have you been losing bass on the various double hook frogs ?

[gooseman]

I'm brand new here..(.Been bassfishing for 35+ years in clubs and state level tournaments)so hello to everyone ! >Nice to have found this type of forum for serious discussions ,where we can be honest and sraightforward, and really help each other to hone and tweak our techniques, so we can all become better fishermen.
> That said, on to something that's been on my mind and many of my fishing partners...losing fish once they're hooked on the now nearly countless number of double hook rigged topwater frogs...including the most popular ones with the pros, like the venerable Spro/Rojas frogs.
>Have any of you come up with serious modifications to solve the problem ??

[bcklash]

Welcome Goose, I saw a show the other day where Dean Rojas actually bends the hooks up a little to help his hookups.

[joedog]

Welcome to the forum Goose.
I think pro reel just sat down with Rojas I believe he has some good posts that relate directly to your/our delemia.
Like bcklash mentioned, bend up and some also bend outwards.
I'm confident someone will help finding the posts. I would but I'm not the sharpest hook in this tackle box!
Good fishing gooseman and I look forward to learning from you.

[kennethdaysale]

Hey Goose welcome. I'm assuming that with 35 yrs experience your mechanics and equipment are right for froggin. I've been doing it for about the same time, here's a couple of things that have helped me. Use what you can and leave the rest. First I almost always use either a soft plastic or hollow frog, if its soft plastic it's one of the ones that will float the hook. (Z-man ETC) I use ewg worm hooks not double hooks in a lighter wire type than most people would endorse but it works well for me given the hook set/equip I employ. I keep my rod at about 10 oclock and when a fish hits my frog I drop my rod and simply think of it as a worm bite and proceed accordingly. I think the problem a lot of people have with a frog bite is nerves/excitement, I mean who doesn't want to set the hook when they see that strike and hear that splash. If you could see/hear a fish slam your worm in 10 ft of water you'd prob get the same # of missed or unbuttoned fish. Anyway that's just how I roll with a frog most of the time and my ratio of boated fish has improved a lot. Hope that helped and good luck. Where do you fish?

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by joedog

Welcome to the forum Goose.
I think pro reel just sat down with Rojas I believe he has some good posts that relate directly to your/our delemia.
Like bcklash mentioned, bend up and some also bend outwards.
I'm confident someone will help finding the posts. I would but I'm not the sharpest hook in this tackle box!
Good fishing gooseman and I look forward to learning from you.

Click here to see the post I think joedog is referring to, and welcome to the site, gooseman!

[joedog]

Thx WatterBoy!

[gooseman]

Originally Posted by kennethdaysale

Hey Goose welcome. I'm assuming that with 35 yrs experience your mechanics and equipment are right for froggin. I've been doing it for about the same time, here's a couple of things that have helped me. Use what you can and leave the rest. First I almost always use either a soft plastic or hollow frog, if its soft plastic it's one of the ones that will float the hook. (Z-man ETC) I use ewg worm hooks not double hooks in a lighter wire type than most people would endorse but it works well for me given the hook set/equip I employ. I keep my rod at about 10 oclock and when a fish hits my frog I drop my rod and simply think of it as a worm bite and proceed accordingly. I think the problem a lot of people have with a frog bite is nerves/excitement, I mean who doesn't want to set the hook when they see that strike and hear that splash. If you could see/hear a fish slam your worm in 10 ft of water you'd prob get the same # of missed or unbuttoned fish. Anyway that's just how I roll with a frog most of the time and my ratio of boated fish has improved a lot. Hope that helped and good luck. Where do you fish?

hey kenneth, Thanks for your interest. I guess i didn't state it clearly,but i was talking about losing fish on the hollow double hook frogs that cost around 9 bucks each....NOT the ones that you rig yourself, like 10 per bag etc.
>There are no QUALITY frogs that I know of that are made with a single hook. Kangi makes one,but it's not a good one.
> the double hook set up just doesn't seem to penetrate deeply and obviously divides your hookset force in half. Just stop and think of how many times you've EVER seen one of those double hook hooks penetrate through to come out the OUTSIDE of a fish's mouth,like happens with a jig & chunk or with a spinnerbait...you know what I mean ??!!
> and yes I'm using braid and a big frog stick.
I lived in Monks Corner awhile...loved fishin' Santee Cooper ! Now I'm back here in Illinois and fish Indiana and Michigan too...smallmouth fishin' is hard to beat !

[kennethdaysale]

No goose you said it right, I just thought you wanted to boat more frog fish. I have used those expensive double hook frogs and they sure look good in the water and get a lot of attention from the fish and fishermen. Even when throwing those I did mange to bump my catch ratio by letting them take the frog down (and yes i tweaked the hooks every which a way)............just in my world (i'm never on TV...don't have sponsors etc) I just want to BOAT fish period so the bulk floating frogs that I rig with the single wide gap and the worm bite mentality I've adopted just flat works for me. I will add that most frog presentations look like nothing more than a buzzbait to the fish. Buzzbaits and frogs will always have a little higher unbutton rate than other stuff just based on their design

Ps if indeed no QUALITY" frogs come with single hooks and tandum hooks are inferiour...then maybe someones definition of quality needs adjustment.......seems like a conundrum

[keithdog]

Welcome to the site first and foremost. Glad to have you aboard. As for your question, I don't often loose any bass when fishing the floating frogs, like the Spro, Bobby Perfect Frog and the others. I have several diiferent ones. The poppin frog from Spro for whatever reason seems to have the highest hookup ratio for me. It sound like you and I use the same type of gear. My only suggestion would be to use a slow resonse when settting the hook. By that I mean, once the bass hits your frog, don't be in a hurry to set the hook. Once a bass strikes my frog I slowly reel in the line till it's tight, pull to feel the weight of the bass and only then do I set the hook hard. If the bass has the bait I don't often miss.

[lilmule]

A floating frog takes a different hookset than say a ribbet or horney toad,one hears or sees the splash or explosion,one should not react point rod down to one side count 1,2 ,3,reel up and side sweep all taking about 3 sec.
I did lose some a problem I had this year was one hook inside mouth other out and tending to snag roots of lilly pads,other than that no problems.7ft med heavy rod or heavy,mod fast tip not a fast tip,limber first 6 in then backbone or one wont get 4plus out of the jungle with 45-50 lb braid.Many brands wont alk right side to side without 50 lb braid,spro being one of them.The spro popin frog is much easier to learn a cadence to.Bobbys perfect will walk with 45,as bully wa or sumo.