Topwater short strikes....Any advice to remedy this terrible tragedy?

[Kyle S]

Been having a blast throwing frogs and buzz baits lately. Today I had an absurd amount of fish that simply never got the bait in their mouth.

 Short strikes on the buzz baits were very minimal, however the frog blowups were out of this world! I'm talking 10-15 fish that would blow up multiple times on a cast with a frog and never eat it. Fishing very sparse vegetation. No thick mats or crazy overgrowth. Surely this happens to others....

Any suggestions on what to do when they just don't seem to commit?

[A-Jay]

4 minutes ago, Kyle S said:

Fishing very sparse vegetation. No thick mats or crazy overgrowth. 

Any suggestions on what to do ?

Throw a Popper.

Also it might be small fish.

A-Jay

[WRB]

Terrible tragedy is an exaggeration.

Trailer hooks works, change of color works, change to a smaller size works, change of pace works.

Tom

[GreenPig]

Had about 10 or 12 swing and miss on my Buzzbait yesterday in choppy conditions. I seriously considered putting a trailer hook or two on my trailer hook. 

[throttleplate]

somedays you are the dog, other days you are the hydrandt.

[jimmyjoe]

   Watch real frogs in your environment and make your lure mimic what they do, and how they do it.  It's possible you will have to slow down or speed up.            jj

[Kyle S]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Throw a Popper.

Also it might be small fish.

A-Jay

Small fish may have been the culprit. 

I should've given a popper a fair chance.

I did throw a spook and land one. 

 

Dang...

Thinking back, a popper sounds like it would've been perfect?

[Big Rick]

This is the age old problem of having the right technique but missing a piece of the puzzle. And it's very frustrating at times. As Tom suggested, often a change of cadence, color, size, or shape makes the difference. Pay close attention to what the fish are actually telling you. Is the frog being lifted into the air? Is it taken under? Is the blowup right behind the bait?  There are many factors to consider. However, to simplify it I would first change my cadence. If that doesn't result in a hookup then change colors. And go directly opposite. If your frog has a white/natural bottom then go orange or chartreuse. Often times that is enough. 

 

Most of the time I am fishing a frog I can't replicate the casts with a trebled bait. In this instance, go with a solid body like a Zoom Horny Toad. It rides in the water differently and will sink on the stop. That can change everything. 

 

I'm not a big fan of trailer hooks on frogs. It often defeats the very purpose of the frog. And that is to get in the slop where exposed hook baits can't. 

 

One other thing to try is to insert rattles in your hollow body frog. This does two things. It makes the frog have a different sound and it also causes it to ride a little deeper in the water, which changes how it reacts to your rod twitches. This is very effective. 

 

One last thing, downsize your frog. Too often the fish are just blasting at a larger frog and will inhale a smaller one. The Jackall Kaera Frog is a great option here. Pic attached is my favorite color. 

Hope this helps..

 

 

[the reel ess]

Often bass will try to knock a frog silly at the surface without actually biting. I think this is usually smaller fish. But I've had a big bass blow up on a frog twice on two casts and never get the bait. It happens. Give this a try. Get yourself a Johnson Silver Minnow spoon, add a trailer of some kind and drag it across the mat. It seems to have a better hookup ratio. And you can bet it's something they don't see a lot.

 

[throttleplate]

10 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Watch real frogs in your environment and make your lure mimic what they do, and how they do it.  It's possible you will have to slow down or speed up.            jj

 

back a few weeks ago i was wading in a grassy shoreline, no lilly pads anywhere and i watch as this real frog 20 yards from me is running on top of the water towards shore. It was fast and each push off the water looked like he was in the air for 3-4 feet.

[Catt]

Hendon Tiny Torpedo Clear ?

 

Give em nothing to key in on but the blade. Change out the hooks!

 

 

[Captain Phil]

Frog fishing is one of my favorite ways to fish for bass.  Unfortunately, it's my worst when it comes to numbers of fish in the boat.  Frogs are great search baits, not so great as fish catchers.  If you want to land more fish, go to a top water plug.  The Tiny Torpedo is a deadly bait on light tackle.  It works great in pockets and along covered weed lines.   For deeper cover fishing, I prefer a Devil's Horse.   You need to be fearless and accurate to fish these baits.  I throw them back in the cover into places where other's won't go.  Do I get hung on occasion?  Yes.  I use 50 pound braid and haul the fish out before it digs in.  The stock hooks are too week for this type of fishing.  Changing the back hook to a #4 helps.

