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Old 07-04-12, 09:23 AM   #1
AUFred
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Default Looking for advice on hollow body frogs.

They seem to be the craze and BPS has dedicated half an aisle to the things. I have fished them and never caught a fish yet. I have had plenty of vicious strikes I just cannot seem to hook up. I love fishing topwater and have caught plenty of bass on the old Harrison Hogue frogs but the hollow bodies elude me.
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Old 07-04-12, 09:32 AM   #2
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This may not be YOUR particular problem - but a common one is setting the hook too soon. A lot of anglers react to the strike by setting the hook - with a frog you really need to wait a couple seconds and it's not easy to do - supressing your reaction takes a bit of consious effort. After the strike wait and if it was a solid strike you will feel the weight of the fish as you take up slack - that's the time to set the hook, feel the weight and set hard (another reason for a stout rod & braid) as those frog hooks are heavy wire and there are two to get burried.

The other tip that may help - bend both hooks slightly upward. Out of the package most hooks are below the top of the frog and pointed straight forward. Bending them upward, just a little, gets them pointed up and away from the frog body on hookset and towards the fish's roof of the mouth. I like mine with the hook points just below the top of the frog, you really don't want the hooks above the body as the reduces the "snag proof" (what a plug) capabilities of the lure.
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Old 07-04-12, 09:44 AM   #3
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Those Harrison Hogue frogs have caught a lot of bass for me too! And due to their design, hookups are easier. But you should have no trouble hooking up with hollow bodied frogs, although their hookup rate will probably be a little less that the Harrison Houge. I don't know what type of gear your using, but a long stout baitcast rod with 40-50 pound braid definately is a good way to go. I have a 7'3" heavy, extra fast rod for my froggin and the Revo is filled with 50# Performance braid. When the bass hits your frog, often it will miss, and if you set the hook right away, you will yank it from the bass. So when the bass strikes your frog, sit still for a couple seconds and start reeling in line to make it tight for the hookset. You will by then be able to tell if the bass actually has your frog because you will feel the weight of the bass pulling your rod. If you don't, the frog is still sitting there. Twitching it again will often cause the bass to engulf it immediately as he is probably just under your lure watching to see if whatever it was he tried to eat is still there. Once you feel the tension and know the bass has your frog in his mouth, set the hook HARD on a tight line. The frogs body is going to ball up inside the basses mouth and so hookset will require more force to penetrate the hooks into the mouth. One last little tip that definately helps. Take a pair of plyers and grasp the hook right behind the barb and carefully bend them up and away from the frog body leaving just a little gap between the body of the frog and the hook point. Not too much though. Just a slight gap is really all you need. This helps tremendously in allowing the hooks to bypass the lures body and reach the basses mouth.

I see bassboogieman beat me to the punch. hahaha Happy 4th guys.
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Old 07-04-12, 11:56 AM   #4
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I'm fairly new the the hollow body frog craze. I originally assumed they were best suited for thick cover such as pads and duckweed type grass. We don't have much of that around here, so I just stuck with other topwater baits.Last year I fished with a guy that used spro frogs in open water in the same areas I would fish any topwater bait. I got schooled. Don't know if thats a word but he taught me a lesson. Anyway, since then i bought several and found that there are a lot of variables to them. Most of them need to be tweaked in some way to be effective. I found that most guys bend the hooks out and up a bit. They also add weights and rattles or trim the tails a bit to help them get the walking action that makes them effective. Even after trying all that, I still had to work hard to get the walk that triggers strikes. I was hooking most of the bass that hit the bait, so the bending of the hooks a bit and waiting for the tug helped, but I still needed to get better with the action. recently, Tony showed me a new frog he had bought. It was the jackle Iobee. he heard that it walked easier than any other frog. He loved it and showed me that it did indeed walk very easy and caught fish also. Tony has at least one of every frog on the market. So when he said it was the easiest to use, I had to try it. He let me try his for awhile and i was amazed. That thing walks better than any I have used and the action is great. I now have several myself. They are pricey at $12 something each, but they look to be the best quality and you don't need to mod them at all.
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Old 07-04-12, 12:29 PM   #5
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I have a about 8 spro frogs and 3 or 4 tru-tungsten frogs. I, like many others, had to teach myself to slow down on the hook set. You'll commonly see a suggestion of- Strike, 1, 2, 3, set the hook. If I miss a bite I'll attempt to twitch my frog as if he is injured. My thought process is the first strike may be a disabling/injuring strike and then he'll circle around and hit again. This has been a hit and miss tactic. The only mod I've made to my frogs (not all of them) is trimming the skirts a 1/4 to 1/2 inch. By far my favorite is the Spro Poppin' frog in black widow.

