Hook Ups With A Frog

[Scott F]

I never really tried fishing with frogs before and I tried it out the other day. I got lots of solid hits. I saw the bass, I had them on momentarily, felt the weight, set the hook, but they almost all got off. The only one I landed came after I snapped my St. Croix Avid on the hookset. Is a low hooking percentage common with frogs? I'm using braid.  The good news was that I'm only 40 minutes from the St Croix Factory Store where they exchanged the rod, no questions asked. 

[drew4779]

You're definitely going to miss some and it will get easier the more you do it.  You can bend the hooks up slightly to increase your percentage.   Also, you can trim the legs a bit to help the bass zero in better.  Probably the most fun way to catch bass but expect to miss some.

[gim]

He's right.  Being that you're new to it, you'll miss a lot more than you'll catch.  I've been told that a good catch rate is about 50 - 60% on total strikes.  Sometimes the bass is going to miss it too.  I took my old man with a couple years ago when there was a great frog bite going and he missed 14 in a row before he finally hooked up with one.  A long, stiff rod and obviously some line with little or no stretch would certainly help.  Like Drew also indicated, probably one of the most exciting ways to fish bass.  Its violent and you can just sense that the water is going to erupt in one of those holes in the lily pads.

[Brew City Bass]

I always buy frogs with a very soft body. I had a *** and it was garbage, super weedless but it had a stiff body. My Koppers live target is very soft. I probably won't hook up with 1 out of 5 fish on that.

[N Florida Mike]

A 5/0 hook helps too.I use a lot of Zoom z hogs too which is like a frog but your catch rate is very good.But you can use them with the 3/0 wide angle hooks.

[Yudo1]

I always work the frog and pause it in a hole so the fish has a clear shot at engulfing it then have patience on the hook set.  Feel the weight before setting.  Isn't frogging the best?  When the frog bite is on I'm a happy man.

[MassYak85]

A softer frog, bending the hooks a little bit, and even adding a stinger hook can help with hookups but will all make the frog less weedless. Generally frog fishing is one of the worst techniques in terms of hookup ratio, it's just something you have to deal with for the most part. Also make sure to feel the weight of the fish (seems like you have that down) before setting the hook. Otherwise you are liable to pull it away from them before they really have it, as sometimes they will completely miss, or just pull it under by the legs. 

[Bluebasser86]

Frogs have a lower hookup ratio, but I usually get about 75% of the bites. The trade off is it seems to be a big fish bait. 

[gulfcaptain]

I get about 75% of the fish as well.  But I will not bend hooks out.  Sorry not going to do it.  Fishing reeds and brush there is already enough for them to get hung up in let alone bending the hook out more.  Fast taper heavy action is probably your best bet.  Too soft of a rod you're going to miss more and loose a greater amount.  I don't mind the drag slipping when I set the hook with braid as my thumb works great as a brake and once they are up and skipping across the surface they are caught.  Another thing to pay attention to is how they are eating the frog.  If they aren't eating it really good and missing a bunch, try a different color.  If they are choking it stay with that frog and retrieve.  Each day can be different.  

[Master Bait'r]

Single hook, soft body.  Darn near 100% hookups.  If I had more cash on hand I'd start a tackle company importing them, nobody makes them here and nothing else comes close.  

[JustinU1X]

That's just the nature of the beast. My partner and I missed about 30 blow ups this past weekend. When you're fishing slop sometimes the bass just can't key in on it and completely miss or just bump the bait. After I twitch it into an open area I let it sit for a few seconds just incase I have one following it. I also bend the hooks up a slight bit. Not so much that they snag but just enough so they're not flush against the body. 

[WIGuide]

Sometimes it depends on the day. I'd say I average about 80% hooking percentage, but when I first started I sucked at it. There will be days they absolutely crush it though and it's hard to miss, there's also days it seems like the fish are freaking blind and will miss all day long. One thing I have noticed though is even when they aren't as willing to commit, the bigger fish will still seem to get it.

Tips to help hooking percentage: Stiff rod, braid, soft frog, sharp hook, shortening legs, also it makes the frog a little less snag proof but you can bend the hooks up just slightly to help stick them. 

Hope that helps a little, and the frog starts treating you well. To me it's one of the most exciting ways to fish!

[buzzed bait]

i agree that it's not 100% on hookups for me, north of 50% though.  i only like the softer body frogs myself.  booyahs fit the bill, soft and priced right.

[dday07]

I missed like my first 8 strikes on a frog over some thick algae....the only change i made that seemed to make a big diff. was i went to black color..don't know if it presented a better silhouette under the algae for them to key on..but after that i got like 10 out of my next 15 strikes

[d-camarena]

The key is in the moment you let the fish suck in the bait. Give it like 2 seconds. Then set the hook and keep pressure on the fish at all times. If you give him line he will spit it

[MisplacedTexan99]

One really good tip that is really working for me is to let the fish take it reel up the slack and give a hard upward hookset instead of a sweeping hookset to the side. It's made a lot of difference for me. There is nothing like a blowup on a frog I love it!

[Scott F]

Thanks for the tips guys, I tried it for a while this morning between the rain showers but the fish have turned off for right now.