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Old 06-08-12, 07:53 PM   #1
IbeFISHIN
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Default Topwater Frogs

What is the best way to fish a topwater frog? Never really fished em before
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Old 06-08-12, 08:54 PM   #2
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There are tons of videos on youtube that cover the various frogs and methods to frogging. I would suggest checking out the videos on tackle warehouse as well for some awesome info. The basics are popping, walking, chugging, hopping and sometimes the most important part... letting it sit! Make sure you have some heavy duty gear that can handle fishing the places that the frog bite is on and hang on. Happy frogging
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Old 06-08-12, 09:02 PM   #3
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second on the fishing vidieos. take a look at youtube vids buddy.
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Old 06-08-12, 09:42 PM   #4
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All frogs are a tad different some walk some spit n pop really dont matter so long as they eatem,just as different as the frogs each type requires a lil different hookset its a learned thing.Sort of trial and error,braid is a necessity,as is a hefty rod.
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Old 06-08-12, 10:24 PM   #5
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learn to walk em in place.. though in the ponds i fish, half the time they eat the frog mid walk and i miss. I have become obsessed with frogs
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Old 06-09-12, 10:51 AM   #6
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I'm not a froggin' expert by any means, but I'll tell you how I fish frogs. I classify frogs into two categories:


#1 Solid Body Frogs. This means plastics like Zoom Horny Toads or Stanley Ribbit Frogs (2 of my favorites.) I rig them on a 5/0 EWG hook. I feel the Ribbit Frogs work best on a plain hook, while I like a spiral bait keeper on the Horny Toads. The legs provide most of the action on these types of frogs, so you have to keep them moving. If you pause your retrieve they will slowly sink, which occasionally can trigger a strike. Generally a slow and steady "walk-the-dog" retrieve is what I use. They're best around sparse grass or thin mats. They are also deadly fished over submegent weeds. They can even be fished in open water; many strikes occur on the retrieve back to the boat after casting to a weed mat. Solid body frogs also work well in heavy algae blooms - that thick green floating gook that sometimes gets blown into the shallow end of small bays. You can cast them on mats, but that's when I prefer a hollow body frog.

#2 Hollow Body Frogs. These frogs have the hooks built into the lure whereas solid-body frogs usually come in a bag and you supply the hook. I fish Spro Frogs, but there are several brands of hollow body frogs. Hollow body frogs generally have rubber strand legs that don't create as much action as the legs on solid body frogs. You create the action with your rod tip. Dean Rojas sweeps his rod from side to side on his retrieve to create a zig-zag action. Hollow Body Frogs are also the frog you want to use if you are trying to walk your frog in-place. Heavy weed mats are where these frogs excel. Due to their hollow body these frogs sit ontop of weed mats where you can twitch them or use a jerk-stop-jerk retrieve.

One more thing about froggin' in general. When the sun get high in the sky and intense - try the thick weed mats. On cloudy days try frogs over submegent weeds. Some of my best froggin days were in a steady light rain without much wind, basically a light drizzle. Good luck!
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Old 06-09-12, 11:21 AM   #7
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Regardless if a walker or a rat type all floaters require some restraint prior to setting the hook,instead of setting on the commode flush one should point the rod tip in the direction it just went ,reel up then set the hook as in 1,2,3 count,result will mean less missed fish.
Be they ribbets or horny toads sinkers are like a buzzbait strike instantly,so easiest to learn and use are the solid sinkers ribbets or horny toads they also make some floating versions in ribbets but treat the same.I use screwlock hooks on all solid types.
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Old 06-09-12, 05:28 PM   #8
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I love frog fishing and use hollow body frogs. By far my best producers are the Spro Poppin' frog (black widow) and the same frog in a non-poppin' form. Tullies are everywhere out as well as lily pads in some of the places I fish.

When fishing tullies I will throw parallel to them as close as possible and either pop or walk my frog right along the edge of them trying to mimic my frog as if he is looking for shelter within the tullies. For me I follow the same rule as lilmule said: 1,2,3 set. That for me was the hardest part to learn because I get all excited when a bass annihilates one of my frogs. As for what I do I'll follow a pattern of twitch, twitch, pause....2-4 twitches and pause. I would say 9 times out of 10 my hits come while my frog is at a pause. Some say when you make your initial cast to let set in the same spot for up to a minute. If I get a hit and miss the fish I'll try as carefully as possible to leave my frog in the same spot and twitch him around as if he is injured hoping the fish will come back and hit it again. I've had some success with that dependent on how excited I got on the initial hit and if I scared him off.

