Short Frog Rod for Kayak

[Cory20]

Walking the frog with a 7' frog rod is tough for me in a kayak. So I've been thinking about moving my frog rod over to heavy cover t rigs, jigs, and as a follow up on missed blow ups.  So I'm looking for a 6'6"ish frog/heavy top water rod. Could I get away with a MH? There is a lot in that class in that size that's affordable, but not as many H. Thank you.

 

[casts_by_fly]

Depends if you're fishing them in sparse cover or heavy vegetation.  Lily pads and matted grass (we get both up here) require a heavy or heavier yet rod.  If I'm throwing it in loose grass, pads with holes in between (something you could also swim a jig through or maybe a buzzbait), or around docks then a MH is enough. It will depend on the specific rod and how much butt it has.  I assume you're using braid.

 

I'm currently using my Amistad (7'3" very heavy) for heavy frogging and the head turner/pitchin stick (6'10" 'somewhat' H) for lighter frogging.  50/30 lb braid respectively.  The 7'3" is a bit long and I'm looking at the 6'11" bayou which was designed for frogs.  That's still longer than you're 6'6" though.

[Tatulatard]

A 7' rod is just about ideal I find from a kayak unless you are real up close to targets making accurate cast.  It it is long casts over slop then a 7' should be fine if you work the rod with walks to the side.  Try a cheap Walmart lews rod like the hank parker or xfinity 7' mh.  They all run a little more stiff than other mh and are good cheap frog rods.  Pretty well balanced too making walking a breeze.

 

[Deleted account]

I would try a shorter yak, really short....

[Cory20]

15 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

I would try a shorter yak, really short....

What do you mean?

@Tatulatard I have a 7H frog rod now and I just can't walk a frog from a yak like I can a boat.

 

@casts_by_fly my normal lakes don't have super heavy mats, I could probably get away with mh. Maybe a little softer in the tip for buzzbaits and swim jigs too.

[fishwizzard]

1 hour ago, Cory N said:

Walking the frog with a 7' frog rod is tough for me in a kayak. So I've been thinking about moving my frog rod over to heavy cover t rigs, jigs, and as a follow up on missed blow ups.  So I'm looking for a 6'6"ish frog/heavy top water rod. Could I get away with a MH? There is a lot in that class in that size that's affordable, but not as many H. Thank you.

 

 

 

I picked up this Daiwa Black Label shorty frog rod a few years ago and it's amazing.  It's a dream to cast and walk/pop a frog with and has a good amount of power.  It is not a rod for the heaviest of heavy cover, but I have gotten a lot of bass and snakehead out of some pretty dense spadderdock with it over the last few years.  You just need to be willing to look at the cover and your retrival path and make a good decision about how far you will try to cast.  A yak makes this way easier as you can just paddle over if you get a fish wrapped around something.  

 

It's pretty sensitive too, I use it a maybe 50% of the time in the summer as my "all purpose marsh pond" combo and I am completely happy to use it dragging a t-rigged creature around the same cover I would use a frog over top of.  

 

Here is a little snake I caught on it last summer:

 

[casts_by_fly]

9 minutes ago, Cory N said:

What do you mean?

@Tatulatard I have a 7H frog rod now and I just can't walk a frog from a yak like I can a boat.

 

@casts_by_fly my normal lakes don't have super heavy mats, I could probably get away with mh. Maybe a little softer in the tip for buzzbaits and swim jigs too.

 

In that case, the head turner/pitchin stick that I have would be close for you.  Its 6'10" so just a little longer than you ask but its a good rod for lighter frogs in looser grass and pads when you put braid on it.  It also has a soft tip and would fish a buzzbait well if you like a shorter buzzbait rod (I like longer).  Very versatile rod.  I use it as a swim jig/pitchin jig/bladed jig rod primarily.  That's the expert version.  I have the Bucoo SR version that does all of the same stuff (i upgraded this season to the expert) but I loaded it with braid for a lighter dedicated frog rod this summer.  The Bucoo is $99 so pretty affordable.  I'd throw in another $30 for the Lowrider at $129 to get cork and a bit nicer rod.  If $200 is in range, then the expert is a great rod.

 

Are you standing in the kayak?

[Darth-Baiter]

I thought a longer rod is better because we are picking up more line on the hooksets?  dunno

[Cory20]

@casts_by_fly

I would stay under 150. Been looking at the dobyns fury 663 and 664. Both have a fast tip and don't think I want that here. I stand when it isn't windy, but it blows 10mph every day here right now. If I could stand all the time if stay with a longer rod here.

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I thought a longer rod is better because we are picking up more line on the hooksets?  dunno

 

This is true. Fishing out of a kayak had it's own challenges. If anything, I'm early on frog bites so needing an extra split second needed to reel down helps.

[PhishLI]

14 minutes ago, Cory N said:

Been looking at the dobyns fury 663 and 664. Both have a fast tip and don't think I want that here.

Aside from being too fast or not, both will fold setting frog hooks. Not the type of swing I'd like to take while standing on a yak.

[Cory20]

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

Aside from being too fast or not, both will fold setting frog hooks. Not the type of swing I'd like to take while standing on a yak.

Haha might end up swimming pretty quick!

[casts_by_fly]

3 hours ago, Cory N said:

@casts_by_fly

I would stay under 150. Been looking at the dobyns fury 663 and 664. Both have a fast tip and don't think I want that here. I stand when it isn't windy, but it blows 10mph every day here right now. If I could stand all the time if stay with a longer rod here.

 

This is true. Fishing out of a kayak had it's own challenges. If anything, I'm early on frog bites so needing an extra split second needed to reel down helps.

if you’re standing and twitching rod tip down, then I can see the shorter rod. That’s what I was taking from your original post. I stand all the time and 6’10” is my shortest rod. It’s just short enough to fish tip down, though it’s not tip straight down like some fish. It’s more 45 degrees which is more than enough for walking a frog and even helps a little to keep the line just above some flat lily pads or matted grass. 
 

i don’t know dobyns rods so can’t help on those, but there are plenty on here that can. For the falcon rods, about the only options for you would be the low rider head turner or the bucoo equivalent. They are listed heavy fast and I think that’s accurate.  They are on the lighter side of heavy but not by much and you get into the power quickly. With 50 lb braid either one is a capable frog rod for lighter frog uses. 
 

also, you’re in Texas so you might have an academy around and they should have the bucoo version on the rack to check. 

[MidwestBassAttack]

Read your post and the very first rod that came to mind was a Falcon Head Turner. Short and stout gets em’ out!