Topwater frog fishing.

[VTFan]

Try as I might I have not been able to get a single hookup using a topwater frog.  I'm fishing it on a baitcaster, using braided line on a medium/heavy rod, boiling them to make them softer, bending the hooks, trimming the skirts/legs, waiting a eternity before setting the hook, actually watch them swim away with the frog in their mouths for at least 5 seconds and then setting the hook only to come up empty.  I'm about ready to give my few frogs to my brother.  Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong?  Thanks fellas.

[MN Fisher]

Bend the point of the hooks out a little bit.

[VTFan]

I've bent them.

 

[Captain Phil]

Top water frog fishing can be a hit and miss proposition.    You can improve your chances by being more observant.   Look for signs that you have a bass following your bait or directly behind it.  The signs may be subtle or obvious.  Learn to drop back on the strike.  This is not an easy thing to do, but it is effective.   The strike from a big fish often happens when you are just off the edge of the cover.  I fish frogs faster than most anglers, that's why I prefer plastic toads.  Small fish are hard to hook, big fish engulf the bait if you give them enough time to do so.

[Catt]

That's interesting ? 

 

All I can say is keep Chunking-n-reeling-n-setting hook!

 

Frog fishing is exciting, exhilarating, irritating, aggravating all at the time.

[Team9nine]

Maybe a smaller frog like Pad Crasher Jr.? And only delay 2-3 seconds, just long enough for them to turn down or away, then hit them with a worm type fast set, not a slower sweeping set. Just my first thoughts…

[Bird]

Sounds like you may want to sharpen the hooks.

While frogs don't have a hookup ratio , say like a Spinnerbait, you shouldn't be missing them all.

I like a Spro popping frog, can also be walked.

From a boat I'm always standing when working frogs, rod tip high and apon blowup, point the tip to the fish and set the hook, this gives a delay.

I don't hook them all on frogs but enough to keep throwing them.

 

[casts_by_fly]

downsize, sharpen hooks, and/or try a slightly different color.  Like catt said, frog fishing is awesome, but they won't eat every one.  Saturday night it was about 50% for me- 50% of hits actually converted into hookups.  I even lost a fish that was hooked on a frog which was a new one for me (it had both hooks in the roof of its mouth).

[fin]

Five seconds is a really long time. Do you mean you just count to five? Even that is probably too long. Counting to 3 probably about right.

 

How many have you lost?

 

 

[VTFan]

Maybe five seconds is an exaggeration. Let's say long enough to see the bait start moving away. I've even thought about adding a trailer hook but that would make it hard to fish around cover/timber...wouldn't it?

[casts_by_fly]

depends on how thick the cover and how you cast them.  If you're lob casting then you're going to hang up a bit when the frog flips over mid-air and lands hook down on cover.  Sidearm casting is better since it goes tail first but you'll still have some flip over.  if you can land it in open water it will right itself and then you can work it over cover just fine.  Docks and light cover is just fine.

[fin]

Not having to worry about getting hung up is one of the joys of frogs/toads. Being able to throw it pretty much wherever you want is one of the best things about them. A trailer hook would help, but also kind of ruin it, or at least it did for me.

[papajoe222]

My first thought was; change colors.  My second was; they're not taking the frog deep enough into their mouth for the hooks to bite.  Topwater bites are, for sure, hit or miss.  I throw full sized Spooks and wonder how one of the three trebles doesn't hook them, but I've had that happen more times than I'd like. 

[txchaser]

Reel like crazy till you feel the fish, then set the hook. No need to count.

I had a day where I hadn't fished a frog in like six months and was missing 100% of the hooksets. It was a slack line problem. 

[Bazoo]

I've had a lot of bluegill that have went after my frogs when I've used a smaller frog like the lunkerhunt pocket frog. I've actually caught several of the larger bluegill on it, one being the largest bluegill I've ever seen, over a pound on my calibrated estimation, he had a solid 1 1/2" wide mouth! I caught him right at the end of the cast, I was standing on a culvert that is an ambush point.

 

A lot of times, when its a bluegill, they will grab it and swim, even fight a few seconds, but when I set the hook it doesn't set because the fish only had the legs is my guess.

 

My thought is, you probably have missed some bass, but also have had bluegill going after your frog and those are much harder to get because of their smaller sized mouths.

 

I love fishing frogs.

[fantasy19]

On 7/31/2023 at 10:49 PM, txchaser said:

Reel like crazy till you feel the fish, then set the hook. No need to count.

I had a day where I hadn't fished a frog in like six months and was missing 100% of the hooksets. It was a slack line problem. 

^^

[Bandersnatch]

I just swing as soon as possible with an xh rod.

 

scum launch frog has excellent hook up ratio 

[Pat Brown]

I always wait to feel the fish and reel fast and then set the hook like a worm as folks say.  Firm and quick.

 

Sometimes you feel the fish instantly.  Sometimes they take a second to chomp down on it good.  This is why it's important to reel fast when they blow up.  You can't feel the fish great on slack line with braid so getting that slack out of the line is essential.

 

Sometimes they eat it and swim with their mouths open towards you.  Nothing you can do about that and those ones almost always get away unhooked.

 

Bend the hook points so that they're pointing up and away from the frog and you'll hook a lot more fish.

[GRiver]

I usually wait , reel up the slack, watch the line to tighten up, then set the hook…… or try too. But what do I know, I had about a million blowups one day.

Couldn’t set the hook to save my soul. 
I went home fishless and frustrated…… it was still a good day. 

[VTFan]

Well I guess persistence does pay off.  I FINALLY caught my first two bass on a frog. I had caught bass on other top water baits before but this was the first on frogs.

[scaleface]

Frog fishing is the  most frustrating for me. I set the hook either too fast or too slow. I dont have any pointers except tighten the drag all the way and keep on keepin on.

[the reel ess]

I find that a lot of the time the bass that are shallow in summer are small and they have a hard time taking the whole bait. These dinks hang around the weedy edges and pick off small bream. Big bass I've caught on frogs usually have the bait deep inside the mouth. Big bass are decisive. Small bass are more timid and often won't even bite the bait, just sort of slash at it.

 

I did have one frog I couldn't catch a thing with. I missed bite after bite on it no matter what I tried. I finally threw it away and ordered a replacement. I'm partial to Booyah Pad Crashers. They're usually soft enough out of the pack. Trim the legs to about 1.5-2" long.

[MAN]

What kinda frog are you using? 

[casts_by_fly]

3 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I find that a lot of the time the bass that are shallow in summer are small and they have a hard time taking the whole bait. These dinks hang around the weedy edges and pick off small bream. Big bass I've caught on frogs usually have the bait deep inside the mouth. Big bass are decisive. Small bass are more timid and often won't even bit the bait, just sort of slash at it.

 

I did have one frog I couldn't catch a thing with. I missed bite after bite on it no matter what I tried. I finally threw it away and ordered a replacement. I'm partial to Booyah Pad Crashers. They're usually soft enough out of the pack. Trim the legs to about 1.5-2" long.

 

I find this is quite true on smaller fish.  They will come up and grab it like they would an insect.  If they get it from behind and you're fishing it slow, then they get the whole thing and will be hooked in the roof of the mouth.  I also trim my legs way back, though mine are more like 3/4".  Anything over 12" though this won't be the case and I'm not worried.

[VTFan]

19 hours ago, MAN said:

What kinda frog are you using? 

Just bought a Lunkerhunt with legs already cut the length of the frog.  Seems softer than other right out of the box.