Fish-Hawk.Net

I am gearing up to make a decision about a rod or rods for the 2011 bass season. My first order of business will be a frogging rod.

It is not so much the brand that is the hard decision.. it is the ratings that are kind of getting to me.

I thought I would get a heavy stick for frogging. I throw frogs into heavy cover... and I like to throw far. I tend to use heavy Power Pro @ about 50lb. I love the fact that I can get snagged on ANYTHING and I can pull it out and get it back to the boat.

This should equate to a heavy rod... right?

The line ratings.... is it about diameter of line or actual tensile strength? (Power pro 50lb... ummm... what the heck kind of phone pole do I need to match that line to?)

Does the line rating mean a whole lot?

The lure weight... what impact does it have on a cast... or retrieve if I use a lure that is too light or heavy for the stick according to its rating?

Fast tip... what the heck difference does the tip "Speed" make when you are setting a hook on a frog from 50 feet away? I understand more the fast tip thing when you are jigging, tubing, drop shotting, Carolina or Texas rigged...

Thanks guys!

Craig

cprince wrote:
Fast tip... what the heck difference does the tip "Speed" make when you are setting a hook on a frog from 50 feet away?

Craig

Remember the day I caught THREE nickels in 45 minutes


The fast tip made the difference between getting the whole bass to the boat or just his Lips......Violent hook set

Bass Addict wrote: Remember the day I caught THREE nickels in 45 minutes

Never saw the report... must have NEVER HAPPENED!!! (Even if I WAS THERE and TOOK THE PICTURES!!!!)

Bass Addict wrote:The fast tip made the difference between getting the whole bass to the boat or just his Lips......Violent hook set

I would have called those hook sets... porno-hook sets!! They were crazy!

Soo... a "Slow" tip would have been harder to put them in the boat? What makes it slow... or fast?

Craig

cprince wrote:"? What makes it slow... or fast?

Craig

The give in the top 6 or 8 inches of the rod.........But don't take that to the bank .......I'm by no means an Expert

cprince wrote:

Bass Addict wrote: Remember the day I caught THREE nickels in 45 minutes

Never saw the report... must have NEVER HAPPENED!!! (Even if I WAS THERE and TOOK THE PICTURES!!!!)

Ahem...

Craig

Spinning or casting rod?

You'll want a fast tip regardless but you'll probably find that a heavy action casting rod won't get the distance from a smaller lure as well as a heavy action spinning rod.

I use a 7' MH, fast tip casting rod for frogs. It's also a good rod for swimbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and flippin 'jigs (medium cover and edges). I'll use a hi-speed reel for the frog and jigs and will use a slower reel with mono or fluoro for the other stuff.

My .02

Doug

cprince wrote:

Bass Addict wrote: Remember the day I caught THREE nickels in 45 minutes

.. must have NEVER HAPPENED!!! (Even if I WAS THERE and TOOK THE PICTURES!!!!)

Craig

Number 1

Thanks Doug... yes it will be a casting rod.

What about the line weight ratings? Any one pay attention to those?

@ BA... #1... pencil reeds.. on the edge/corner?

Craig

What about the line weight ratings? Any one pay attention to those?

I have 50lb PowerPro but I find it kind of thin for a baitcaster and don't really like it. I'll pick up some 65lb in the spring.

Number 2

My froggin rod is Med. Heavy with an extra fast tip. It is rated for 10-25lbs and I have 65lbs Power Pro on it. And it casts a country mile.

Line ratings for most frog rods are probably going to be between 12-30lbs but that is a mono rating, I believe Shimano rates some rods in braid. I don't really pay too much attention to line rating for frog rods, I pay attention to power/action and lure weight.

I use two frog rods, one is for the heavy slop and one for open water/not so heavy weeds and toads. One of my frog rod is a heavy power extra fast action paired with a 7:1 gear reel spooled with 70lb samurai braid, line rating on it is 15lbs-30lbs (mono). The other is a medium heavy power extra fast action paired with a 6.3:1 reel spooled with 50lbs samurai braid, line rating is 12lbs-25lbs (mono). Both rods are 7'3" in length. I really like an extra fast action for frog rods.

As far as lure rating goes, at the very least use a rod with a max lure rating of 1oz but for me thats a little light. My heavy frog rod has a lure rating of 3/8-2oz and other than frogs it doubles as flipping/pitching/punching rod (this rod is a BEAST!). My Medium heavy frog rod has a lure rating of 1/4-1 1/2oz and other than frogs/toads is also doubles as a flipping/pitching/small swimbait rod but is actually an unbelievably versatile rod (it can handle heavy slop, I just have more confidence in a heavy rod).

On the recommendation of Justin Hoffman, I picked up a Kistler Carbon Steel ($100ish), 7'3" Heavy "Frog'n'Slop" rod for frogs. It casts a frog a LONG way even on 70# Daiwa samurai braid. Hookups are unreal with this thing -- it isn't extra-fast but I'd probably rate it as "fast". Tip is perfectly suited to throwing light frogs but also forgiving enough to not rip too many lips off.

I'd go with something 7'3" or longer, heavy action, fast or x-fast (depends on the backbone too). Lure rating 3/8 (or 1/2oz) to 1 1/4oz or higher. Line rating doesn't mean a ton in this class - you're probably looking at the standard 15-30# rating.

Just about every rod company makes a "frog" specific rod. The "norm" for frog/toad rods is 7'-7'6". Actions range from Med/Heavy to Heavy and most will have a X-Fast tip. The X-Fast tip will launch a frog/toad a mile and allow you to work a frog properly. Normally you do not just straight reel in a frog but work it "walk-the-dog" fashion.
I use two different frog rods. #1 is a 7'3" Heavy X-Fast for frogs. I team this one with a 6:3.1 ratio reel.
#2 is a 7'3" Med/Heavy X-Fast for toads. I use the same reel ratio on this rod as well.
A frog for me is any floating hollow body frog style bait, usually pre rigged with a double hook.
A toad is a solid body chunk of plastic that you rig with a specific frog hook.
I'll go out on a limb here and suggest a Dobyns Champion 735 for toads and a Champion 736 for frogs.
For a little less money you could also look a the Dobyns Savvy 735.
Paddletales has them all.

Number 3