Like Keith said the proper rod and line will make a difference. I fish 'em on a Kistler frog/jig/carolina rod in 7' MH/F with 50lb braid. Once I got the proper mindset for frog fishing I probably miss one out of 5 and that one is usually my first strike of the day.

Good luck and have fun with them!
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Old 07-04-12, 01:15 PM   #6
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Thanks guys. The pond I will fish Saturday the strikes are extremely vicious but I guess I am not allowing enough time for a good hook set. I have added a stinger weedless hook to some to try to help.
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Old 07-04-12, 09:35 PM   #7
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I have a hell of a time waiting the correct amount of time. Just goes against everything I know! I have to consciously try and remind my self to wait. For some reason, bending the hooks up never occurred to me. That is a great idea.
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Old 07-04-12, 10:42 PM   #8
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it took me a while, well i still do it alot now, to wait for the right time to set the hook too. it always seems like the FIRST hit is the hardest to actually HOOK it right. reaction is a devil sometimes. i TRY to wait 1 second before i set the hook. sometimes i wait too long, sometimes not long enough. keep at it my friend.

and i will now try the bent up hooks too. maybe that will help.
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Old 07-04-12, 10:45 PM   #9
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As Kevin said, I have a lot of different frogs. I can say without hesitation that to date the best I have used for walking type presentation and hook-up ratio is the Iobee Frog by Jackal. The frog walks as easily as a spook, the rubber is soft and the hooks are sharp. They are a little more expensive than some of the other popular frogs, but if you have the chance pick one up and give it a try, I think you will be very happy with it's performance.

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Old 07-04-12, 11:04 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tavery5 View Post
As Kevin said, I have a lot of different frogs. I can say without hesitation that to date the best I have used for walking type presentation and hook-up ratio is the Iobee Frog by Jackal. The frog walks as easily as a spook, the rubber is soft and the hooks are sharp. They are a little more expensive than some of the other popular frogs, but if you have the chance pick one up and give it a try, I think you will be very happy with it's performance.
If I remember correctly, aren't these frogs advertised to not need any tuning right out of the package? Have you found that to be the case or do you still trim the legs and bend the hooks out?

I've looked at these frogs at BPS but haven't picked one up yet. I will have to add them to my list.

One other tip that I actually picked up from you Tav, is to tie a loop knot in your braid when fishing frogs. I already did it with other topwater baits but it helps a lot when walking frogs too. Also, to me, the rod movement required to walk a frog with braid is different than what it takes to walk a Spook with mono. Play with different retrieves and slack line "jerks" to see if you can impart different actions.
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Old 07-05-12, 12:51 AM   #11
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Hollow bodied frogs is one of the hardest baits to have a high hook up percentage with. There is just too many things working against you to not miss at least a few fish. Like was said earlier, bending the hooks up a little bit will help the hook points clear the body of the frog and as a result you will hook a lot more fish than if you just leave them as is out of the package. I also trim the legs up so that it's easier to walk. However I don't have a rod that is designated to frogs so the rod I am using for them right now is the same rod that I use to pitch really heavy stuff and the rod tip isn't soft enough to get the frog to walk easily.

As a disclaimer I should point out that all the frogs I use right now are Spro frogs, so everything I said above is based on my experience with them. The frog that Tony posted looks and sounds like a great frog that will fix a lot of the problems associated with frogs, I will have to pick a few of them up and see if I like them better.
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Old 07-05-12, 09:48 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jrob78 View Post
If I remember correctly, aren't these frogs advertised to not need any tuning right out of the package? Have you found that to be the case or do you still trim the legs and bend the hooks out?

I've looked at these frogs at BPS but haven't picked one up yet. I will have to add them to my list.

