Missing Frog Bites - Me or Bass?

[NoShoes]

I’m sure this has been covered but couldn’t find what I needed on a search. 
 

I’ve been committing to my frogs the past little bit and have been getting pretty consistent action, but I’m not turning them into many fish. Fishing little to no cover, I’ll get the blow up but when I set the hook nothing is there.
 

I’ve usually always waited a pause and looked for the frog, if it ain’t there I set hard.  It just seems more often than not I’m setting on air, which lends me to believe the bass didn’t have the frog good.   
 

whst would y’all do?  Change colors? Set hook differently?  Chuck everything into the lake?

[TcRoc]

Some guys pause some don’t. Me .. it’s a milli second and swing for home aiming to cross his eyes. Whats  your hook set like.. frogs have some stout hooks .. you need to mean it setting the hook.. U may be pausing to long if your looking for the frog.. . The next time U see the frog should be when your un hooking it ?

[flyfisher]

Best advice I was given on frog fishing is to not look at your frog.  That way you set the hook on the feel not the visual. 

 

I still watch but wait for the feel and not the blow up as hard as it can be.

[NoShoes]

 

23 minutes ago, TcRoc said:

Some guys pause some don’t. Me .. it’s a milli second and swing for home aiming to cross his eyes. Whats  your hook set like.. frogs have some stout hooks .. you need to mean it setting the hook.. U may be pausing to long if your looking for the frog.. . The next time U see the frog should be when your un hooking it ?

 

6 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

Best advice I was given on frog fishing is to not look at your frog.  That way you set the hook on the feel not the visual. 

 

I still watch but wait for the feel and not the blow up as hard as it can be.

I can sit and look at a blow up all day and not flinch.  And when I set, if the frog is in his mouth i drive the hooks home. I’m just setting on air sometimes, not sure if it’s a me issue or the bass just missing issue. 

[Big Rick]

Pasted from a reply I made earlier in the month another thread. 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. f

 

And for the record, I don't hesitate on the strike. Bass hits my frog, I swing immediately. HARD!  I get my cues from Matt at Tactical. He's an amazing frog fisher with lot's of video evidence to prove his point. 

 

Hope this helps..

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

What's your frogging gear look like?

 

If my frog disappears, I swing on them. The feel thing is a load of bull to me. If the frog disappears after a strike, what is the most likely cause? The fish grabbed it with it's mouth. Can you feel the difference between a fish that has a frog choked vs one that only has the legs? Me neither. But, while you're wasting time feeling for it, that fish is headed further into the cover it was hiding in, making it harder and harder to 1: Get a solid hook set, and 2: Get them back up and out of that cover. Cross their eyes as soon as that frog disappears and they're right near the surface where you can get them moving up and out of the grass with the quickness and have a more direct path on the hook set to get a solid connection from the start. 

 

Frogs are like any other topwater, some days they'll blow up on them again and again, but rarely hook up. Sometimes, changing color, cadence, maybe size of the frog will help, but no way to really know without trying. 

[MN Fisher]

Frogging is all about watching the lure to me. If it disappears under the surface - I'm swinging for the fences immediately.

 

Stout rod is a must, and AFAIC a fast reel to get the fish out of the slop.

[Hammer 4]

Just to add to all the above good advice. Some days the fish will pull the frog down by the legs, it happens, you win  some, you lose some. Like the others have said, if the frog disappears, swing  for the fences. If they constantly short strike and changing the cadence doesn't help, then downsize. Having a Stout rod helps too.

[Bankbeater]

Lately I have been watching the line and waiting for the rod to start loading up.  That way I know the bass has the frog in its mouth and is swimming off with it.

[scaleface]

Because of their lousy hook up ratio , I only use them in thick vegetation .In  little to  no cover , I have other lures that  work a heck of a lot better than a frog .

[Captain Phil]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Because of their lousy hook up ratio , I only use them in thick vegetation .In  little to  no cover , I have other lured that  work a heck of a lot better than a frog .

 

Frog fishing is great fun, it's also frustrating.  I don't believe a major problem with frog hookups is with the lure or technique.  Frog fish are normally buried in cover.  They feel vibration or see movement and strike in the general area of the food.  They miss more times than they get to eat.    "I have other lures that  work a heck of a lot better than a frog" .

[scaleface]

16 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

  I don't believe a major problem with frog hookups is with the lure or technique.  Frog fish are normally buried in cover.  They feel vibration or see movement and strike in the general area of the food.  They miss more times than they get to eat.

Good point .

