. I'm contemplating getting a 7'6" heavy rod with a 7:1 reel for frogging. Is that better than the 6.4:1 7' med heavy I'm using now?

[gardnerjigman]

Feel better?

I'm about 7-8 weeks into this hobbie. I don't know any better, that's why I'm asking. I'm not asking to "feel better".

Did you note my handle/screen name?

So what was it anyway? Both too quick and not hard enough? Or just not hard enough?

Feel better wasn't meant aggressive or condescending, it was exactly what I said. You knew you did a half hearted hookset and you lost the fish because of it. Had you left that part out, 99% of the replies would say to wait, not to wait, use braid, do this, do that.

The first 3 you landed were the exception, not the rule. I swing for the fences on every technique I use, just set drag accordingly on lighter stuff such as shaky heads.

Keep at it and welcome to the addiction.

[Bluebasser86]

You were fishing a frog, you're going to miss some fish plain and simple. Like others said, use braid and at least a 7' MH/F rod and set like you mean it. You're trying to drive 2 big, heavy hook points into what is usually a pretty bony part of a bass' mouth. Like I said though, it's going to happen regardless with a frog. 

[WIGuide]

You will lose fish on a frog, it's as simple as that. You probably should have set the hook harder, but it's hard to say for sure. When I set on a frog, I usually bury it in them or the frog comes flying back past me. 

[NathanW]

Big hooks require big hooksets and a stiff rod. Not some of the time but all of the time.

[Bass newb]

Thanks for all the replies. So tell me this: if I have visual contact and see the bait is in the mouth is it a go on a big hookset? Or do I still need to give time for the fish to get it deeper into the throat?

[J Francho]

That isn't going to ever happen. If the frog is gone, set the hook. There's no seeing it in the fish's throat. Also, we all lose fish on every bait.

[BassinLou]

Thanks for all the replies. So tell me this: if I have visual contact and see the bait is in the mouth is it a go on a big hookset? Or do I still need to give time for the fish to get it deeper into the throat?

 

Frog's gone, set the hook!! Take to much time thinking about  where in the mouth the frog is located and that bass spit it out the frog already. 

[Fisher-O-men]

You may have done nothing wrong, you may have done everything wrong.  To answer your question, "what happened?"  You lost a fish on a frog!  Happens pretty often.  Watch Bama Bass on youtube.  He has the frog hookset down!

[Bass newb]

You may have done nothing wrong, you may have done everything wrong. To answer your question, "what happened?" You lost a fish on a frog! Happens pretty often. Watch Bama Bass on youtube. He has the frog hookset down!

I watched several videos and I couldn't see any hooksets at all. Do you have a link for one with hooset action?

[gardnerjigman]

That isn't going to ever happen. If the frog is gone, set the hook. There's no seeing it in the fish's throat. Also, we all lose fish on every bait.

This

 

Frog's gone, set the hook!! Take to much time thinking about  where in the mouth the frog is located and that bass spit it out the frog already. 

 

This

 

You may have done nothing wrong, you may have done everything wrong.  To answer your question, "what happened?"  You lost a fish on a frog!  Happens pretty often.  Watch Bama Bass on youtube.  He has the frog hookset down!

 

While I LOVE watching bama bass on youtube, I don't think that's a good teaching tool on frogging. Big difference on how a 1-2lb fish blows up a from versus the 5-9lb fish that ALWAYS blow up on his. 

[Fisher-O-men]

While I LOVE watching bama bass on youtube, I don't think that's a good teaching tool on frogging. Big difference on how a 1-2lb fish blows up a from versus the 5-9lb fish that ALWAYS blow up on his. 

I think his approach is "textbook".  He does not panic, he reels down / takes up slack, and leans into the fish.  I think the reason many smaller fish do not get hooked is because they are taking the frog down by the legs. 

 

(why does this site not have spellcheck???)

[J Francho]

Because your browser should.

[jignfule]

All miss fish on frog. Some days in open water I'l have 90% hook up ratio other days in slop it could be as low as 10%. No matter the misses, it's still a lot of fun.

[Bass newb]

Another one took ol froggy down last night but I didn't weak arm on the hookset this time- still missed. Froggy came flying by my head! That was after I gave about 1.5 seconds delay. I guess he never got it in his mouth?

[J Francho]

It was probably a dink, or you waited too long to set the hook.theres no reason to wait, if froggy is gone, set hook.

[Bass newb]

So last night one quietly ate my kvd sexy frog and I set the hook like I meant it and the poor fella came flying out of the water straight at me. No fun in that, but at 1.4lbs it was a good catch for me. Next up 5 minutes later another sissy slapped at me froggy so I put the worm on it.... 10 seconds later I had another 1.3lb fish with a hook through his mouth in two spots!

Just when I was worried about the frog bite dying out.