Love/Hate relationship with floating Stanley Ribbits

[silvercliff_46]

So I ordered a bunch of Stanley's floating Ribbits in spring.  The wife and I went out and gave them a try.  They cast very well and were devastating. Being able to leave them sit until the cast settled down, then twitch, swim, buzz, it drove the fish nuts.  We caught bass, northern, musky darn near everything that swims in the water we fish.

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? Simply HOOK_UP.  We are going on 64, have carpal and arthritis so maybe it is at least partially our fault.  We use medium/heavy seven foot rods with braided on both my casting rods, and her spinning rods.  I don't think we would be able to cast these out adequately with heavy action rods.  We have gotten out of the habit of multiple hook sets after ripping a few hooks out, when we  switched to braided.  We rig them by pushing the hook all the way through, then skin hooking them in the groove provided.  I wondered about the hooks. These have a slight curl in them for skin hooking, but with the density of this material, maybe they are driving them back into the ribbit???

Northern and musky generally hook themselves, but not so with bass.  Sometimes they seem to be hooked only to get them near the boat and have them let go.  They do hang on to these for a long time.  I guess Stanley says they put fat in them to float (?).  I don't know if it is taste or texture, but they hold on to them.

In short I wondered if anyone else uses these and if they had the same problems.  Did you find a solution.  I guess we could try to remember to go back to hitting them several times.  I would prefer an alternative.

In any case we will continue to use them as long as our heart can take the explosive strikes.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

You said your rods are medium heavy, but what kind of action do the have? (Fast/Med./Slow)

[Elite Image Fishing]

How soon after the strike are you setting the hook. Snatching too quickly can pull the frog away to soon. Letting them take it by a 1 mississippi 2 mississippi 3 mississippi count then pull back. Just a suggestion.

[Catt]

[silvercliff_46]

Yup. I've done the waiting thing.  As far as action goes, other then medium/heavy ???

That hook has a straighter point then the ones we have been using, ours bend slightly at the tip.  Do you think a wider gap might help?  If so who might have one suitable for the floating ribbit?

[NewAngler]

Twistlock centering pin by Owner. I use 4/0 for the Ribbits

http://www.ownerhooks.com/pages/products/hooks/basshooks.htm

also, have you thought about using a tailer hook? I was going to suggest the pause method and a trailer hook method. Elite covered the pause. I use the cheaper eagle claw trailer hooks. Cheap and effective

[J Francho]

I use 4/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus hooks.  I had trouble with them at first, but if you really lay it to the fish, you hook up just fine.  I don't count to three, wait, I just feel for the weight of the fish, reel down, and set the hook.

[Catt]

Yup. I've done the waiting thing. As far as action goes, other then medium/heavy ???

That hook has a straighter point then the ones we have been using, ours bend slightly at the tip. Do you think a wider gap might help? If so who might have one suitable for the floating ribbit?

Strike King Saber Point Round Bend Offset  

[silvercliff_46]

I'll be trying some of those hooks when fishing season rolls around again (we had snow already and are to get more Sat.).  I think the trailer might be trouble in the junk we fish in.

All in all though, they sure are a tickle to fish with.

Thanks

[gar-tracker]

The following is my opinion while it may differ from most techniques, it has worked for me after much trial and error. Its related to Florida fishing in extremely thick grass.  

I use Gammy WG 4/0, I do a lot of toad fishing in extremely thick grass fields of Florida, keep in mind we have been fishing top water worms and Flappin Shad baits way before the toad craze.

I use a  7'6": heavy however I look for one with a little bit of a tip to help with the casting.

I DO NOT WAIT, if you v ever seen a bass eat something the bait is in his mouth instantly, combine that with the distance between you and the fish its never an instant hook set. That fish is turned on your bait in a micro second. I do this with all my fishing especially submerged plastics, as you're waiting that bass is swimming away putting more grass between you and your fish.  

I also use the plastic screw in tip made by the company that makes Skinny Dippers, this helps the toad last longer.

You may want to run the tip of the hook through the bait to help with your hook set, I don't do this but, it may help with your handicap.

If the vegetation is not as xtream you could cheat the rod down a bit for better castibility. Top water plastic fishing in grass is hard when done right, a hard hook set with constant pressure to keep the head up and the fish coming towards you.

Hope this helps.

[.ghoti.]

One thing that will help, no matter what hook you use, is some Megastrike.

I don't believe you need any extra scent or taste on a frog, but, greasing it up liberally will make the bait slick enough to slide in the fish's mouth; enabling a better hookset.

Don't have any megastrike? Try a can of Pam cooking spray. That'll grease "em up nicely. That's what I use on my muskie baits, for the same reason.

Give it a try.

[silvercliff_46]

All good ideas !  I'll bet the megastrike or pam would help it slide over the pads and stuff too.

I really enjoy threads like this.  You learn a lot of little tricks that can mean a lot.

Thanks guys

[umahunter]

i give another vote for owner ive had the same worm hook with cutting point on for over a month and caught many fish still sharp as hell

[Dan:]

I've started to use this for bait lube:

It's pretty oily and you don't have to get it on your hands like Megastrike.

[silvercliff_46]

I was just looking at that can of Jack's Juice.  Look's close to my bug spray stuff.  Knowing me I'll spray that on, and keep slippin off my seat. ;D ;D ;D

my women will think I been sippin' the Old Stump Blower again.

[ABLE2DISABLE1]

Try a simple pull to stretch the hook a little wider, then pin hook the skin.I use VMC triple grip wide gap hooks and NEVER lost a fish to this light wait hook.Yes they will stretch a bit,but never lost a fish.And I throw 20lb braid, drag isn't all that tight either, if I need more drag I put my fingers on the spool to feather the pressure I need to hall the fish in.