Scum Frog Issue

This past weekend a buddy and I were fishing Largemouth Bass in central Wisconsin.  The bite was good.  Our hook percentage was bad.  We were at least 0 for 30.  I have used these lures in the past and didn't have much trouble.  See the bite...wait to feel the fish..set the hook.   Not that complicated.  I tried to widen the gap of the hook a little but that didn't seem to matter.   I was using a 7 foot meduim action rod with 8 lb test mono.  The action was great but a little frustrated.

Any Advice?

Capt. Eye Catcher

Like others have said i use a baitcaster with 65 pound braid,and for a rod i go long 7foot 10inches i think the length allows me to make longer cast and provides better leverage,also all frogs are not created equal,go to somewhere like tackle warehouse and read the reviews on frogs and find you a good one

frogging requires the proper gear for sure, not a place for mono, even if its 30lb....this is braid and braid only territory.    This is also not a place for spinning gear.

Start with 40lb minimum.    Below that and its a bit thin for the baitcaster, which can cause wind know and backlash issues....the heavier braid is also necessary to stand up to a much needed, powerful hook set.   

See, braid's one real weak point is shock strength, and thicker, heavier line will naturally stand up to the shock of repeated hook sets much more reliably.   The idea is to get the fish's head up with that set,  do this and you can often just glide them over the top for easy landing.

Froggin' always has those days of missed fish, but when you see 0 for 30, its operator error to at least some degree.

Smaller frogs can also enhance the hook up ratio if you are struggling.....the jackall kiera frog and the spro jr are the 2 smaller frogs I find that cast well.   But in general, scum frogs dont have the best components and they arent a frog I would lean towards.

Thank you all for the responses.  Gonna have to gear up a bit.

Captain Eye Catcher

Everybody is correct.  Trim the legs as the fish don't hit as hard in cooler weather.  Use at least med/hvy and at least 20lb braid.  I use either a 7' med/hvy with 30lb braid or a 7' heavy with 50lb+ depending on the cover.

My frogging rod is a 7' Heavy action with 50 lb power pro. With a medium action and 8 lb mono it will be hard to get good hook sets. Trim the legs off the frog too. 

Edward is correct, mono has too much stetch. Mono is junk imo, i switched to 30lb braid for all applications other than ultralight years ago. For bass I tie power pro super slick v2 directly to the lure. No stretch, robust enough to pull up snags alot of the time, and 30 lb is 8 lb mono equivalent diameter. 

8 lb test wont have the power you need to set hooks on frogs. 

Frogs are that way, if the bite isn't aggressive they will get the trailer and not the bait. Try downsizing to a smaller frog like a pad crasher Jr, or a pocket frog. Bait is half the size, and the hookup ratio should be somewhat better. Or, trim your trailers down to half the length, sometimes that does the trick.

Kind of actually funny you brought this up. I was actually watching a show while eating lunch and they discussed the same situation. Basically they said when fronts, weather events come through the hook set goes way down. They nip instead of inhale.

Hope this helps