Missing on Frogs

[huskiesplayer15]

Ok here is my dillema, I lost 5 or 6 good fish in the lillies last night, as soon as they hit, I would wait to feel wait and slam it home, I use snag-proof tournament series frod either in the big version and the smaller one, plus a lure called a wiggle wog, I have a 7 foot extra heavy action flipping rod rigged 30 pound iron silk, with a daiwa reel, with a fairly low gear ratio. Which I thought was better for leverage, I would have the fish on for a little while and just lose them, so what am I doing wrong or was it just a bad night?
Best Fishes
Chris

[SCUMFROG]

That used to happen to me also. I found that if you don't yank it so hard the bass will hook them selfs when they fell the frog trying to get away from them. They'll yank hard and you got them. My hookset went up 80%.

[huskiesplayer15]

So pretty much tighten the line and let the fishes weight do the work and then bring em to the surface? Thanks Scumfrog.
Best Fishes
chris

[SCUMFROG]

Yeah that's about right. good luck and let me know if that helps you out.

[Granny]

No expert, but from my experience set the hook hard! I use 50lb Power Pro and a heavy 7' rod. Keep the rod tip high and when you see or hear the fish hit, drop your rod tip down and give it a split second. Then set the hook hard! Keeping the rod tip high will force you to drop it in order to set the hook. This usully gives you that split second pause you need. I would think you would want a faster reel in this case. The hard hook set will get the fish coming your way. The faster reel will keep its head up and get the fish to the boat fast. I keep my drag as tight as it will go and just crank them in. Make sure your not working it too fast. If your having a lot of strikes but not many hook ups, try slowing down a little. I am still in the learning stages myself, but I taught the wife-to-be how to fish frogs this year and she has done really good.

Good luck,

Granny

[RandyFish]

There are other with a heckuva lot more experience with hooking setting scummers than me, but here's one observation:

I started checking for hook sharpness before every use. If the hooks felt even a little dull, I would sharpen them.

Wet weeds seem to dull those large hooks quickly.

Since doing this, I have noticed more "lip hooked" fish than I used to get.

You may already be doing this, but I thought it worth a mention.

RandyFish

[DAD-N-EYE]

I do the same thing that you do Granny. But I use tuff line. I just give them 1-2 seconds then set as hard as I can. You dont have to be afraid of breaking your line cause it is 50lb. If I miss the fish I throw back the frog and about 85% of the time they will hit again, if you dont hook them or if they miss the frog.

Tracey

[BigMike]

A lot of good advice here already.

If you are fishing the pads and losing fish, I'm assuming two things 1. The hook isn't fully set or 2. You aren't keeping heavy tension on your line.

#1. To explain the first one, I think you problem might be that you are using mono. Iron silk is great, but mono stretches... A LOT. I would try switching to a braided line. Because of the stretch, you are really going to have to CRANK that hookset to get a good set. That is why the pros have those huge hooksets, it's because they are using mono a lot of the time.

#2 For the second thing you may want to work on keeping your rod tip real high and just cranking them out with your reel power vs. lowering & raising your rodtip to drag them out. Any sort of slack (especially in the thick stuff) is going to mean loosing your fish. There are just too many reasons to mention why any sign of slack in the line will result in loosing your fish.

When I fish the thick stuff, I set the hook just like I normally set my hook but make sure to get my rod high and keep it there. And if they aren't on top of the thick stuff after I set the hook, I crank them to the top and all the way to the boat if at all possible. As a last resort, sometimes your fish may just get so wound up in the thick stuff that you may just need to motor in and get him out.

Good luck!

[Vman]

I have an old Strike king plastic frog for casing in the pads and walking over heavy weed cover. What frogs are you guys using?

[BigMike]

Scumfrogs, regular and trophy series.

How do you guys like the trophy series (the one with skirted legs)? I haven't been too impressed, I've had a few fish, but not as many as I thought I would have by now.

[sami0115]

tournament frog w/owner hooks. so far has worked real well.

[SCUMFROG]

I like the bigger scums the legs have good action. And they sit just like a real frog would in the water.

[Vman]

Cool. I'll be on a mission after work to get me a scumfrog.

Thanks for the help.

[SCUMFROG]

Hay now don't be coming after me.. LOL. Gander had them on sale, I don't know if they still do. I have almost 2 of every color.

[Vman]

well I found me a scumfrog last night after work..no not The Scumfrog..and caught a nice one on it the first time out. can't wait to hit hard this weekend.

[Tom Wilson]

Chris,
I don't want to come off sounding like I know everything, because I don't, but three things you said above triggered this response. Everybody fishes differently, but here is my take...
1) Get rid of that line. I use power pro, but I used to use mono for this same purpose. I am not telling you to leave mono behind, but I am definitely telling you that Iron Silk has to be the worst line I think Berkely ever made. Yeah it's tough, but has more memory and is so stiff its absolutely terrible. You would be far better off with 20lb XT--or yes 30lb power pro.
2) You have to give that fish a second after the initial strike, but you don't necessarily have to wait until you feel the fishes weight. I have found that it is timing more than being sure the weight is there before the hookset. If you are fishing really thick stuff, that fish might slow down enough for the weeds to provide enough resistance that you won't feel the weight, then while waiting for that feeling the fish will spit out your frog. I have improved my hook ups over the years by just giving it a count of one and then breaking their face (you can not baby the hookset when your sloppin'). There is no way around it--you will miss fish when your frogging, but timing is everything.
3) I noticed also, you said you were using a low speed reel. You need to get you a good high speed reel. You want to be able to get that fish on top of the water and literally drag him to the boat, not fight him to the boat. You at least have to get him to the edge of the deeper water before you try to play him out. This is almost impossible with a slower reel, because the fish can swim a whole lot faster than you can reel.

If you'll try a couple of these things I promise you--your hookups and fish numbers will improve.
Good Luck

[EBass]

I didn't read everyones posts, but I use a 7'6" med.heavy rod. I find that I can cast that light weight frog farther than a 7' rod. I also have a slow gear ratio reel 5.2:1 and haven't had any issues yet. But I think the long rod makes up for the slow retrieve. Not trying to top you Tom it's just what I have, but I do agree on the 50lb Power Pro. That line rocks, and the price keeps going up.

Oh yeah just give them 1 split second - that's all. Oh here's one more tip, crimp down the barbs on the dual hooks. The bass engulf the bait and it's so much easier getting the hooks out when the barbs aren't sticking their fleshy throat or upper mouth ripping a hole on said bass. As long as you keep pressue on the fish she won't toss the lure, then you won't have to have her out of the water for mins trying to get two hooks out that's buried in the fleshly mouth. Granted I'm not fishing for $$ but I've had some major frustrations when they get it deep.

I hope that helps just my .02

[This message has been edited by EBass (edited 07-15-2004).]

[huskiesplayer15]

Thanks guys, i went out and bought an ambasseuder 6500 wiht a 6:3:1 ratio, see how it works tomorrow.
Best Fishes
chris

[EBass]

Tom, I now agree with a high speed reel. I had a little 15" bass on topwater and was reeling like a mad man keeping it on top, but it still got me hung up on a pad that I had to go in the pads to get it. If I had a high speed reel I would've gained more and skiied that puppy all the way in. Oh well, more stuff to buy

[Corey Bechtold]

I'm sure you will like the high speed reel. The way I see it is you can always reel slower if you have to but if you are maxed out then you're SOL. You'll love the Abu also.