Im a topwater man now!

[Andrew Coleman]

Well not TOTALLY topwater but definitly excited about them. Today i headed to my usuall spot and tried a shkey head rig, caught a nice 1lb bass as soon as i droped it in. but for another hour i didn't get shift! then i saw a guy using a spro hollow bodied frog and he said he had 10 blow ups and a i think he said 7 bass. So i tried a stanley ribbit frog i had bought but never used. Second cast i had a blowup, I was so excited i yanked my rod as hard as i could and didnt relize the fish didn't even hit my frog! So i duck out the way of the flying frog and try again. 2 more blow ups and no bass later, i was getting frustrated, so i switched to a snag-proff hollowbodied frog, you know the ones whose legs have NO action what so ever! Well, first hit and for about 3 seconds the bass was on but he got off >. So I did what any other fisherman would do, I tried again. next one was more succesfull, was on probly for a few extra seconds..... :-[. Sooooooooo, i tried again. I cast past some lily's rell over the lilys and as soon as the frog gets over the lilys, BOOM, big blowup! wel i reel and reel and he ran me over to some nasty weeds floating on the surface so i had to reel him and 2 pounds of weeds. when i get him ashore, I'm wondering "Is there a fish in there, because if there isn't im done with this" well after almost a minute of searching through the weeds, my prize! A nice 2lb bass, although i didn't catch every fish that blewup, I now will be dreaming about them tonight.

One question, is there anyway i can increase the blowup:hookup ratio?

[paul.]

One question, is there anyway i can increase the blowup:hookup ratio?

yes, definitely.  do not set on the blowup.  chill a sec and wait until you actually feel the fish on.  bass will hold on to a soft frog just like they will any other soft plastic.  after you are sure the fish has the bait, drop the hammer and then smile for the camera.

[Simp]

Well not TOTALLY topwater but definitly excited about them. Today i headed to my usuall spot and tried a shkey head rig, caught a nice 1lb bass as soon as i droped it in. but for another hour i didn't get shift! then i saw a guy using a spro hollow bodied frog and he said he had 10 blow ups and a i think he said 7 bass. So i tried a stanley ribbit frog i had bought but never used. Second cast i had a blowup, I was so excited i yanked my rod as hard as i could and didnt relize the fish didn't even hit my frog! So i duck out the way of the flying frog and try again. 2 more blow ups and no bass later, i was getting frustrated, so i switched to a snag-proff hollowbodied frog, you know the ones whose legs have NO action what so ever! Well, first hit and for about 3 seconds the bass was on but he got off >. So I did what any other fisherman would do, I tried again. next one was more succesfull, was on probly for a few extra seconds..... :-[. Sooooooooo, i tried again. I cast past some lily's rell over the lilys and as soon as the frog gets over the lilys, BOOM, big blowup! wel i reel and reel and he ran me over to some nasty weeds floating on the surface so i had to reel him and 2 pounds of weeds. when i get him ashore, I'm wondering "Is there a fish in there, because if there isn't im done with this" well after almost a minute of searching through the weeds, my prize! A nice 2lb bass, although i didn't catch every fish that blewup, I now will be dreaming about them tonight.

One question, is there anyway i can increase the blowup:hookup ratio?

I know they aren't cheap but the Spro frogs have a great hook up ratio. The other thing you can do is give braid a dry or at least something low strech. I went to a frog set up and you will catch the biggest fish of your life on them. Braid sure has given me confidence I can get the hook set and the fish in the boat (or shore) no matter how big the fish or thick the weeds.  BTW -paul- is also right on giving the fish some time. I count to three many times before I set the hook.

[Mrs. Matstone]

Paul said it very well. Pause... I had the same problem. I recently discovered topwater myself and I love it. Congrats on the fish and your new found topwater passion.  ;D

[JShrock07]

Braid will help with your hooksets, anything with zero to little stretch will help. If you are fishing with mono it will float which is good but when you set the hook it stretchs more then you want it to which makes your hook sets not as effective as you want. I like using the rage tail frog or the ribbit frog. They have worked great for me!!!

Congrats on your new found love and go get'em!!!!

-Nitroman

[skillet]

I used to be a topwater fisherman :'(. I've tried so many times this year to get a topwater bite going, with NO success . Have even gotten on the water waaayy before sunrise...nothing, nada, zilch, zero . This from a guy that never met a topwater bait he didn't fall in love with immediately. Life is not like a box of chocolates. It's more like a Hoover vacuum cleaner......it sucks

                            As ever,

                             skillet

BTW AC if you boil some water and use something to hold the frog in it to just passed the legs for about 30 sec. or little longer, it makes the legs a lot less stiff

[.dsaavedra.]

if you boil some water and use something to hold the frog in it to just passed the legs for about 30 sec. or little longer, it makes the legs a lot less stiff

what i did was i separated the legs with a piece of wire so they were about 2" apart, and then dunked it in boiling water.

what this did was reset the plastic in the position the wire had them, fully separated. then when you twitch it thru the water, they kick inward like they are supposed to.

[IDbasser]

I have thrown some topwater in the past, but this year I have thrown it a lot.  I owe that to the FD's summer slam contest.  one of the fish had to be caught on topwater.  I caught a lot of SM on the buzzbait.  It was a total blast.  I never did catch anything very big.  Last time I threw topwater was several yars ago and caught an 18in SM.  I had lots of fun this summer with rediscovering topwater.

[NewScreenNameAdvised]

The best way I learned to set the hook with top water was not to set the hook until the bait was under water.  It's normal to get excited on the blow up and try to set the hook, but that is not what I like to do.

[JShrock07]

if you boil some water and use something to hold the frog in it to just passed the legs for about 30 sec. or little longer, it makes the legs a lot less stiff

what i did was i separated the legs with a piece of wire so they were about 2" apart, and then dunked it in boiling water.

what this did was reset the plastic in the position the wire had them, fully separated. then when you twitch it thru the water, they kick inward like they are supposed to.

Take a pic of it and PM it to me if you can I would like to see what you did.