Glass Rod for Frogs?

[Chance_Taker4]

Like the title says has anyone used a glass rod for frigging. I like a mod-fast action rod with a soft tip when I frog and when looking at new rods I thought a Hvy glass rod would fit that bill. I just don't know how it would handle trimming to horse those fish out of the cover.

[LionHeart]

I really only got into frog fishing this past season so take my advice for what it is worth, but I think you would have a really tough time setting frog hooks with a fiber glass fishing rod.  

 

I totally get what you are saying about the rod action, but woah baby, I get frustrated just thinking about trying to do what you are asking about.

[A-Jay]

13 hours ago, Chance_Taker4 said:

Like the title says has anyone used a glass rod for frigging. I like a mod-fast action rod with a soft tip when I frog and when looking at new rods I thought a Hvy glass rod would fit that bill. I just don't know how it would handle trimming to horse those fish out of the cover.

I think of frog fishing like fishing a jig in heavy cover, except it's done on top in stead of on the bottom.

I can not see any frog fishing scenario where my glass crank bait rod would be an advantage in either situation.

There's like 22 bajillion 'frog rods' on the market, some are pool cues, some are not.

I'd recommend checking a few different makes & models - got to be one with an action you'd like.

I like the LTB74HF from the St Croix line quite a bit.

A-Jay

[RichF]

I did it once. Mainly because I was a co-angler in an Bassmaster open and didn't bring a bunch of rods. It was a 7'0 heavy powell glass spook/trap rod. I did land a couple with it and the frog but I would never use a rod like that for frog fishing again. 

[OnthePotomac]

Heck, I use a KVD 7'MH fast tip with 50lb Sufix 832 on a Curado 200I for frogs, but I add a Lake Fork Hook on the frog and it has worked well on the Potomac grass beds.  An interesting MH rod Kevin designed rated at 1/4-1 1/2oz and 10-25lb line and works well for me for frog fishing.  With that Lake fork Hook in the top of their mouth they aren't going anywhere.

[the reel ess]

I wouldn't unless I had no choice. What's the reason? Just because you have a fiberglass rod? I have a 7-3 Hvy-X Fast rod for that and I still lose some fish. The idea is to get them to the top and ski them to the boat. Give them a little play and they'll manage to leverage the hook out a good percentage of the time. If price is an issue, I'm sure you can find a $50 Hvy that works well enough. Sensitivity isn't crucial. If you buy a rod and dedicate it to the frog you'll be glad.

[Chance_Taker4]

Thanks everyone, it was an idea that I was tossing around since I never seen anyone using a one. I was looking for any advantage I can get.

[bwjay]

I agree with the others; hooksets would have to be huge because of the slow action of the rod. Not to mention, glass rods aren't exactly light and I like a light rod when I'm twitching it all day long. My wrist was complaining after a single day of 4-5 hours using a SC Premier 7'MH for frogging. Not the heaviest rod nor the lightest, but heavier than I like. I imagine a glass rod of the same length (at the same or slightly higher power) would be even heavier. No thanks.

 

Kistler's Helium3 line is great for frogging because the tip is fairly soft, so you can cast them a mile, and work them easily, but they hit the backbone fairly soon. They say it's an XFast taper but it's more like Fast if you ask me. It doesn't "shut off" until about midway down the blank, but you get some real power about 2ft from the tip and it quickly hits deep backbone from there. They are slightly more parabolic than I prefer for the heavy cover frogging that MN brings in the summer, so I got an Expride 7'3XH for dragging those 3-5 pounders (I hope!) with 3-5 pounds of weeds. The Helium3 7'H can do it, but it bends further than I like.

 

So yeah, long story short, I wouldn't use a glass rod for frogging, for weight, and because they're usually not fast enough for the hooksets you need for big frog hooks.

[Chance_Taker4]

3 minutes ago, bwjay said:

I agree with the others; hooksets would have to be huge because of the slow action of the rod. Not to mention, glass rods aren't exactly light and I like a light rod when I'm twitching it all day long. My wrist was complaining after a single day of 4-5 hours using a SC Premier 7'MH for frogging. Not the heaviest rod nor the lightest, but heavier than I like. I imagine a glass rod of the same length (at the same or slightly higher power) would be even heavier. No thanks.

 

Kistler's Helium3 line is great for frogging because the tip is fairly soft, so you can cast them a mile, and work them easily, but they hit the backbone fairly soon. They say it's an XFast taper but it's more like Fast if you ask me. It doesn't "shut off" until about midway down the blank, but you get some real power about 2ft from the tip and it quickly hits deep backbone from there. They are slightly more parabolic than I prefer for the heavy cover frogging that MN brings in the summer, so I got an Expride 7'3XH for dragging those 3-5 pounders (I hope!) with 3-5 pounds of weeds. The Helium3 7'H can do it, but it bends further than I like.

 

So yeah, long story short, I wouldn't use a glass rod for frogging, for weight, and because they're usually not fast enough for the hooksets you need for big frog hooks.

The H3 is my current dedicated frog rod.

[FryDog62]

Tough to find rods that are good at 2 different things.  For frogging the closest hybrid I have found is an ALX Zolo Toadface.  Its a MH little softer tip with a Heavy backbone, labeled as MH+.  Not going to give you the flex of glass, but the tip and butt section work fairly well together for me anyway. I have two of them, one for Frogging' and one for Chatterbaits which gives an idea of how they load.

[WRB]

Guess it depends on what you call a glass rod. IROD IRG754F Freds Magic Stick frog rod is glass composite and one of my favorite all around long rods.

Tom

[Chance_Taker4]

12 hours ago, WRB said:

Guess it depends on what you call a glass rod. IROD IRG754F Freds Magic Stick frog rod is glass composite and one of my favorite all around long rods.

Tom

 

8 hours ago, BaitFinesse said:

If you're open to buying used then look for an older BPS Extreme 7 foot heavy.  I have one and it has a VERY soft tip for a heavy powered rod and loads pretty deep for a supposed fast action.  I used to use it as a frog rod and I had my best season ever with it setting and breaking my PB 3 times over and landed every fish that had the frog in the mouth.  I did have to take a half step back on the hookset to drive the hooks home to compensate for the softness of the rod.  It was a tip heavy and awkward thing though.  They redid the extreme line shortly after and got rid of the 'powerwall' construction and went to some sort of spiral nonsense which lightened up the rods considerably.  Ibhave the last of the powerwall extremes.

I have been building my own rods over the summer and starting to replace my commercial rods with what I've built. I was looking at the MHX Composite-X blank or the s-glass blank for a long frog rod. I think I am going to be looking at the composite-x or just one of their graphite.