Hollowbody frog.. what am I doing wrong? 2024
Chughes37 reply :
I'm still a fishing rookie, I've learned how to walk a spook, but frog fishing has been BY FAR my biggest challenge. My current frog set up is a 7ft Heavy rod, 50 lbs braid, 8.1:1 reel. I can't walk it to save my life. And I'm still failing to set the hook. I've been using booyah pad crashers
Is my baitcaster too fast? I can walk a spook just fine but I'm using a 7.1:1 so I figured the technique is similar. Any tips to walk and setting the hook?
CTBassin860 reply :
Your reel is fine.I use an 8.1:1 as well. Some lures are harder to walk then others. With the Pad Crasher i use a semi slack line and very light tugs to walk it. When setting the hook it's your reaction to set when it gets hit. When your frog goes under and you feel the weight of the fish,set the hook hard straight back.
MichaelCopeland reply :
I use a Booyah pad crasher too and I can't walk it either. I watched several videos on YouTube about it but still can't do it. They say with the frogs to do it like tapping a drum with shorter strokes than you do with bigger baits on slack line. I'm a drummer and still can't do it...lol. I was finally able to walk my Stutter Step but haven't had any bites on it yet.
Chughes37 reply :
I also tried the sebile pivot frog and couldn't do much with it. Practice practice practice I guess
d-camarena reply :
Get a poppin pad crasher. If you cant walk it at least you can pop it lol
Chughes37 reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:08 PM, d-camarena said:Get a poppin pad crasher. If you cant walk it at least you can pop it lol
I have! Lmao I haven't had any strikes with the poppin pad crasher yet
MichaelCopeland reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:08 PM, d-camarena said:Get a poppin pad crasher. If you cant walk it at least you can pop it lol
I'm thinking of going that route...lol. Harder to walk those smaller baits and poppin them ain't that hard...lol.
hunterPRO1 reply :
i use pad crashers,
imo theyre one of the easier frogs to set a hook with, and they walk decently.
you dont have to walk it for fish to bite, a soft twitch and stop type movement will do fine.
have you trimmed the "legs" ? if not trim them to be the same length as the frog.
MichaelCopeland reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:01 PM, MassBassin508 said:Your reel is fine.I use an 8.1:1 as well. Some lures are harder to walk then others. With the Pad Crasher i use a semi slack line and very light tugs to walk it. When setting the hook it's your reaction to set when it gets hit. When your frog goes under and you feel the weight of the fish,set the hook hard straight back.
My rod is a 6'6" medium fast spinning with 6.2:1 reel and 50lb spectra braid. Can walking a frog be accomplished with this setup?
d-camarena reply :
Dont get to caught up on walking them. Most of my strikes come on the pause after i pop them. If you cant walk them just drag it about half a foot or so then let it sit and repeat. Doesnt have to walk perfect as long as its moving. Ive caught fish just reeling it in. Id recommend to you the stanley ribbit, just cast and retrieve. The legs do the action
On 7/9/2017 at 12:13 PM, MichaelCopeland said:My rod is a 6'6" medium fast spinning with 6.2:1 reel and 50lb spectra braid. Can walking a frog be accomplished with this setup?
Yes you can, the problem would be that when you get a strike that rod may not have the backbone needed to set the hook and get him out of cover fast. In open water you are fine but i wouldnt fish a medium rod near cover
CTBassin860 reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:08 PM, d-camarena said:Get a poppin pad crasher. If you cant walk it at least you can pop it lol
Im loving the popping crasher myself.
d-camarena reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:18 PM, MassBassin508 said:Im loving the popping crasher myself.
That is all i use. I can walk and pop it.
MichaelCopeland reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:15 PM, d-camarena said:Dont get to caught up on walking them. Most of my strikes come on the pause after i pop them. If you cant walk them just drag it about half a foot or so then let it sit and repeat. Doesnt have to walk perfect as long as its moving. Ive caught fish just reeling it in. Id recommend to you the stanley ribbit, just cast and retrieve. The legs do the action
Yes you can, the problem would be that when you get a strike that rod may not have the backbone needed to set the hook and get him out of cover fast. In open water you are fine but i wouldnt fish a medium rod near cover
Would the fact that it's a Lew's Carbon Speed Stick make a difference in backbone?
CTBassin860 reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:13 PM, MichaelCopeland said:My rod is a 6'6" medium fast spinning with 6.2:1 reel and 50lb spectra braid. Can walking a frog be accomplished with this setup?