[moguy1973]

Here's a great video on why there are so many misses when fishing frogs:

 

 

[NoShoes]

Im fishing a dobyns fury 735 on 50 lb power pro. 
 

The past several days I’m probably 3 for 8 or 9 on strike the frogs do under. I’ve had more where the bass just flat missed.  The bass ive caught have been been good, a couple 2 lbers and a 7.

 

I’ve been practicing my technique in places that have alot of smaller bass. I can’t help but wonder if the misses aren’t just dinks that aren’t getting the whole frog in their mouth. I’ll have to try down sizing to the JR frogs. 

[the reel ess]

Sometimes fish don't even bite the bait when they blow up. I guess they're trying to stun it so it sinks and they can get it easily. In those cases there's nothing you can do. And often, there are only small bass in the shallow cover. Small bass have a harder time fitting a full size frog in their mouths so they miss a lot. If I'm missing a bunch I'll give the fish a little time to feel it before I set. But not too long because it takes them no time to bury themselves in weeds and work that hook out unless they're very solidly hooked. Panfish will also take a swipe at it.

 

Lately, when I can't seem to get any frog hookups I've gone to using a Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a small plastic trailer. I drag it across the mat. It's less likely to get knocked up out of the water during a strike. It sinks at the edge of the mat, which can draw a few strikes you wouldn't get with the frog. If you use a new one, sharpen the hook.

 

What time of day are you missing the bass? In my experience, it can be very hard to get a bass to take a topwater in open water when the sun is high. I can still get them in the shadows and on the mat, but not in open water. The exception is prespawn into spawn, when they'll just annihilate whatever is invading their territory. Try some other lures.

 

My setup is an X heavy-X fast 7-3 rod paired with a 7.5:1 reel and 50# braid. The drag is cinched down.

[fishballer06]

My theory, more often than not, is that most missed blowups on a frog happen for two reasons. Not saying other reasons can happen (like some here have mentioned), but most of the time it's because of two things. And I'll explain why I believe these two things. 

 

1. The fish are too small and/or the frog is too big. If a frog is too big to fit in a fishes mouth whenever they bite, obviously they're not going to fully get it in their mouth and you won't get a good hook set. So whether its a big frog, or a small fish, this is a common issue. 

 

2. The fish are only slapping at the frog and not trying to fully inhale it. It's no secret that a bass will smack at bait sometimes just out of reaction. They're not always trying to swallow and eat something. So when this happens, they might just be slapping at the bait to stun it, or maybe they're just nipping at the legs of the bait. Either way, you won't hook up if a fish doesn't have the full bait down in his mouth. 

 

One thing to keep in mind about a frog - it's designed to get you bites in areas where you cannot fish other baits. So sometimes you have to accept that by its design to be totally weedless, its going to hurt its hookup ratio some, in exchange for some bites in areas that you'd never be able to fish otherwise. 

 

Touching back on my topic #1, I came to that theory a few years back whenever I discovered a new pond nearby to me. I went once and checked it out (I found it on Google Maps). When I walked it the first time, it looked like 2 acres of frog fishing heaven. So I went back the next day with just a frog tied on and I threw that bait for nearly two hours and I had close to a dozen blowups, and not a single hookup. I went back again a few days later. Again I had half a dozen blowups and not a single fish. From then on, I decided to fish the pond using Senkos and other style baits and I quickly learned that all the fish in this pond were 10-13" long. Hence why they were probably having a hard time getting a frog in their mouth. If you've ever caught a bass this size on a normal sized frog, you'll know that a frog that size fills their entire mouth basically, so they need to engulf that bait perfectly in order for you to hook a fish that size. 

Your 735c and 50lb braid is more than ample enough for frogging, so I don't believe it's your equipment.

[the reel ess]

17 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

Im fishing a dobyns fury 735 on 50 lb power pro. 
 

The past several days I’m probably 3 for 8 or 9 on strike the frogs do under. I’ve had more where the bass just flat missed.  The bass ive caught have been been good, a couple 2 lbers and a 7.

 

I’ve been practicing my technique in places that have alot of smaller bass. I can’t help but wonder if the misses aren’t just dinks that aren’t getting the whole frog in their mouth. I’ll have to try down sizing to the JR frogs. 

I tried the smaller frog. With my heavy stick it was hard to get an accurate cast. With a MH spinning combo, I would get hookups, but had a hard time trying to drag the fish out. If there was a junior frog that weighed 1/2-5/8 oz, I'd definitely get it.

