Went early this morning to throw some top waters but don’t have braid have mono on my reels and was throwing a frog and had 3 blow up on the frog but no hook ups. Is it cause my line stretches to much how long should I wait til I set the hook?
Posted by Disastrous_Main1274
7 Comments
Yes. And a heavier rod with more backbone
Yes use braid I use 40 or 50lb make sure you have a heavy stiff rod you really dont have to wait either if they hit it they got it if your frog comes flying back he missed it watch the frog if it disappears hook set if its still there he may comeback for it so leave it a Second then start working it back. You can always through a senko immediately after a missed strike and most of the time they will eat it thinking its the frog sinking
I think the biggest mistake a lot of folk make fishing frog (or anyway topwater for that matter) is attempting to set the hook too quickly.
I used to have a dedicated frog rig, which had a high speed 7.1 ratio reel spooled with 25 pound mono. I like using mono for frogs as it floats, especially heavier mono. Nowadays there are a lot of coated braids that float fine and give you the benefit of narrower diameter that cut through the water and vegetation better.
Braid helps a lot because it floats and doesn’t stretch. I’m pretty sure I’ve caught topwater with a fluorocarbon leader, but I know I’ve definitely caught fish with straight braid.
The trick for me was giving the fish a second to suck the lure down further into their mouth and then flicking quickly, not setting the hook like you got a Marlin on the other end.
Fluorocarbon line works well for top water if you don’t have braided line. Still stretches a little bit but not as bad as mono. I personally wait an extra second or two when using either mono or fluorocarbon.
I’d say yes to braid if you’re fishing in heavy weeds and vegetation and such, which is the best place to throw a frog (that being said I always use braid)
Braid will help because it has no stretch so you’ll get a better hook set. Your mono could be stretching when you set the hook giving the bass a chance to spit the frog.
Many bass anglers like 40-65lb braid for topwater frogs… but you don’t need that heavy of braid. I use 30lb and never break off. Just give a firm hook set… not the YouTuber hook set like you’re swinging a baseball bat.