What Rod for 1/4 Oz Frog?

[Manly Studson]

I throw 1/4 oz LiveTarget or Booyah frogs, because bass in my neck of the woods seem to prefer that size. I can cast them well on a medium power rod, but I prefer the hook setting power of a medium-heavy rod. If anyone has recommendations about a rod which can cast small frogs and can set the hook well, I welcome your suggestions. Thanks.

[Throwafrog]

I have used a med/heavy spinning rod for small frogs. With braid. You can cast awesome and way more accurate

 

Kind of hard to find them with a soft enough tip. The new st. Croix bassX rods seem to be good just holding them in bass pro. 7'1 med/hvy..& I believe around $100

 

I have used the bass pro tourney special 7' for a long time. having felt many medium heavy spinning rod this one felt the best to me. It's  $50 i think on sale right now for 30

[Hammer 4]

What's your budget for a rod.?

[Ogandrews]

I would say unless it has really thin wire hooks I would throw it on a heavy, probably not the extra heavy I would throw a normal frog on. With 2 hooks going different directions they somewhat fight against each other when your setting the hook so you need enough power to drive both into the mouth. Even with a small frog you will still be fishing around cover that you need to get the fish out of so don’t go too light On your rod. Even though it’s small it’s still a frog

[Tywithay]

Without knowing enough details, I'm just going to recommend the Deputy, because it seems like it works for almost everything. 

[LegendaryBassin]

1 hour ago, Manly Studson said:

I throw 1/4 oz LiveTarget or Booyah frogs, because bass in my neck of the woods seem to prefer that size. I can cast them well on a medium power rod, but I prefer the hook setting power of a medium-heavy rod. If anyone has recommendations about a rod which can cast small frogs and can set the hook well, I welcome your suggestions. Thanks.

All depends on price. I recommend a 7'1 MH or 7'1 Heavy Phenix Feather. Depending on the cover you fish. I frog a lot of river systems in the summer fishing overhangs where the cover isn't too heavy and can throw a 1/4 oz frog on a lighter rod. However, if near moderate/heavy cover I would opt for a more powerful rod. If near light isolated cover, 7'1 MH Phenix Feather, if around a touch heavier 7'1 H Phenix Feather is perfect. The 7'1 is what I would deem a MH+. Phenix power ratings are noticeable lighter when compared to other companies such as St Croix, Shimano, Daiwa, etc.

Other good choices would be a 7' MH Shimano SLX, 7'1 MH FX Xtreme. All depends on price and cover.

[NathanDLTH]

MH or H Fast action, I would recommend 30-40lb braid. I threw a small booyah on 30lb braid paired with a H/F which worked good. If you're gonna go spinning route MH-H/Fast, those are options. What the deciding factor is cost and what you can afford. 

[Manly Studson]

15 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

What's your budget for a rod.?

Preferably between $100-$150.

[riverbasser]

To mitigate missed hook up percentage with a lighter rod pick up some lake fork frog hooks. Like a trailer hook built for frogs. Should allow you to use a lighter power rod without hurting hook set. Frogs are still very weedless even with this trailer hook for me.

[Manly Studson]

22 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

To mitigate missed hook up percentage with a lighter rod pick up some lake fork frog hooks. Like a trailer hook built for frogs. Should allow you to use a lighter power rod without hurting hook set. Frogs are still very weedless even with this trailer hook for me.

Never heard of a trailer hook for a frog. Very good suggestion. 

[kayaking_kev]

17 hours ago, Manly Studson said:

I throw 1/4 oz LiveTarget or Booyah frogs, because bass in my neck of the woods seem to prefer that size. I can cast them well on a medium power rod, but I prefer the hook setting power of a medium-heavy rod. If anyone has recommendations about a rod which can cast small frogs and can set the hook well, I welcome your suggestions. Thanks.

Spinning or Casting?

[Teal]

I would go with a MH at the bare minimum.  Even without heavy cover or dense vegetation.  You are going to need a strong hook set.  I use a heavy.  

[Manly Studson]

45 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

Spinning or Casting?

I’ve always used casting for frogs, and I’d like to keep doing it. I am not against using a spinning rod; I just haven’t done so with a frog before.

[WRB]

2 rods come to mind for this application; Irod IRG744C and Dobyns FR734C.

Both will cast a 1/4 frog with ease and have enough backbone to get a good hook set.

Controlling the bass after it's hook is another factor to consider. Braid line helps to cut through vegetation.

Tom

[Throwafrog]

2 hours ago, Manly Studson said:

I’ve always used casting for frogs, and I’d like to keep doing it. I am not against using a spinning rod; I just haven’t done so with a frog before.

30lb Braid on a med heavy spinning.. The way you hold the rod just makes it more fun of a hookset to me. Holding the rod firmly instead of the reel. I do have the dobyns 734c mentioned above but def not as accurate as a full size frog. Them booyahs are the way to go tho. 

[Ogandrews]

Another thing I would recommend is using powerpro maxcuatro. I use it for everything but it’s especially good for frogs because it’s a thin and coarse line that cuts through weeds better than anything I’ve ever used.

[kayaking_kev]

8 hours ago, Manly Studson said:

I’ve always used casting for frogs, and I’d like to keep doing it. I am not against using a spinning rod; I just haven’t done so with a frog before.

Same here. I had to downsize my Lunkerhunt frogs from 1/2 oz to the 1/4 oz pocket frogs, because it seemed like the river smallies has trouble with the bigger size. I think a big factor is going to be using a reel that can cast lighter baits well, as well as using the thinnest diameter line you can get away with, like 30# braid. I might look into a mgl reel, maybe something like a SLX MGL 70. You should still be able to fit plenty of 30# braid on it and never spool out, unless you are an amazing long distance caster. 

 

As far as the rod, you probably want something that has enough tip flex to load up on 1/4 oz, but yet has the backbone. I would choose the Colt 734, or Sierra 734, if you like Dobyns. I'm not sure how good the Fury 734 will cast a 1/4 frog, it's a little stiffer than the Colt & Sierra. The SLX rods are lighter and their bad balance on the MH, won't really matter much with frog fishing, but their warranty isn't as good as Dobyns.