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I know a lot of us use frogs and thought it might be good to share some tips we have come up with. My favorite is to tie my follow up bait 2 feet behind my frog. How long does it take to reel your frog in then get your follow up back to the same spot. Maybe the fish has moved on. With your follow up on the same rig just keep working the frog until your follow up bait gets to th SPOT and let is settle. Works great for me.

That is one of the best tips and tricks I have heard to date!!! Think I'll give that a try.

Moderators, please put this somewhere safe.

Thanks
M.T. Livewell

Come on there have to be some other tips out there people have???? ok here is another one I have learned over the past year.

When fishing big pads with topwaters whether frogs or rats when you get to th edge let your bait sit on top of the last pad for a long time. say a min or so longer if you have the patience I don't. If there was a fish following, thinking of eating it but wasn't sure... you will know as soon as you pull that frog off the pad because it will be gone quick.

I learned that while fishing clear water, I could see the fish following but they wouldn't hit. My partner caught a fish that needed a net and my frog came to rest on the outside pad , when I picked the rod up the frog slipped off and there was a huge explosion. turned into a nice 4 pounder. Hope these help and I hope others have some tips as well.

Sorry if I get a litle off topic but I have a question about my topwater frog. I have a manns frog that has a hollow body and a 3 hook treble hook at the back that stays tight to the frogs body. Last weekend I threw it and had 2 big largies hit it but both got off. I waited for 2 seconds on the first fish and only felt weight for a second, on the second fish I waited at least 4 seconds and had him on for about 5 seconds but he still popped off. After that I lost all confidence in the bait and refused to throw it. Does anyone else user this bait and how do you like it. Any modifications to be made?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Jay

I've also had a poor hookup ratio with the "body" type frog and treble set up. I now primarily use the Lucky Strike frog and have had a way better hook up ratio. It has the single upwards turned hook and I hang a trailer off that. White and bubble gum pink have been deadly.
I think the hollow body type frogs are too light and bulky and get pushed away from the fish by the force of the water when the fish charges up from underneath.
That's my preference. Give it a try and good luck!

This is a topic that hits all too close to home.

Last weekend I was throwing a scum frog using old mono on a MH baitcaster. I never bothered to change the mono (which I hate) for powerpro (which I love).
Net result, couldn't set the hook hard enough cause the mono would stretch. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it )
Even went so far as to attach a stinger hook, still no better.

I'd like to hear to best way to use a top water soft body frog.

M.T. Livewell

thanks jbarker, all of those tips could be used for fishing with bass poppers on the flyrod. On the weekend i had a blast fishing the edge of the lily pads at blakc lake, abd picked up a 2 and a half pound smallie in the weeds . Wierd eh, never seen a smally come from then lily pads,but im not one to argues, it gave an awesome fight. I used 20 pound berkley vanish florocarbon as a leader, and it worked great on the hooksets went 6 for 7 on the strikes.
thanks for the tip jbarker, ill remeber to use it,YFF

People have always told me to wait untill I feel the fish or count to 5 before you set the hook. But sometimes that is too long. As soon as I know the frog is under water I set the hook If I know the fish missed I leave the frog sit there. Some times the fish will go look for the frog he just hurt wait a min or so the start twitching the frog slowly. Or if you have the follow up bait tied behind go ahead and bring that up to the spot.

I don't wait for a specific amount of time. I simply try and locate my frog after the hit. If it is still on top of the weeds/water than the bass missed it. Letting it sit can sometimes produce a quick second strike. If I can't see my frog that usually means it is under water. I than reel up the slack and hit the fish. This works most of the time.

Also, watching the line after the strike is key too. Bass most of the time continue swimming after the strike so usually your line will be moving provided the bass actually got the frog.

I think the key is to really watch you bait during the strike. You can usually tell by watching the strike if the fish has it or not.

I never blindly set the hook either. This usually results in a missed hookset all the time.

I always keep a follow up bait handy on a second rod. If the fish misses and I don't get a second strike I flip into the area where the fish hit. You don't get them all the time but it is nice when you do.

With all that said, sometimes the fish just won't be aggressive enough to actually get hooked when fishing a frog. On these days, it is time to flip for them.

Cheers,

Mike

PB, I hope your advise helps your partner on Sunday. After the day we had on Monday I think he's ready to hook one

Thanks Tony...I hope NT gets it together for Saturday Doing well in Tournaments is all about sticking every fish. This past Sunday we both missed 2-3 fish each fishing tubes and dingers. This could have made a big difference but that is fishing

Cheers,

Mike

My advice for fishing any kind of topwater for any species is this......

Dont wait a pre determined amount of time, I find the best way is to just keep your retrieve going after the initiall hit. If you feel weight set the hook, if you dont feel any weight just keep the retrieve going as you were.

Setting the hook when you dont know if the fish has the bait only amounts to you pulling the bait away, and a completly missed fish, if you keep your retrieve going as is there is a good chance they will hit it again.

Also have you every had to dodge a spook, or worse a Top Raider that's coming at yer head at the speed of light