For the lilies, this is the fun part- I'll cast as deep as I can into them and let my frog (non-poppin') set for a good time while trying to make him act erratic in place to stir up the initial investigation by the fish. Then I'll walk him along the top of the lilies looking for holes in between them so he'll drop off the lily into the water, twitch him around, pause and then hop him back up onto a lily and repeat. This has created bites for me both in the lilies and on the outer edge of the lilies. I have worked my poppin' frog in the same manner and it has produced similar results. Obviously I don't get the pop out of him one the lilies and I'll get a short one from it while in the holes between the pads.

If I don't want to change frogs I'll pop my frog along the edge of the lilies almost in the same manner as I do the tullies only every once and while I'll pull it up on a pad and then drop it off.

EDIT: I also trim the rear skirt/legs down a bit to get a better walking out of them. My Spro's walked well right out of the package, but I got a better action out of them when I trimmed some of it off. Also, they will take on a little water and sit lower in the water; what very few hang ups I've had with my frogs came from this so I simply just started a habit of squeezing my frog and draining it every 3-5 cast. Once you gain confidence in the bait it is a blast to fish them!

As stated a hefty rod, braid and a good reel is indeed needed. As I've regurgitated a few times already on here I use my (Chinese made...errrrr!) Kistler frog, jig and carolina rod with a curado and 50lb braid. I've had no problem winching them out of the lilies and tullies with this set up. I bought the rod strictly for frog fishing (have come to use it as my go to all around set up though) as I made a small investment in frogs 2 years ago.
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Old 06-09-12, 11:21 PM   #9
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Read an article in BASS by Dean Rojas... say he always uses a twitch, twitch, twitch, (3) pause, retrieve.

Mixes up the time of the pause, and distance between pauses depending on the day... let the fish tell ya!
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Old 06-10-12, 10:49 AM   #10
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Thanks for all the help fellas
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Old 06-13-12, 05:03 PM   #11
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Default When all else fails....

If you have tried everything you can think of, before hanging up the frog, try this:
Have a small cigar, that takes about 10 minutes to smoke. Cast out frog. Light cigar. Either smoke it, or let it set on the side of the boat if you don't smoke. Bring frog to open spot. Let it sit, twitch, let it sit. Move it slowly to next open spot, repeat. Your goal is to have the cigar burn down to the point where you would put it out if you are (or were) smoking it, before you finish the retreive.
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Old 06-13-12, 05:48 PM   #12
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Lol I cast 20 times in that amount of time as power fishing using a 1 oz frog make so much commotion you drive anything under 5lbs away,then after you catch a 6 or a 7 then and only then light up a cigar.There is no set pattern of retrieve that works every time,like the perpetual motion machine just doesnt exist.Sometimes slow even twitching but me I like to cover water I run it so fast they have to run to catch it.
Dont forget pink in the pads or around bridges.
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Old 06-14-12, 08:33 AM   #13
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Anyone ever use Bog frogs,(Big bog frog, bog buzz frog,bog musky frog, ect...), or Uncle Josh's Sizmic toads(various sizes)???
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Old 06-14-12, 11:26 AM   #14
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Ive tried several bogs frogs look great,but no takers
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Old 06-14-12, 01:04 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lilmule View Post
Lol I cast 20 times in that amount of time as power fishing using a 1 oz frog make so much commotion you drive anything under 5lbs away,then after you catch a 6 or a 7 then and only then light up a cigar.....
Believe me, I MUCH prefer this type of frogging! The cigar retrieve is strictly the last ditch effort before putting Kermie away.
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Old 06-14-12, 10:06 PM   #16
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Reposting from the Thread "Pictures that speak fish"

I absolutely slayed them Monday morning. It was a beautiful calm morning after 2 days of steady 15-20 mph wind, so I decided to get in the boat and cross the lake to the North shore where the wind had been blowing. I took 3 rods; tied on a swim-jig and a weightless fluke. I was debating what to tie on the third rod: a T-posed worm or a Zoom Horny Toad. I decided on a Horny Toad because there were some isolated weeds where I was headed. I dropped the trolling motor and on my thrid cast I missed a nice bass on the Horny Toad. I had intended to continue along shore to fish a bay, but instead I turned the boat in the opposite direction and decided to fish a long shallow flat. For the next 2 hours I never picked up the swimjig or the weightless fluke. I had a bass hit my horny toad on what seemed like every fourth cast. I caught a half-dozen bass around 18 inches and lost count of the ones smaller ones. When I say smaller, there were a lot of nice bass 14 to 17 inches; and I don't recall catching anything under 13.

