Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Like Spro frogs or soft body like zoom horney toads?

Capt Mike

things you can do to level the playing field...

1) Use a powerful rod.  Something really stiff, at least medium-heavy in power.
2) Use BRAIDED line.  No exceptions.  Anything else for froggin' is folly.  Depending on thickness of cover, you can use anywhere from 20 to 80 lb.  I personally tend to use 20 and 30 lb, and don't have breakoff issues, even in Potomac river grass mats.  the pros and their articles tend to overhype the need for really big lines.
3) Use the right hook.  Several companies like Zoom and Stanley make frog-specific hooks (corkscrew style) for their baits.  The big hook companies do the same.
4) Use the right hookset.  Once you see the blow-up, wait until you feel the weight of the fish, then set the hook by yanking your rod as if you want to jerk the fish completely off this planet.  even then you'll still lose some.  It's part of the game.

As Dan said, knowing what gear you're using might help pinpoint the problem.

6' medium ugly stick is probably the culprit. A longer and beefier rod will make hooksets a lot easier. I fish frogs 90% of the time I'm out fishing in the summer. I use a 7'8" Heavy rod and 40 or 50lb braid. I very rarely miss fish. When they hit, count to two mississippi while slowing reeling down on the slack and then slam back with a hookset.

Dominion Dan wrote:

6' medium ugly stick is probably the culprit. A longer and beefier rod will make hooksets a lot easier. I fish frogs 90% of the time I'm out fishing in the summer. I use a 7'8" Heavy rod and 40 or 50lb braid. I very rarely miss fish. When they hit, count to two mississippi while slowing reeling down on the slack and then slam back with a hookset.

when they hit or when you feel them?

AndrewDo124 wrote:

Dominion Dan wrote:

6' medium ugly stick is probably the culprit. A longer and beefier rod will make hooksets a lot easier. I fish frogs 90% of the time I'm out fishing in the summer. I use a 7'8" Heavy rod and 40 or 50lb braid. I very rarely miss fish. When they hit, count to two mississippi while slowing reeling down on the slack and then slam back with a hookset.

when they hit or when you feel them?

On the splash. I count one mississippi, two mississi....then set and try not to fall out of the boat.

One more thing...I just looked at the frog you're using.  For hollow-body, floating frogs, make sure the hooks are sharp.  the expensive brands (like spro, etc.)use premium hooks, but some of the retailers' house brands use less than stellar hooks, which may need a quick sharpening.  On a side note...today's premium hooks (Gamakatsu, Owner, Mustad, etc) should NEVER need to be sharpened out of the package.  Old-timers will say otherwise, but they chemically sharpen hooks these days.  Sharpening actually whittles down the point TOO much and weakens the point. 

Another thing with hollow body frogs...make sure a hook point isn't stuck in the plastic.  This can happen very easily on missed hooksets, and diminishes your penetration capabilities on subsequent hooksets.

I use my 6'6" medium heavy Ugly Stick with 30lb braid/20lb fluoro leader for throwing frogs.

I tie straight to the frog with braid.

well. it happened.  yesterday landed a nice 3# fish.  using basscrusher's suggestion "set the hook by yanking your rod as if you want to jerk the fish completely off this planet. "  unfortunately, my line broke as i was getting the lure out of his mouth, and he dropped into water with my frog.  off to dick's i go.......

ton of good information in this post. thanks again. keep the ideas comin...

yea. not sure what happened. i had fish lipped. he flopped, dropped him, hit the water, and my rig was gone....oh well, at least i got the skunk of the frogs.  back today for more adventures.

ive often wondered about using swivels/clips (whatever you call him),  i change lures a ton, so to me, re-tying knots take forever.  any thoughts on pros/cons of swivels, other then the obvious (ease of changing lures, weak point)...?

I say no to snap swivels/clips except in the case of crankbaits.  Especially with braid, you can pull them apart using vicious hooksets or horsing them through super-thick cover...both of which are the norm for me. 

I'm also not a fan of leaders.  I think they are the most overrated thing in bass fishing.  I tie braid straight to my lure...even in clear water.  Some of the clearest water in VA is in Lake Anna, and last spring I boated 30+ bass in a Fishers of Men tournament using a shaky head on braid with no leader at all.  Visibility was over 5 feet.

If others prefer leaders, then by all means go for it.  But I would never use them in heavy cover.  There's no point...fish can't see your line in thick grass anyway.  Oh, and there's the dirty little secret line companies don't want you to know....Flourocarbon is NOT invisible like they say.  There's an old issue of Sportfishing Magazine that settled that debate about 5 years ago, but few bass fishermen read it.   Flouro is good around rocky cover, and does have low visibility in clear water, but I generally fish stained water and thick grass, so it's not for me.  Even when I go smallmouth fishing, I generally just use plain mono.  Flouro is best for sinking baits.  Since it sinks, it keeps a direct line to your lure, transmitting bites more effectively.

Summary: use snaps with crankbaits, flouro with Senkos, and heavy braid with frogs.

is line visibility in open water a huge issue?  i have never used leaders, but i may give it a try.

T.  do you find those duo snaps stronger then regular old swivels?