I was always taught that you wait..... Wait on it..... Then you feel some tension on the line and set the hook. The delay could be up to three or four seconds but the goal was to be sure the fish had a chance to get a hold of it before you jerk.

I fished with a local celeb the other day that set the hook immediately on frog bites. Zero delay.

I haven't done it enough with both techniques to see which has a higher hook up percentage but I was just curious what you guys thought that have a lot of experience throwing top water frogs.

Thanks gang,

Jackson

If I see a blow up and I cant see the frog I'm trying to rip a head off. There is a very split second delay but I'm not necessarily waiting to feel tension. I throw a frog a lot and I'd say my hook-up ratio is probably 8 or 9 out of 10.

I have tried it both ways and I'm obviously still doing it wrong. My ratio of hookups on frog bites over the years is probably around 1 in 3 or 1 in 4. I remember when I used to fish the old Scum Frogs. Bass would knock it three feet straight into the air but miss it. Lots of excitement...very few fish in the livewell.

I think the delay (not that I'm an expert) is to feel a fish and make sure you don't yank the bait out of the strike zone. Sometimes the water gets all roiled up when they blow up and you lose sight of the bait. They may have missed it entirely. If you wait until you feel weight, then you put the hammer down

Had to re-teach myself on frogs last weekend. Kept setting hook too early. Day 2 was much better after I started waiting to set hook. It's a narrow window of time between lip and throat in setting the hook. I waited until the second gulp. Was able to remove hook in all fish without bleeding.

One of the most important things to do to increase your hookups is to bend the hooks out a bit. You should be able to run your finger over the forger and it barely stick you finger, then the frog is ready for action.

If you are missing a lot of fish, then they are short striking it, get you a trailer, you will be amazed how many more hook ups you get.

I've always watched the first 3-4ft of line directly attached to the frog...if it's straight or underwater, set the hook.

Rule #1 have a fast reel. 7:1 minimum and use 65-80lb braid. This combo brings speed and no stretch.

If I had to give you advice say "1 mississippi" and set the hook...this give you a second to wait and time to reel in your slack....you catch 0% of the fish you don't set the hook on! Keep swinging.

Work frog with rod tip up. Then when they blow up you have to drop rod to set hook gives them chance to run with it, and you get a full hookset. I have also frog fished allot at night on ponds and when you cant see the blow ups you just wait till you feel your line move or the fish pulls. I miss very few fish on frogs if they take it under

I like to reel until I feel tension or see the frog before setting. Good luck!

I think with frogs and top water lures in general you want to feel a little tension or see the lure missing before setting the hook to keep it in the strike zone with the opportunity of producing another bite without spooking the fish. A lot of times it's a smaller fish when they miss.

I mostly fish with spooks, but pretty much use the same hook technique with all the different top waters I use. As the blow up happens, I'm watching my line, if it's swimmin', I'm yankin'. It naturally creates a 1-2 second delay, and I have a great hookup ratio. I started doing this because when I would set the hook immediately, I would often have a spook flying at my head at an amazing speed if the fish didn't hook up. Plus, I've had times were they blew up the bait to where I couldn't see it, but the line wasn't moving. The fish missed it, and came back around and hammered it again one second later. This time, the line was moving, and I crossed his eyes.

Mines not really a hook set more of a sweep to the side and get the rod bent over, I sweep when I feel tension with 20 pound big game and it does well

Seems every trip is different. Some days you better pop 'em as soon as the blowups happen and other days you need a very small delay to get a hook up. Size of fish seems to impact this as well. This is one of the reasons I am so picky about the frogs I use. A lot of value priced frogs have bad hooks. I want the best and biggest hook I can get most times. after catching a 10lber on a frog mixed in with some 2lbers I am a LOT more focused on the little details because you never know when the big fish are gonna decide to eat a frog so I might as well be prepared.

Waiting till you feel tension is always a good tip until they eat it and swim right towards you.

I say "a thousand one" then let 'er rip. That's plenty of time for those fast, green fish to suck that bait. I don't like waiting until you feel resistance. IMO the fish will be more prone to spitting it out if they feel the weight.