I went through 2 full bags of horny toads and the front deck was littered with frogs with the noses so torn up they wouldn't stay on the hook anymore. I need to get something to do some on-the-water soft plastic repair. I think I'm gonna order some "Pro's soft bait glue" and try that ...I've thought about the battery operated soddering iron, but the problem I'm having is that the screw lock pulls out a big chunk of the nose, usually on the first hook-set. There is enough of the nose left to re-attach the screwlock, but after a couple more hook-sets the nose is completely torn up.
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Old 06-14-12, 10:15 PM   #17
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I use a lighter
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Old 06-14-12, 11:13 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
Anyone ever use Bog frogs,(Big bog frog, bog buzz frog,bog musky frog, ect...), or Uncle Josh's Sizmic toads(various sizes)???
Tried both. I didn't have any luck with either. Although I do like the bog frogs.

Iowa I feel your pain. I probably have 100 Horny Toads that need repaired.
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Old 06-15-12, 01:21 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
Anyone ever use Bog frogs,(Big bog frog, bog buzz frog,bog musky frog, ect...), or Uncle Josh's Sizmic toads(various sizes)???
FWIW, I LOVE Sizmic toads, especially the floating ones. slip through weeds great, feet make a good amount of commotion. Only downside is they are a bit light, so not quite so easy to cast.
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Old 06-15-12, 02:41 PM   #20
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I am a big fan of the Hard Leg Frogz by Z-Man. They can actually float a weighted hook, which is nice because when you cast the frog out, you don't have to worry about the shank of the hook being on top during the retrieve. Another benefit of them is that you can retrieve them and then pause, and the bait floats. They are super durable and I believe they come 3 to a pack; however, those three have outlasted multiple packs of Rage Tail Frogs and Ribbitz.

The only negative with them, as I find is typical with Z-Man plastics, is that they are so tough it is difficult to skin hook them and feel confident that the point of the hook will come out of the plastic. Anyone else found a way to circumvent this?
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Old 06-16-12, 07:43 AM   #21
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FWIW??? Good to hear though, Uncle Josh's are a helluva lot cheaper than Bog's, and they make some big ones(8"). I really like my Case frog's, cheap, relatively durable, float, but they start to sink after a few cast.
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Old 06-16-12, 10:56 AM   #22
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I've been reading all of this post and find I agree with pretty much everything so far. I did want to add something here in regard to the proper retrieve of the frog. Obviously it varies and mostly I use subtle twitches and pauses and try walking the frog in place, etc. But, try this some time. Last time I was on the water, I was getting interrest in my hollow body frog made by Live Target. Thanks to my secret Santa! Anyways, The bass were comming up and swatting at it, but not taking it. I was using the normal twtch twitch twitch pause retrieve. I decided to try something else. I cast the frog out, let it sit a few seconds, and then started a hard fast jerk jerk jerk retrieve, really splashing the frog around on the water with gusto. The bass simply unloaded on it. So if your only getting moderate interrest with your frog, start working it like your trying to wake up the weedbed.
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Old 06-16-12, 11:52 PM   #23
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Quote:
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I've been reading all of this post and find I agree with pretty much everything so far. I did want to add something here in regard to the proper retrieve of the frog. Obviously it varies and mostly I use subtle twitches and pauses and try walking the frog in place, etc. But, try this some time. Last time I was on the water, I was getting interrest in my hollow body frog made by Live Target. Thanks to my secret Santa! Anyways, The bass were comming up and swatting at it, but not taking it. I was using the normal twtch twitch twitch pause retrieve. I decided to try something else. I cast the frog out, let it sit a few seconds, and then started a hard fast jerk jerk jerk retrieve, really splashing the frog around on the water with gusto. The bass simply unloaded on it. So if your only getting moderate interrest with your frog, start working it like your trying to wake up the weedbed.
I have had similar success "burning" my Kopper's and R2S frogs...discovered completely by accident when reeling in for another toss, burned it back to the boat BAM! thought it was a fluke, but after another unsuccessful "normal" retrieve, burned it back again, BAM! another fish. These weren't large fish, more like dink schoolers, but any fish is better than no fish.
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Old 06-17-12, 12:40 AM   #24
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THanks for all the help guys i have caught a couple of nice 4 pounders on the frog after tryin all these methods.
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Old 06-17-12, 05:24 AM   #25
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THanks for all the help guys i have caught a couple of nice 4 pounders on the frog after tryin all these methods.
What kind of frog did you end up throwing?
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