[NoShoes]

24 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

My theory, more often than not, is that most missed blowups on a frog happen for two reasons. Not saying other reasons can happen (like some here have mentioned), but most of the time it's because of two things. And I'll explain why I believe these two things. 

 

1. The fish are too small and/or the frog is too big. If a frog is too big to fit in a fishes mouth whenever they bite, obviously they're not going to fully get it in their mouth and you won't get a good hook set. So whether its a big frog, or a small fish, this is a common issue. 

 

2. The fish are only slapping at the frog and not trying to fully inhale it. It's no secret that a bass will smack at bait sometimes just out of reaction. They're not always trying to swallow and eat something. So when this happens, they might just be slapping at the bait to stun it, or maybe they're just nipping at the legs of the bait. Either way, you won't hook up if a fish doesn't have the full bait down in his mouth. 

 

One thing to keep in mind about a frog - it's designed to get you bites in areas where you cannot fish other baits. So sometimes you have to accept that by its design to be totally weedless, its going to hurt its hookup ratio some, in exchange for some bites in areas that you'd never be able to fish otherwise. 

 

Touching back on my topic #1, I came to that theory a few years back whenever I discovered a new pond nearby to me. I went once and checked it out (I found it on Google Maps). When I walked it the first time, it looked like 2 acres of frog fishing heaven. So I went back the next day with just a frog tied on and I threw that bait for nearly two hours and I had close to a dozen blowups, and not a single hookup. I went back again a few days later. Again I had half a dozen blowups and not a single fish. From then on, I decided to fish the pond using Senkos and other style baits and I quickly learned that all the fish in this pond were 10-13" long. Hence why they were probably having a hard time getting a frog in their mouth. If you've ever caught a bass this size on a normal sized frog, you'll know that a frog that size fills their entire mouth basically, so they need to engulf that bait perfectly in order for you to hook a fish that size. 

Your 735c and 50lb braid is more than ample enough for frogging, so I don't believe it's your equipment.

im thinking that’s the issue. I don’t think it’s a coincidence the fish I’ve hooked are larger fish. Now obviously I don’t know the size of the missed ones. But where I’ve been fishing they were likely dinks. I’m throwing open water around vegetation and other cover, so they shouldn’t be missing for too much garbage. 

[Bluebasser86]

Some frogs have lousy hookup ratios also if you're sticking them and losing them. 

[BassNJake]

 

14 hours ago, NoShoes said:

I’m sure this has been covered but couldn’t find what I needed on a search. 
 

I’ve been committing to my frogs the past little bit and have been getting pretty consistent action, but I’m not turning them into many fish. Fishing little to no cover, I’ll get the blow up but when I set the hook nothing is there.
 

I’ve usually always waited a pause and looked for the frog, if it ain’t there I set hard.  It just seems more often than not I’m setting on air, which lends me to believe the bass didn’t have the frog good.   
 

whst would y’all do?  Change colors? Set hook differently?  Chuck everything into the lake?

You mentioned little to no cover - I had to switch to a toad on my lake since it too has little to no cover. Get more bites than with the frog but there are a lot of times when they just swipe at it. As the fall sets in the last couple of years it seems I get 10X the bites on a whopper plopper than any other topwater but I've got to cover a bunch of water.

[NoShoes]

So I believe mystery is solved. Switched to a pad crasher jr on lunch break and had three blowups. 
 

Felt the fish on all 3 hook sets, and stuck 2. The two I stuck could barely get the frog in its mouth. 
 

I think I had fish that were too small for the frog playing with it. 

[fishballer06]

25 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

I think I had fish that were too small for the frog playing with it. 

 

Called it! 

 

[the reel ess]

23 hours ago, NoShoes said:

Im fishing a dobyns fury 735 on 50 lb power pro. 
 

The past several days I’m probably 3 for 8 or 9 on strike the frogs do under. I’ve had more where the bass just flat missed.  The bass ive caught have been been good, a couple 2 lbers and a 7.

 

I’ve been practicing my technique in places that have alot of smaller bass. I can’t help but wonder if the misses aren’t just dinks that aren’t getting the whole frog in their mouth. I’ll have to try down sizing to the JR frogs. 

A 7 pounder is a great frog fish. I've caught lots of 2-3 pounders on them but only one over 6. I did catch a 7-4 on a spoon fished like a frog. I still consider that a very similar technique.

[NoShoes]

5 hours ago, the reel ess said:

A 7 pounder is a great frog fish. I've caught lots of 2-3 pounders on them but only one over 6. I did catch a 7-4 on a spoon fished like a frog. I still consider that a very similar technique.

like you always hear on the big ones, frog just disappeared lol.