Urg!

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

Okay so i was fishing these big ponds friday with my dad and my friend.Picked up a couple on the buzzbait right away, then decided to throw a frog. 2nd or 3rd cast, SKADOOSH!i get a nice chunky fish. Then after that it was just bam bam bam OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT for the next 45 min. And how many did I hook? 0. Through the rest of the day, i had more blowups when i fished the frog, and still no hookups. I was waiting the right amount of time and everything for the hookset,but i just couldnt hook up with them. The fish were completely destroying them too with vicious strikes. How can increase my hookup ratio?

[Jigfishn10]

Oh man, that stinks.

I had one of those days last year when I did nothing but walk the dog all day. Blow up after blow up. I didn't completely blank, but I can't tell you how many I missed. A lot. I never had that much problem, but for some reason this day I was.

A couple of days later I found this article on top water fishing. The writer in the article said not to pay too much attention when fishing dog walking lures or any topwaters for that matter. I found this kind of interesting, because usually you WANT to pay attention. Basically the whole premise to that statement was to work the lure and wait until you feel the rod load up before setting the hook. Well, I tried it and it works. My hook up ratio increased significantly. I still miss some, but I haven't had a day like that since.

The other thing I like to do is to kill the retrieve after a blow up and miss. I find a lot of time the same bass will circle the wagons and come back and blast it again thinking it just injured it's prey.

Give it a try.

[ripinthem]

One thing I do, and it seems to help in a few techniques(drop shot, carolina rigs, and top water) is a rod sweep-set. Man, my ratio of strike/put-in-boat went way up. I guess it allows the hook to do its thing, and the fish to get the bait deeper. It was hard to change, just used to that flipping reaction strike, but you just drop the rod tip at the strike, and sweep to the side.

[Sam]

Suggestions to consider:

1. Take a pliers and bend the pointed end of the frog hooks to open them slightly.

2. Make sure the frog's body is soft.

3. Add MegaStrike or another scent to each frog so they may hold it longer.

4. When they hit it, drop rod tip to point at frog, let them run with it for a count to three (of course, a fast count is what we do) and then set hook hard to cross their eyes.

5. Make sure you are using a "heavy" rod and braid.

6. Keep all slack out of the line at all times after setting the hook and keeping rod tip pointed to 11 o'clock.

7. Read some articles on frogging and note what the pros do and how they do it.

Good luck.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

Suggestions to consider:

1. Take a pliers and bend the pointed end of the frog hooks to open them slightly.

2. Make sure the frog's body is soft.

3. Add MegaStrike or another scent to each frog so they may hold it longer.

4. When they hit it, drop rod tip to point at frog, let them run with it for a count to three (of course, a fast count is what we do) and then set hook hard to cross their eyes.

5. Make sure you are using a "heavy" rod and braid.

6. Keep all slack out of the line at all times after setting the hook and keeping rod tip pointed to 11 o'clock.

7. Read some articles on frogging and note what the pros do and how they do it.

Good luck.

Thanks Ya ive had the waiting part down for the hookset for awhile now. Ill bend the hooks up on them. Ill leave the frog out in the sun for a bit to soften it too

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

One thing I do, and it seems to help in a few techniques(drop shot, carolina rigs, and top water) is a rod sweep-set. Man, my ratio of strike/put-in-boat went way up. I guess it allows the hook to do its thing, and the fish to get the bait deeper. It was hard to change, just used to that flipping reaction strike, but you just drop the rod tip at the strike, and sweep to the side.

The sweep is about the only way to go for topwater for me lol. Doesn't feel natural to set it any other way

[Chris]

This might sound a bit odd but you might do everything right but because of the bass's activity level you would be better off using something that was more under the water like the buzzbait than a frog. I had a good pattern going one time walking a pop R and then after awhile the bite ended and I had a hard time picking off fish even when the fish where hitting the bait. The bass where slashing at the bait and not eating it. I ended up changing to a rattle trap and jerkbait to stay on fish. Both where fished about a foot deep.

[islandbass]

Maybe they were short striking? Just a thought. Short strikes can feel like a legitimate take but if you ever saw a video, the fish are close enough to grab the skirt or other material and don't even touch the hook.