One other tip that I actually picked up from you Tav, is to tie a loop knot in your braid when fishing frogs. I already did it with other topwater baits but it helps a lot when walking frogs too. Also, to me, the rod movement required to walk a frog with braid is different than what it takes to walk a Spook with mono. Play with different retrieves and slack line "jerks" to see if you can impart different actions.
Jrob, I have not done anything to the ones I have, just took them out of the box and fished them. The legs on the Iobee frog are made of rubber and not silicone, I don't know if it helps with the walking, but it does have a different look in the water.
I tried these both with a loop knot and tieing direct to the bait, works well both ways.

The one downside to these frogs are that they will pick up a little more weeds/moss on the hooks, I think it is because they are made with a hook that is a little more open to start with. In my mind it is a good trade off for the action that I am able to achieve with these frogs.

For me to fish a frog well requires a setup that is tuned for frogs. The rod I use is a 7ft MH / F St. Croix Avid, the power feels more on the heavy side to me, the reel is a 7.1:1 Revo STX and the line is 60lbs Vicious Braid.

To get the frog to walk, I have to leave more slack in the line than what you would normally think, then a jerk jerk jerk action with rod, all the while taking up just enough slack so that it leaves enough for the frog to walk well. Took me a few times before I got it down perfect, but now I feel like Dean would be proud.

You should pick one up and give it a try, let me know what you think.
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Old 07-05-12, 09:59 AM   #13
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like everybody said or hinted at wait till you feel the pull on the line and not a second sooner. And believe me its tough tough
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Old 07-05-12, 10:45 AM   #14
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I think Tavery hit the nail on the head when he referenced needing more slack in your line than you would think to get a frog to work properly. The lake I fish predominately is COVERED in grass and slop, so hollow bodied frogs are a staple in my fishing.

I have found that by allowing more slack and getting the frog to walk better, it has also helped me with my hooksets, as the extra slack seems to allow the fish to take the frog better before my excitement gets the best of me with the hookset. For the longest time, I had my line too tight when working the bait, and therefore not only was I not walking the frog as efficiently as I could, I was also missing some fish due to pure excitement on the hookset. My 2 cents, anyway.
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Old 07-05-12, 01:39 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tavery5 View Post
For me to fish a frog well requires a setup that is tuned for frogs. The rod I use is a 7ft MH / F St. Croix Avid, the power feels more on the heavy side to me, the reel is a 7.1:1 Revo STX and the line is 60lbs Vicious FC.
Did you mean to say that? If so, that is very interesting and something i've never heard before.
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Old 07-05-12, 01:57 PM   #16
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Like working a spook heavier line to make it walk in the case of the floater hollow body frog-braid 45-50 lb min to walk somewhat depending upon brand.
When you see a strike point rod in direction fish was headed reel up then set hook,like 1.2.3.Non floaters like horny toads and ribbets treat just like any other bait strike quickly.
Since your having difficulty with the floaters try the toads n ribbets.
I dont bend anything every so often do get some with long skirts and trim 1/2 off with scissors,other wise as out of the box.
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Old 07-05-12, 05:20 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jrob78 View Post
Did you mean to say that? If so, that is very interesting and something i've never heard before.

Good catch JRob, it should read braid.
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Old 07-05-12, 05:52 PM   #18
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Quote:
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Good catch JRob, it should read braid.
Hahaha, that's what I thought but wanted to make sure. I've been wrong before.....once.
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Old 07-07-12, 05:40 PM   #19
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I did finally catch one today on a Spro frog. Connected with another until he ran me under tree and managed to break-off. Really hard not to swing on the strike.
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Old 07-09-12, 01:02 AM   #20
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Decided I needed to upgrade from a 6'-0 Med Hvy action rod. After looking around BPS it dawned on me to re-look through what I already have. I found a 6'-6 Med Hvy rod I think will work well.
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Old 07-10-12, 05:09 AM   #21
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Default Live target frog!!!!

