for hooksetting topwater lures?  I was fishing a small pond this morning with a Chug Bug and had a violent explosion with a strong quick bend of my rod.  I was going to wait maybe another second to hookset but the fish released almost as quickly as it hit.  

is there something that can be done about that or is it just one of those things?  

same thing happened to me while fishing some excaliber lure i was walking the dog and i tried to set the hook too early so i yanked it right outa its mouth ha im gunna try to wait a bout a second or so but what do i kno i need advice too

Reel down (quickly) until you feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish/topwaters.html

8-)

And remember to SWEEP your rod to the left or right when setting a treble hook bait.

Do what Roadwarrior suggests.

You have to be patient.

It is very frustrating to see your topwater get eaten and then you miss the fish.

And you have to guage your hookset timing on each outing. Sometimes they will crush the bait while other times they will let it go.

Talk about frustration.  

for hooksetting topwater lures? I was fishing a small pond this morning with a Chug Bug and had a violent explosion with a strong quick bend of my rod. I was going to wait maybe another second to hookset but the fish released almost as quickly as it hit.

is there something that can be done about that or is it just one of those things?

Then he just plain missed it and must have had the hook foul hook him for a second. I use the chug bug as my go to top water bait and I wait a full 2 seconds before setting the hook. I can count the times I've had the hook flying at me on one hand. The times it does is usually when the hook bends on me. I know many people replace the hooks on the chug bug for this reason.

i think he must have missed it too.

thanks for the replies.  i'll be back tomorrow at dawn to try again.

Did you check the sharpness of the hooks. I keep my trebles super sharp so that when the strike, they impale themselves. There are almost is a hook set at all.

if you happened to be fishing straight braid, try attaching a mono leader.  I've noticed a significant improvement in topwater hookups when using a mono leader--I think the mono provides a shock-absorber for a thrashing fish, where the braid seems to let the fish widen the hook holes, and then toss the hook.

sometimes bass like to screw with topwaters too...bumping them or jumping next to them, but not really biting.

don't know about my hook sharpness.  it's a chug bug i've used quite a bit.  is there a sharpener for treble hooks, or do i just replace with new ones when they get dull?

i'm pretty new to fishing so i'm just using 10 pd mono for everything.  only time i've used braid is when fishing with a more experienced friend with frogs in lilly pads.  

The hooks that come on the chug bug are deadly sharp but bend kind of easy :-/

Reel down  (fast) untill you feel him, them sweep to the side, not a jaw breaking hook set. If you miss let it float to the surface, twitch it and wait. Often times they will come right back and eat it while it's motionless, espessially smallies.

 Keep trying.