Hollowbody frog.. what am I doing wrong?

[Bluebasser86]

37 minutes ago, Jaderose said:

I don't understand the idea of wanting to "walk" a hollow body frog.  To me, these baits are for use in heavy slop.  They require a heavy rod, heavy braid, and no finesse.  Drag them across the top of the slop with starts and stops, making as much ruckus as you can.  Anything that would require a walking bait is not a froggin situation.  Just my .02

I fish them in holes in the water willow so walking them allows then to move without moving forward far. I do the same at the edge of the same weeds. No way to walk them on top of the thick stuff.

[MichaelCopeland]

I've pretty much given up on trying to walk my frog. I went fishing this morning and couldn't get it to walk, so I gave it little tugs as if it were a poppin frog and then pause a sec. I did that in open water and got bit. I popped it a couple times and paused and a bass blew up on it but missed so I popped it a couple more times and paused again. This time the bass blew up on it again and took it under. I set the hook or at least I thought I did and started to reel in. Got a couple turns on my reel and the bass come off. It was exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Kept trying a few more times after that and couldn't pay to get bit again. Don't know how it got loose. Only thing I can figure is maybe I didn't wait quite long enough before setting it. It was at least 2 or 3lbs maybe even more. 

[Glenn]

If you want to walk the dog with a Pad Crasher, then you need to trim the legs - basically in half.  Those long legs out of the package pretty much prevent the frog from moving side-to-side. Personally, I don't walk the frog that much. I get plenty of bites working it slowly.

 

Here's a bunch of tips that answers the questions in this thread, plus a bunch more.

 

 

[MichaelCopeland]

27 minutes ago, Glenn said:

If you want to walk the dog with a Pad Crasher, then you need to trim the legs - basically in half.  Those long legs out of the package pretty much prevent the frog from moving side-to-side. Personally, I don't walk the frog that much. I get plenty of bites working it slowly.

 

Here's a bunch of tips that answers the questions in this thread, plus a bunch more.

 

 

Very informative. Thank you. I may not have set the hook hard enough on that bass this morning. This video pointed that out to me. Also when I was trying to get bit again I just was too impatient so I'll work it more slowly next time I'm out. Again thank you.

[papajoe222]

If you want to make it easier to walk a frog I'd suggest adding a split ring to the line tie and trimming the legs. The split ring allows the frog to turn much easier than a direct tie to the eye and trimming the legs reduces the drag that inhibits its turning. 

Also, try adding a couple of split shot into the belly. They'll help keep the nose up which also makes walking easier. 

[Jaderose]

On 7/9/2017 at 0:56 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I fish them in holes in the water willow so walking them allows then to move without moving forward far. I do the same at the edge of the same weeds. No way to walk them on top of the thick stuff.

 

 

I understand this and do the same.  The way I read what a lot of guys are asking (maybe incorrectly, of course) is how do you walk a frog like you were walking a spook?  Like they are using them in open water.  Not saying I haven't had blow ups in open water with a HBF but it was completely by accident.  There are just better options for open water in my opinion

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, Jaderose said:

 

 

I understand this and do the same.  The way I read what a lot of guys are asking (maybe incorrectly, of course) is how do you walk a frog like you were walking a spook?  Like they are using them in open water.  Not saying I haven't had blow ups in open water with a HBF but it was completely by accident.  There are just better options for open water in my opinion

Agreed, they'll work in open water, but I don't see a point to it unless it's just a good spot of open water between mats and a guy doesn't have a spook tied on.

[sully420]

On 7/9/2017 at 3:05 PM, MichaelCopeland said:

I've pretty much given up on trying to walk my frog. I went fishing this morning and couldn't get it to walk, so I gave it little tugs as if it were a poppin frog and then pause a sec. I did that in open water and got bit. I popped it a couple times and paused and a bass blew up on it but missed so I popped it a couple more times and paused again. This time the bass blew up on it again and took it under. I set the hook or at least I thought I did and started to reel in. Got a couple turns on my reel and the bass come off. It was exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Kept trying a few more times after that and couldn't pay to get bit again. Don't know how it got loose. Only thing I can figure is maybe I didn't wait quite long enough before setting it. It was at least 2 or 3lbs maybe even more. 

You need to bend the hooks up a bit from the body wait 2sec on the hook set trim the legs an inch or 2 and try a loop knot or put a large split ring in the line tie and tie on to that. Then just find a rhythm you can walk a frog with any gear it just takes time to find the right cadence. Walking a frog is key to getting better bites and it can be a pain to pick up anothet rod with a spook just to fish the edges and clean pockets.

[collards]

I am not getting technical, but I have real good success with the zoom horny toad. I just reel it in and they grab it about a foot from a bank. I have several other brands but the horny toad is easy, cheap and gets the fish.

[Fried Lemons]

I found that I can only walk a hollowbody well at the beginning of the retrieve after a bomb cast. Once it gets to about the halfway mark the walking action stops and all I can get are little forward hops. That said, I have had plenty of strikes on the hops so I don't think it matters all that much.