Thoroughly confused!

Friday afternoon, a friend an myself hit our favorite lake, to see if they largemouth have turned on yet. We stared throwing cranks, and spinners, with only one hit on the crank. We finally go to a side of the lake that is starting to scum over, and when throwing spinners noticed the sucking sound coming from the muck. I thought hey maybe the topwater will give us some action. I’m going to try and stay modest here, but that was a Great call! First cast with a white mouse, with red/White/black skirt, and a 22″ 4.5lb largemouths almost ripped the rod from my hands. Now my bud is excited, and ties on a frog, and two casts later, and nother 4.5lb.

Now, here is where I get confused. I should have caught 15-20 fish, but was unable to set the hook into anything (except my left arm). I was not setting the hook until I could feel the fish, I tried everything I could think of and could not hook another fish. I’ve never had this problem before. I even tried to set it harder, and think I broke a rib in the process Any ideas? What could I have been doing wrong?

One other thing. Friday was pretty calm, not much wind, and bright clear skies, Sunday I went out with the wife, (She loves fishing topwater) it was pretty windy, and we didn’t even get a little blow up? Is fishing this type of topwater only good when it is calm? Any pointers here would also be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I’m not much of a bass fisherman but I do carry a few scum frogs in my tackle box. I don’t know what the answer is as I have also had trouble getting hook sets on these top water baits. You really can’t be putting a stinger hook on them because then they wouldn’t be weedless. Maybe somebody out there has the answer.

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the sucking sound coming from the muck

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The sucking sound was probably carp…it’s not uncommon for them to do that when they are in the shallows like that.

What kind of Rod were you using? how were the fish hitting the bait? Was it a suttle strike, sucking it in, or were they massive blow ups? I know you said the one almost ripped it from your hands, but just looking for other info. What kind of line?? Also did you continue to throw the mouse or did you switch up lures?

I consider slop fishing my “forte” but by no means am an expert. I don’t throw anything but 50-85lb braid in slop, and it’s usually heavy action but you can get away with medium/heavy as well. Timing is crucial on the hookset….If you set too early, you’ll just yank it from their mouth…The common rule of thumb is usually waiting about 2 seconds before setting the hook. When you do slam it home, do everything you can to get that fish on top of the water. The longer they stay down in the weeds, the better chance it has of coming off.

I’ve seen blue skip 4 pounders out of slop like a kid throwing a skipping stone….

When fishing “topwater” you have to wait till you “feel” the fish before you set the hook.

I agree it is tough sometimes when the bass blow up on the bait but you will hook up more times if you wait to feel the fish on and then set the hook. Could the one you were missing be carp that could not get the bait in their mouths?

Hey Slop;

I was using a 7′ Med/heavy rod, with 30lb braided line. I swithed up lures about every 10 casts of so, and most of them were major blow up’s. When I do get one hooked, I don’t have any problem dragging them across the top, and the waiting for 2 seconds before setting the hook is easier said than done, although I was doing just that, and still couldn’t manange to hook them. Must have just been bad luck that day. Thanks

Were your hooks dull??

I hear ya though, We’ve all been there

Hooks could have been dull, although they didn’t seem to have a problem sticking into my finger. I’ll get’em next weekend.

Try Horny toads

i had the same problem in a tourney a couple weeks ago. usually it just means the fish arent eating frogs yet. they’re just blowing up on them or rolling them. like a reaction strike. a bass will hit something just for sake of killing it. like a wounded minnow. it will hit it and kill it but not eat it. thats been proven in tests and experiments. usually throwing back some kind of weedless worm or brush hog or something slower they’ll nail it.

Also don’t be afraid to throw a swim jig in the slop either. For having an exposed hook (weedguard), they come through quite clean and you’ve got no plastic to set through so to speak. Just another thought.

Good luck

Again I’m not much of a bass fisherman but what you are saying about bass just reacting and hitting the lure makes perfect sense especially during the bass spawn. I’ve wittnessed this several times before when a bass is on the spawning bed. They will attack anything in or around the bed but not always bite it. Still getting a hook set with a scum frog or mouse is no easy task. Waiting to set the hook until you feel the fish is difficult especially when you see and hear them boil on your lure. I probably only get hook sets in less than 25% of the hits on my scum frogs if that.

Eyehunter

If you are having a lot of trouble with hook sets on the frogs try runnings a 5″ tube over the slop. I have found that they have a tendency to get that bait better than a frog. Another thing to try would be the Sumo frog. They are about 8 bucks a piece but I have had better success with hookups with these.

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I probably only get hook sets in less than 25% of the hits on my scum frogs if that.

Eyehunter

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Sharpen your hooks.

I would say my hook set percentage in slop is about 75%. I must be doing something different.