I would not use that setup for frog fishing personally. Rod is short,not enough power,and it's a spinning outfit.50 pound braid is spot on but overkill on a spinner.To me that setup seems doomed to break if fished in heavy cover and a pig gets a hold of that frog.
d-camarena reply :
That rod has very little backbone, i have one But will get the job done. Id recommend you use straight braid to counter act the slow taper of the rod. I used to fish frogs on medium rods with no problems. But braid is a must. If you own a medium heavy than id use that instead.
MichaelCopeland reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 12:25 PM, MassBassin508 said:I would not use that setup for frog fishing personally. Rod is short,not enough power,and it's a spinning outfit.50 pound braid is spot on but overkill on a spinner.To me that setup seems doomed to break if fished in heavy cover and a pig gets a hold of that frog.
I only fish from the bank for now, no boat, and fortunately there's not a lot of thick cover to go through in the lakes around here. Just haven't had any luck with most of my lures so far. Thanks for the advice.
On 7/9/2017 at 12:25 PM, d-camarena said:That rod has very little backbone, i have one But will get the job done. Id recommend you use straight braid to counter act the slow taper of the rod. I used to fish frogs on medium rods with no problems. But braid is a must. If you own a medium heavy than id use that instead.
Mine is a medium fast taper action rod. I do use only braid on that rod no matter what I'm casting on it. The color of the braid is moss green and the waters I get to fish around here are murky/muddy/milky or stained. Haven't come across any really clear water yet. I do want a medium heavy rod though when I can afford one again. Thanks for the advice also. I gotta get some sleep now. Going fishing in the morning.
papajoe222 reply :
I know guys that catch fish walking a frog over open water.I don't even try. If I'm fishing open water, I'd much rather fish a Spook. I feel it's better at drawing strikes and the hook up percentage is much better. I use hollow body frogs for fishing the weeds. If I'm faced with a situation where there's open water between the weeds and me, I opt for soft body frog like a Ribbit that I can work slowly across the weeds and then run it across the surface back to me.
Chughes37 reply :
Does the knot play a factor?
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 1:57 PM, Chughes37 said:Does the knot play a factor?
No, I tie a Palomar and have no issues walking them. Sharp, quick, downward twitches and make sure you immediately put slack back in the line after each twitch to allow the bait to work. If you cut almost all of the legs off, it makes them much easier to walk also.
CTBassin860 reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 2:49 PM, Bluebasser86 said:No, I tie a Palomar and have no issues walking them.
x2
Dtrombly reply :
Your rod *could* be the issue if it's too stiff
BuzzHudson19c reply :
On 7/9/2017 at 1:57 PM, Chughes37 said:Does the knot play a factor?
If I'm looking to walk a frog, I sometimes run a loop knot. Makes it a little easier.
SFL BassHunter reply :
I have used so many different frogs and have found the Pad Crasher to be the easiest to walk. A semi slack line and longer twitches than a walking bait like a spook.
Your best bet is to start slow. Give it one twitch and see if you can get the frog to go to the side. Longer casts are easier to make the frog walk too. As the frog gets closer it gets harder to walk.
Once you get the one twitch, go to two twitches. Remember that your twitch should end with the rod back to where it started so that your next twitch does the same exact thing. After several twitches (walk) a slight reel down will help pick up some slack, just don't pick it all up. You need that the semi slack.
Jaderose reply :
I don't understand the idea of wanting to "walk" a hollow body frog. To me, these baits are for use in heavy slop. They require a heavy rod, heavy braid, and no finesse. Drag them across the top of the slop with starts and stops, making as much ruckus as you can. Anything that would require a walking bait is not a froggin situation. Just my .02
MassYak85 reply :
I rarely walk mine unless I'm fishing a pocket in the pads and want it to cause commotion but not move a ton. They can be chalenging to walk sometimes depending on certain factors. You could always try trimming one of the legs slightly shorter than the other to provide a little imbalance. The key to walking a frog is to get it to make that first side turn, once you do that it's usually not too bad. But I've had it before where the frog just would not turn sideways and it took like 15 twitches of just nosing forward before it turned. You want some slack in the line when you are doing it.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 7/10/2017 at 1:17 AM, Jaderose said:I don't understand the idea of wanting to "walk" a hollow body frog. To me, these baits are for use in heavy slop. They require a heavy rod, heavy braid, and no finesse. Drag them across the top of the slop with starts and stops, making as much ruckus as you can. Anything that would require a walking bait is not a froggin situation. Just my .02
I fish them in holes in the water willow so walking them allows then to move without moving forward far. I do the same at the edge of the same weeds. No way to walk them on top of the thick stuff.