I even saw one bass come from the bottom and smack my rapala crankbait right inbetween the tail and belly treble. Its lip actually kissed the bait and it swam straight back down as if to say, "No thanks!"

The trebles didn't even move! Talk about being close but no cigar.

[Oscar O.]

There are those days where you do everything right, but the fish just aren't taking the bait so you can set the hook. When that happens, use the frog as a way to search for active fish and then follow up with a weedless soft plastic pitched to where the blowup occurred. I've heard that you get about 30 seconds (maybe less) to get a bait back to where the strike was and be able to get bit. Or just switch back to the buzzbait since you already had success with it.

[BusBassin]

I am not sure if anyone would agree with what i do sometimes. I add weight to my frogs and rats. A splitshot or 2 inside the body keeps the frog lower in the water or weeds you are fishing. This has help me get better hook set ratios and i see less of my frogs getting pushed in the air. This works for me when it seems like they just want to bump it.

Jigfshn10 is right. If you get a blow up stop. do a few twitches, pause twitch, repeat a few more time and then cast right back over that area.

[piscicidal]

Okay so i was fishing these big ponds friday with my dad and my friend.Picked up a couple on the buzzbait right away, then decided to throw a frog. 2nd or 3rd cast, SKADOOSH!i get a nice chunky fish. Then after that it was just bam bam bam OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT for the next 45 min. And how many did I hook? 0. Through the rest of the day, i had more blowups when i fished the frog, and still no hookups. I was waiting the right amount of time and everything for the hookset,but i just couldnt hook up with them. The fish were completely destroying them too with vicious strikes. How can increase my hookup ratio?

Not sure where you're at with the spawn, but it could be bedding fish grabbing/blowing the bait to get it away from the nest. A bass will grab a bait and expel it almost instantaneously when in this mode. They're not eating...just trying to get the bait away from the bed.

You are not likely to set a hook in this fish from any distance even with braid and/or fast action rods. You can increase your odds by having a ridiculously sharp hook on your frog...he may hook himself trying to expel the bait. But you will still miss alot of these fish.

Good thing is...those fish are probably BIG, and you know where those big mommas are now. Sharpen the **** out of your hooks, make sure you've got a H/F action rod and go back and try it again...

[piscicidal]

OK, I'm giving away one of my best tips now...

Go to that exact same spot and throw the Devil's Horse. He's very unlikely to expel that bait without catching one of the six (2 trebles) hooks hanging off of it.

[Fat-G]

Oh man, that stinks.

I had one of those days last year when I did nothing but walk the dog all day. Blow up after blow up. I didn't completely blank, but I can't tell you how many I missed. A lot. I never had that much problem, but for some reason this day I was.

A couple of days later I found this article on top water fishing. The writer in the article said not to pay too much attention when fishing dog walking lures or any topwaters for that matter. I found this kind of interesting, because usually you WANT to pay attention. Basically the whole premise to that statement was to work the lure and wait until you feel the rod load up before setting the hook. Well, I tried it and it works. My hook up ratio increased significantly. I still miss some, but I haven't had a day like that since.

The other thing I like to do is to kill the retrieve after a blow up and miss. I find a lot of time the same bass will circle the wagons and come back and blast it again thinking it just injured it's prey.

Give it a try.

When I get a miss I keep walking/working it like nothing happened. 9/10 times they eat it again.

[midnighthrasher]

Use the frog to find the fish. Then throw a senko as a follow up. 50% or more of the time you will get them. Frogs are great search baits.

[Jigfishn10]

When I get a miss I keep walking/working it like nothing happened. 9/10 times they eat it again.

You know Fat-G, I haven't had that much luck with that, but if you're getting good results, I'll be sure to try that again this year and see what happens.

Thanks man.

[hatrix]

I use to miss a ton of fish on frogs trying to set the hook on every bite. It seems at least for me they don't actually grab the frog every time. Like they attack it the first time to injure or daze it then they come back and grab it for real. Unless they pretty much grab it and start running with it I wait to set the hook. If I try to set and miss, that fish is pretty much a wash cause I scared it away now. But if they miss and I wait and give it a few tiny twitches to ripple the water like it go hurt or something they almost always come back and hit it again.