I was 100% last night w/the Spro Frog…I recommend it!!

Pictured here.

I also like the Sumo frog

I agree on the Sumo. Haven’t tried the Bronzeye but I’ve heard nothing but good reviews. Got a Swamp Donkey but haven’t used it much yet.

He is right that is the rainforest yellow from SPRO. Either the jungle frog or the Bronzeye. Either way that is a SPRO product hanging out of that fish! Slop I think we caught you trying to hide your favorite bait!!!!!! Most likely an honest mistake but shame on you for trying to pull one over on us.

On a serious note the SPRO frog is incredible!!!!! Similar to the Sumo but sits lower in the water and has a little better hooks, IMHO! Either one is a great bait but on the earlier subject try a high end frog like SPRO or Sumo your hook ups will be much improved.

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Slop I think we caught you trying to hide your favorite bait!!!!!! Most likely an honest mistake but shame on you for trying to pull one over on us

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LOL…sorry guys, mistype on my part….I’m just sorting through some now and had a mix up….

Slop- or other slop guys…
My favorite frog is the reaction innovations swamp donkey. It looks almost identical to the spro. Only the sd has gammie hooks on it. I have tried a million different frogs, and I own a ton of reaction innovations swamp donkey’s….

up close..

Those must Ski nice over the Ice and Snow.
But seriously all 3 are great frogs. I am Sumo Frog guy, but I am looking foward to trying the Swamp Donkey.

Spro Jungle Frog up close…The Jungle Frog has a much softer plastic and the hooks are stronger than anything I’ve seen so far. These are end loaded and you can cast them up towards 40+ yards. (no joke)..

And once the tails tear off the end, they resemble a pretty yellow tampon…

The only thing that bothers me w/these style frogs is sometimes the plastic at the points I have arrowed are a much stiffer plastic and thus sometimes is much more hard to get solid hooksets b/c the plastic isn’t as malleable as other frogs…

I anxiously await field trials from everyone to see how they are working for people….

What do these look like blue?

Luke, the reason that the SD looks so much like the SPRO Bronzeye is because Andre Moore got a look at Rojas frog before it got released to the public. The SPRO frog also has Gamakatsu hooks on it in fact my understanding is SPRO is owned by Gamakatsu. If not they are closly tied, all SPRO baits come with Gamie hooks on them.

I don’t think they look all that simliar in shape myself. The donkey is much narrower in front, fatter in back than the bronzeye.

Picture is from anglers-outlet/google images.

I am not sponsored by horny toads maufacturer, distributors or agents.

The bottom toad is rigged southern style.. except use a straight shank instead of curved and it hugs the top of the toad as weedlessly as any frog I have ever tried. Rig it the way the top one is and go right back to 15-25% hook-ups.

Try Horny Toads… Fished slop for three straight weeks with guide customers 2 years ago … tried every “Frog” I could find and had them fish about 1/4 day with three different frogs, then 1/4 of the day with a horny toads sent to me from down south…(even mixed up times of day)… rigged the “southern way” and without one single exception the horney toad was close daily to 75% hookups, (at one point two experience slop fishermen went 23 straight hook-ups in a row), with all the frogs coming in about 15-25%. Only thing you want to do is glue the nose to the hook so they last longer and stay put better in moderately thick cover. MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU DON’T WAIT TILL YOU FEEL THE FISH…. WHEN YOU SEE IT HIT YOU SET THE HOOK. In super thick pads which I don’t waste time in anymore you will have to fish one of the other frogs. The horny toads are just too flexible and soft to tear through heavy pads.. heavy mats great—solid pads not so great. The clones by some other manufacturers have incorporated a hard nose to help with that problem. The other reason they just aren’t for heavy pads is the “southern rigging”. But hey some of these other guys catch a ton of fish on the frogs, I just don’t .

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at one point two experience slop fishermen went 23 straight hook-ups in a row

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On a Horny Toad?…Call Guiness! Seriously…

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with all the frogs coming in about 15-25%

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If all frogs/ rats had less than a 25% hook up rate they would never leave the shelf. This number is totally not true.

We all know the swim toads can catch fish, but a floater like the SPRO, Swamp Donkey, etc… offer a critical feature to slop fishing when the fish are not as active…they float and can be fished way slower. If the fish are in the slop but not very active I never use a swim toad (h-toad, sizmic, manns, cane toad, etc…).

As a matter of fact, from personal experience I would believe your numbers if they were the exact opposite. Horny toads = less than 25% hookup and Floaters = more than 75% hookup!

Suprised nobody has mentioned a throw back bait??? If I miss a fish in slop, I always have a tube ready to cast on the front deck. Throwing the tube in the hole the bass made in the slop and shaking while it’s in the water usually produces a strike.

-Dusty