MichaelCopeland reply :
I've pretty much given up on trying to walk my frog. I went fishing this morning and couldn't get it to walk, so I gave it little tugs as if it were a poppin frog and then pause a sec. I did that in open water and got bit. I popped it a couple times and paused and a bass blew up on it but missed so I popped it a couple more times and paused again. This time the bass blew up on it again and took it under. I set the hook or at least I thought I did and started to reel in. Got a couple turns on my reel and the bass come off. It was exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Kept trying a few more times after that and couldn't pay to get bit again. Don't know how it got loose. Only thing I can figure is maybe I didn't wait quite long enough before setting it. It was at least 2 or 3lbs maybe even more.
Glenn reply :
If you want to walk the dog with a Pad Crasher, then you need to trim the legs - basically in half. Those long legs out of the package pretty much prevent the frog from moving side-to-side. Personally, I don't walk the frog that much. I get plenty of bites working it slowly.
Here's a bunch of tips that answers the questions in this thread, plus a bunch more.
MichaelCopeland reply :
On 7/10/2017 at 5:51 AM, Glenn said:If you want to walk the dog with a Pad Crasher, then you need to trim the legs - basically in half. Those long legs out of the package pretty much prevent the frog from moving side-to-side. Personally, I don't walk the frog that much. I get plenty of bites working it slowly.
Here's a bunch of tips that answers the questions in this thread, plus a bunch more.
Very informative. Thank you. I may not have set the hook hard enough on that bass this morning. This video pointed that out to me. Also when I was trying to get bit again I just was too impatient so I'll work it more slowly next time I'm out. Again thank you.
papajoe222 reply :
If you want to make it easier to walk a frog I'd suggest adding a split ring to the line tie and trimming the legs. The split ring allows the frog to turn much easier than a direct tie to the eye and trimming the legs reduces the drag that inhibits its turning.
Also, try adding a couple of split shot into the belly. They'll help keep the nose up which also makes walking easier.
Jaderose reply :
On 7/10/2017 at 1:56 AM, Bluebasser86 said:I fish them in holes in the water willow so walking them allows then to move without moving forward far. I do the same at the edge of the same weeds. No way to walk them on top of the thick stuff.
I understand this and do the same. The way I read what a lot of guys are asking (maybe incorrectly, of course) is how do you walk a frog like you were walking a spook? Like they are using them in open water. Not saying I haven't had blow ups in open water with a HBF but it was completely by accident. There are just better options for open water in my opinion
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 7/11/2017 at 2:21 AM, Jaderose said:
I understand this and do the same. The way I read what a lot of guys are asking (maybe incorrectly, of course) is how do you walk a frog like you were walking a spook? Like they are using them in open water. Not saying I haven't had blow ups in open water with a HBF but it was completely by accident. There are just better options for open water in my opinion
Agreed, they'll work in open water, but I don't see a point to it unless it's just a good spot of open water between mats and a guy doesn't have a spook tied on.
sully420 reply :
On 7/10/2017 at 4:05 AM, MichaelCopeland said:I've pretty much given up on trying to walk my frog. I went fishing this morning and couldn't get it to walk, so I gave it little tugs as if it were a poppin frog and then pause a sec. I did that in open water and got bit. I popped it a couple times and paused and a bass blew up on it but missed so I popped it a couple more times and paused again. This time the bass blew up on it again and took it under. I set the hook or at least I thought I did and started to reel in. Got a couple turns on my reel and the bass come off. It was exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Kept trying a few more times after that and couldn't pay to get bit again. Don't know how it got loose. Only thing I can figure is maybe I didn't wait quite long enough before setting it. It was at least 2 or 3lbs maybe even more.
You need to bend the hooks up a bit from the body wait 2sec on the hook set trim the legs an inch or 2 and try a loop knot or put a large split ring in the line tie and tie on to that. Then just find a rhythm you can walk a frog with any gear it just takes time to find the right cadence. Walking a frog is key to getting better bites and it can be a pain to pick up anothet rod with a spook just to fish the edges and clean pockets.
collards reply :
I am not getting technical, but I have real good success with the zoom horny toad. I just reel it in and they grab it about a foot from a bank. I have several other brands but the horny toad is easy, cheap and gets the fish.
Fried Lemons reply :
I found that I can only walk a hollowbody well at the beginning of the retrieve after a bomb cast. Once it gets to about the halfway mark the walking action stops and all I can get are little forward hops. That said, I have had plenty of strikes on the hops so I don't think it matters all that much.
related Fishing Tackle topic
previous topic
next topic
© 2024 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.