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Hendon Tiny Torpedo Clear ?

 

Give em nothing to key in on but the blade. Change out the hooks!

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Hendon Tiny Torpedo Clear ?

 

Give em nothing to key in on but the blade. Change out the hooks!

 

 

Catt, this exact bait is a big favourite with guys in the Missouri Ozark lakes. Many prefer clear over any other color.

[HaydenS]

I might have picked up a swim jig, if I couldn't get them eat the buzzbait.  You might have also needed to slow your retrieve.  

With missing fish on the frog, like @A-Jay said, they might have been small fish. 

[Msl819]

I have also had luck going to a wake bait when they won’t commit to the topwater.  I have found that something run just below the surface can be what is needed.  Plus it is almost as much fun as a true topwater.  

[Bluebasser86]

Always have a weightless plastic to throw back at them. Some days the only thing a topwater is good for is being a bird dog. 

[gim]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Always have a weightless plastic to throw back at them

 

When I fish a small river here in midsummer, I primarily use a discontinued storm subwart.  It floats but when I retrieve it, it comes in just a few inches under the surface.  Smallmouth in this river quite often miss the lure so I have a tube or stick bait at the read as a follow up and virtually every time they miss the subwart, they take the plastic right after.  The key is to get the lure, whether its the subwart or the plastic, in the right spot.  Accuracy is required and its about the size of a dinner plate.

 

I think the OP is referring to targeting largemouth with a hollow body frog, so this is not exactly the same, but the concept is very similar.  I do the same thing when I'm muskie fishing too.  When I get a fish coming in for a follow and it won't hit on a figure 8, I re-cast with a different, slower action lure like a slashbait or a suick.  This has a higher chance of triggering a fish to bite than casting back with the fast lure.

[Finessegenics]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

When I fish a small river here in midsummer, I primarily use a discontinued storm subwart.  It floats but when I retrieve it, it comes in just a few inches under the surface.  Smallmouth in this river quite often miss the lure so I have a tube or stick bait at the read as a follow up and virtually every time they miss the subwart, they take the plastic right after.  The key is to get the lure, whether its the subwart or the plastic, in the right spot.  Accuracy is required and its about the size of a dinner plate.

 

I think the OP is referring to targeting largemouth with a hollow body frog, so this is not exactly the same, but the concept is very similar.  I do the same thing when I'm muskie fishing too.  When I get a fish coming in for a follow and it won't hit on a figure 8, I re-cast with a different, slower action lure like a slashbait or a suick.  This has a higher chance of triggering a fish to bite than casting back with the fast lure.

 

Excellent info, I have a follow up bait tied on and ready any time I am fishing a moving bait. Topwater, crankbait, spinnerbait chatterbait or whatever. A slow moving follow up bait has to be ready. In my case, it's usualy small worm on an exposed jighead. 

 

For a frog, a punch rig is usually my follow up bait. However, since OP isn't fishing super thick vegetation just about any plastic rigged weedless, weighted or not, should be perfect. The ticket is to go back with a slow moving lure. A punch rig isn't particularly slow as it's crashing to bottom but it's the only way to get through that thick grass when I do frog. 

[Fishes in trees]

I'd vote for some wacky plastic, to throw back as near as possible to where the hit happened.   I've been on some decent top water bites over the years but most of the time, I find that if there is some sort of top water bite going on, there is probably a better sub- surface bite happening at the same time.

[scaleface]

I have less than a 50 per cent hook up ratio with toads and fogs . Some days 0 to 10 per cent .  They do draw big fish and the blow-ups are spectacular.    I'm late to the party with them but I fish in some spots where  few lures can navigate . Switching to braid and locking the drag down has helped me more than anything .

[Captain Phil]

On 9/19/2021 at 1:13 PM, Mobasser said:

Catt, this exact bait is a big favorite with guys in the Missouri Ozark lakes. Many prefer clear over any other color.

 

Me too... 

[Brett's_daddy]

Check this out too...

B Lat mentions that sometimes people get so excited when they see the explosion that they try to hammer home a hookset too early. He suggests to resist the urge to set the hook, just reel and pull and let the fish hook themselves.

[fishingtx]

trailer hooks are a simple answer