I just tried the live target hollow body frog for the first time on my favorite river and I pulled out some quality bass. I have fished this river for a long time, and usually texas rig a creature bait or worm... and sometimes flip a jig and do pretty well but i catch a lot of small bass with a few decent size ones...There is a lot of frogs around the river so i decided to give it a try so i got my frog set up (7'9 Frog rod from Shimano, Shimano curado 201E7 reel, 65lb braid and a few live target frogs i picked up from BassPro. All I gotta say is this frog eliminated all the small bass... Nothing was under 2-3lbs! the profile picture i have is a bass i caught on the frog which was right about 5lbs.. You have to be patient though!!! I learned really quickly not to let my emotion take over and wait about 2 seconds before you set the hook once the bass has submerged the frog under water.. I wade the river and i was catching them everywhere possible... 1-2feet of water to about 4-6feet. And this frog is completely weedless!!!! I was able to skip it underneath bushes and all this junk where the big ones were hiding from the Arizona heat.. And they would just hammer this frog.. Once i threw it so deep into cover i lost sight of the frog but i heard a SMACK!!! Sounded like a beaver or some creature got a hold of this thing... Sure enough when in doubt swing away and i hooked a nice 4pounder.. This is the most fun i have had on the river and my buddy could not believe the quality of fish i was pulling in while he kept pulling in baby ones with his rapala crank..
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Old 07-15-12, 05:51 PM   #22
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Been following this for awhile waiting for someone to bring this up.

http://bassjunkiesfishingaddiction.b...iler-hook.html

Didn't see it so I'll ask,
Whos used it?
What do you think?
Does it snag surface grass or other vegetation?
What do you think of the price?

I'm a frogger.
Got most every hollow body ever made, seems that way anyway. Ya even a couple of furbits and ya my go too MOTO FROGS!
Get this, got one that even croaks when retrieved (kind of a high buck one too)and a fluking BIRD shaped one.

Love my Ribbets too!

Why you say, 'plead insanity'!
But at the start I really think it was the elusive hook set that actually HOOKED me.
I tweak most, bend out hooks (got here), add rattles I even expermented with trying to replace stock hooks.

It was that huge 'spit in your face' surface HIT!
It was like the bass telling me, "Hey we're down here enjoying the shade and the last thing a want is some noisey frog disturbing me"
Anthropomorphism
Heck I missed so many in the beginning I was starting to believe this as fact, kind of like a bass guarding his nest type of thing.
Now I won't ever get one (never say never) because the misses actually add to the fun and challenge for me (crazy huh). Add the hook ups are pretty good now, still miss my share (sometimes that fish miscalculates and just pops the belly of the frog, I've seen them pop them litterally 5-6 ft in the air).
Anyways this hook seems like a good idea and once out if good the price should go down and I know thier is more than one 'angler ' who has the skills to rig something like this up themselves.
Just thought I'd throw it in.
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Old 07-15-12, 05:58 PM   #23
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I've seen those and wondered about them too Joe. It seems like a great idea. I am curious if anyone has used them too.

Also, has anyone used the Snag Proof Ish's Phat Frog? From the reviews I've read, it's really good but I can't say as I've ever heard from anyone here who's used one.
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Old 07-15-12, 09:34 PM   #24
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That trailer hook just looks to me like a lily pad magnet. I'm sure it would help on hookups, but it's just the opposite of "weedless."
Speaking about Ish's Phat Frog, I think Kevin mentioned them in a newsletter thing I signed up for a while back. I think he'd originally planned on that newsletter being a regular thing, but I've only ever gotten 1. Anyway, he seemed to really like that frog. If I remember right, one section of the body is fully enclosed, which means there's absolutely no water intrusion to weigh it down, and you won't need to squeeze it out every few casts like the Spro frogs.
I'm going to look and see if I'm right about that email.....


EDIT: Yes, I was right....Kevin does think that Ish's frog is a lot better than the Spro.
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Old 07-15-12, 10:30 PM   #25
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I am a complete amateur with frogs as compared to others.

I have about one weeks worth of experience and have used the original scum frog in green and white colors on a farm pond that is about 20% covered with moss on one end of it. Both colors work fabulously on this pond. I probably missed my first 5-6 hits because I got so excited, but slowly over the last week I have gotten better about waiting 2-3 seconds and setting the hook with a more vertical action.

In addition I have used a Koppers frog in flourescent green. It is a beautiful frog and much more detailed than the scum frog. My best luck in moss based on just one week is with the scum frog. As time goes on, and I get more experience with both, this may change.

The $4 scum frog appears like a bargain.
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