Braid vs mono for frogs

[ABurk]

Picked up a couple frogs recently because I have a lot of lily pad patches here on the river I live on and I had one guy come up next to me and pull a 7# out of the pads with a frog. Wasn’t being too nosy and didn’t ask the guy any questions. Just noted what bait he was using and went about my day. It did get me interested in learning a frog more but I’m new to them. My biggest issue is trying to walk a frog. I’m still practicing my walking ability but I’ve been able to walk a typical walking bait with some ease, but on mono. I’ve heard never fish a frog on anything but braid, but I don’t know any better myself. I’ve got a 7’3 mh duckett rod with a tatula ct 8.1 reel that I’m attempting to learn a frog on. Also, do people walk frogs over pads or just drag them over? I had one on yesterday morning just dragging it over pads and a gar grabbed it, jumped out of the pads and spit it right back at me. 

[Hammer 4]

Fishing with a frog imho almost demands braid, especially in vegetation. Now, I'm a fan of mono but with your mh rod, I would go with braid, and at least 50 lb. Reason being that you need to get those hooks to penetrate the fish's skin, mono has to much stretch to make that happen, where as braid has no stretch, hence more power to set the hook.

As for walking a frog, you don't always need to walk it, but if your inclined to do so, great. Be kinda hard to do that on a solid surface like a pad. I've caught plenty of bass with out walking my frogs, but I don't just chuck and wind, stop and go, small twitches will impart some action on the frog, just try what works best for you. 

[ABurk]

Is their a preference for what braid? Like 4 strand vs 8? I have a few of both, and someone told me in person 4 strand is better but more than one opinion never hurts. I guess I just want to learn how to walk it properly when I’m not targeting pads. I live on a river with a lot of low hanging trees and I can skip baits just fine and being able to target those spots would help, but is being able to walk it that important? Or is just changing a cadence in the baits movement more than enough? 

[Hammer 4]

Everyone does have their preference for either 4 or 8 carrier braid, same holds true for brands. Do a braid search on here and you will see what I mean..

I've always used a 8 carrier braid. At the moment I'm using seaguar 50 lb stealth gray, so far, so good. Some brands have an issue with color fading, i.e. dark green turns to a light shad of green, that wouldn't deter my choice when choosing a braid. 

A couple of other brands to look at would be Power Pro, Sufix and Diawa, ect.

I would learn to walk a frog, it never hurt to have skills when you need them. Let the fish tell you what they want, could walking, or a straight retrieve or a reel, stop, twitch, and repeat. Time on the water is essential.

[ABurk]

Thank you for the information. I have some 50# daiwa I’ll throw on and keep working at it. I think what got me in my own head was the cheap braid I was using before. Something called mountain chain or something from china. Not terrible but was the first braid I bought due to cost. Would love to get more time on the water but work during the week and the weekend pleasure boaters keep me away from the river, even though it’s right out my back door. Just got to make the most of what I can, and that’s why I love the information from this site. 

[Bluebasser86]

Braid for frogs. 4 carrier is more coarse so it saws through grass better. For fishing over pads, you can pull it over the pads and walk it in the open spaces. 

[ABurk]

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Braid for frogs. 4 carrier is more coarse so it saws through grass better. For fishing over pads, you can pull it over the pads and walk it in the open spaces. 

Thanks for that tip on 4 carrier. I have some but hated using it because of the noise. I’ll need to get over it if I want to catch more bass. 

[Catt]

[dodgeguy]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

What he said. Puts all 4 strands to shame.

[Born 2 fish]

12 hours ago, Catt said:

This is my frog line as well

[Skunkmaster-k]

I prefer mono . I don’t rip out as many hooks and have plenty of control with 25# mono . 

[HaydenS]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:57 AM, Catt said:

Me 3

[the reel ess]

50-65# braid, heavy rod, cinch the drag down on your reel. When you set the hook don't let the fish play at all. Drag it out. They're very good at digging into the lilies or mat and working that hook out.

On 10/11/2021 at 2:22 AM, ABurk said:

Thank you for the information. I have some 50# daiwa I’ll throw on and keep working at it. I think what got me in my own head was the cheap braid I was using before. Something called mountain chain or something from china. Not terrible but was the first braid I bought due to cost. Would love to get more time on the water but work during the week and the weekend pleasure boaters keep me away from the river, even though it’s right out my back door. Just got to make the most of what I can, and that’s why I love the information from this site. 

I didn't like the first braid I tried either. I use plain old PowerPro, 50# on the frog rod. If you want to save a few bucks you can fill up half your spool with the cheapest line you can find, I use Big Game, and finish the spool out with braid. I use 30# PowerPro on my other combos. I use braid on all my bass combos except for spinner/buzzbaits. When the end gets old and bleached out looking, I'll just reel it onto another reel and I'm using the new end. The stuff lasts forever.

[MidwestBassAttack]

Braid and frogs go together like peas and carrots. My favorite braid is the Pline TCB X Braid in 50lbs….give it a try….you might like it!

[PotatoLake]

Start watching at 23 1/2 minutes or so. Really good explanation on 4 stand vs. 8 or in this case, 12 strand. @Bluebasser86 Basically summarized this same point. But if you want more to back up the 4 strand for frogging consensus, this is a good watch.

[rtwvumtneer6]

Sounds like you're set on braid.  I agree, especially with the MH rod.  

 

As far as walking the frog, I was guilty of overworking it when I was learning.  I neglected working the reel handle and plopped the frog along.  Once you figure out the line management, or necessary amount of slack, the rod tip only needs to move a few inches to impart action on the bait.  As far as pads, you can drag it over.  I like to pause it when it falls off the pad before walking it again.  My opinion is if they are tracking it and it disappears, they take their shot when it comes back into sight.  

[Jaderose]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:57 AM, Catt said:

I switched to this exact line this year and will never throw anything else on my frog rod.  

[JWall14]

DO NOT USE MONO. Mono stretches so there is such a low chance you will get a good hook in those fish

[scaleface]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:57 AM, Catt said:

I cant believe it . Something besides Big Game .

[HaydenS]

12 hours ago, JWall14 said:

DO NOT USE MONO. Mono stretches so there is such a low chance you will get a good hook in those fish

This^

[WRB]

Mono doesn’t stretch as much as everyone thinks but it does’t cut through aquatic vegetation like braid does. Braid is a good for for frogs fished on top of vegetation.

Tom