Help a fella out

[Drew03cmc]

I'm not undergunned at all. Castaway 7'3 Mag Bass frog rod. It's a beefy little guy. I love this rod.

[Jaderose]

7 hours ago, Smalls said:

It took me a while to not have my frog flying back at my head every time a bass struck it. It’s a natural reaction. 

 

When you see the blow up, start reeling, but wait until you feel the fish until you set the hook. And set it hard. Especially with that rod. You’re a little under gunned. Even without thinking about heavy cover, those are some pretty serious hooks you’re trying to stick through it’s mouth. 

I would add just a little addendum to this.  Blow ups do not always equate to a fish taking the bait in it's mouth.  Especially in heavy slop.  They can hear it, they can feel it, but they don't always know where it is so they will blow up next to it, behind it, etc.  OR they are trying to stun it.  I've had bass knock my frog 5 ft in the air and all you can do is laugh.  It's hard to do but the best thing to do on an initial blow up is...NOTHING.  Nothing except pay attention to what's going on.  After the blow up that misses, if you do nothing, your bait is STILL THERE.  A couple of quick twitches and BOOM!  Second blow up.  This time, the bass is usually pretty dialed in on where the frog is and will usually get it.  Frogging, if done right, is not as simple as it seems.  It requires dedication, concentration and a willingness to reduce your fish count.  The pay off is a very exciting way to fish AND some very very high quality catches.  I rarely pull bass out of the slop that weigh less that 3 or 4 lbs on up.  It's not because I am a great fisherman....I am not.  It's because i know my waters very well and I have dedicated hour after hour after hour to this technique.  Even then, I think I am a "good" frogger.  I am not great.

[MrFrost]

All great advice in this thread.  All I will add, is one thing I am very aware of, is when the bass break the surface.  When I hear that, I scan the water to see if I can find the ripples in the water, and I will cast over them.  It's a very rewarding feeling to hunt them like that.  You'll get better and better at setting your hook on the frog if you keep trying by listening to the advice given here.  It's how I got better.  But even still, you'll still have missed opportunities.