First time top water fishing

[K_Dub]

well today i went to a local pond and i stringed up my pole with a SPRO frog and casted it out. fist cast within 3 seconds a explosion with a fish gulping my lure. i set the hook and the lure comes flying out his mouth!

how can i prevent that from happening? !?!

and for the rest of the day i didnt get anything, not even a bite.

[MichiganFisherman]

Sometimes it happens.  Wait until you feel the weight of the fish and then set the hook.  It can be tricky waiting because the initial explosion gets your adrenaline pumping and it's like instinct to immediately set the hook but, count to like 2 after the splash and then set the hook.  

[Newman12Fan]

I wish I could help you out, but I have not figured out how to set the hook yet.  I have gone thru 4 Rage Tail Shad so far, and only landed 2 fish.  They hit it all the time, but I curse more then I catch!

[FD.]

Wait, Wait and then......Wait some more...

Retrieve the frog with your rod tip up...when you see the strike, drop your rod and reel in the slack and when you feel tension on your line set the hook.  It is very important when frog fishing to wait until you feel tension.  Sometimes they will just slap at it to stun it and then pick it as it sinks.

[JShrock07]

When you are fishing topwater frogs and shad it can be very hard to hook a fish especially if you are new to fishing. If I were you I would wait until you feel the weight of the fish. Then set the hook. When you set the hook don't set it like a sissy you want to really yank hard. The main reason for that is so the hook can come through the lure and insert itself into the fish's mouth.

One of the best ways to learn how to fish topwater is to fish in the dark with no lights. This will teach you to become more patient with these baits. In the dark it is very hard to see the strike threrfore it makes it that much harder to pull the bait from the fish. Once you feel the fish that is when you want to reel up your slack and really jerk your rod tip up so that you can set the hook properly.

One good trick you may want to try is when fishing with frogs you want to cut about 1/4"-1/2" slit between the legs of the frog and insert the hook into one of the legs of the frog. Most of the time (unless the bass are hungry as hell) bass will just strike at the legs since they are what makes the loud noise.

Check out the library on the top of the page and you find many more new things you may not know.

Good Luck to You!!!!

-Nitroman

[K_Dub]

ok guys i will try that, because you guys are right. a soon as i saw the fish i tried to set the hook, i will be more patient next time.