Zoom Horny toads

[ikeslayer]

Got some Zoom horny toads the other day real cheap at walmart. Wondering how everyone fishes this particular lure. Please do elaborate!!! thanks in advance ike

[RandyFish]

Ike,

I used the Horny Toads last summer (along with a similar product called the Sizmic Toads).

I used them for "skipping" mostly, like a fluke or a senko. If I remember right, I had to drop hook size from a 4/0 to a 3/0 because the four was too long. I know I like them because they casted quite well, being kind of compact and heavy.

They were really a fun item to fish with...I really enjoyed doing the fake frog thing (fishermen are nothing but big kids) through Lily Pads: Drag the toad over the top, let it fall into holes. Work outside edges.

You can also "burn" them across the top because the legs will kick and gurgle, but I always thought I had better lures for that purpose.

I tried them as a jig trailer without much luck, but again, I already had plastics I like for that purpose so I did not use the toads all that much as a trailer. I am sure they would work fine.

A ton of fun for skipping and twitching. I noticed they worked better as summer progressed, probably because frogs were more common.

Have fun

[OnTheWater]

I messed around with them a little bit last year. If you want more action out of the legs; place a small cut at the end of the body, between the legs. It makes a bit more noise when ripped across the top.

[Crank It Up Pro]

Ike, rig them with a offset widegap hook 3/0 or 4/0 both work fine, rig them texas stlye with no wieght and fish around and over heavy cover, keep them moving the action is in the legs work it like a buzzbait in heavier cover it's awesome.

[AQUAJOE]

They are ok.

I prefer the Snag Proof Tournament series frogs.

Better control they don't flip around and roll. You can adjust wether you wanted them on the surface of just below by the amount of water you have in them.

True weedless.

You can also catch 30 fish in them and still look like the first time you threw it.

Zoom frogs tear up real easy.If you got them real cheap good deal then.

Cast past your target area is key as to not spook the fish. I will go as far as casting them on shore and work out from there. I think it is a more natural presentation having the frog come into the water from shore.

If you are casting toward a weedline or reeds I will actually cast into the reeds and gently tug on the frog to move the reeds. Only just enough to make some noise or movement to get the bass's attention. I will then slowly pull the frog out of the reeds and have it plop down into the water and that is usually when they will strike. If not then give the frog 1 or 2 quick pops and let it sit a second and they will hit it then if they are there.

I have even had them jump out of the water and hit the frog before it hits the water. This also attracks northerns and muskie's. I have caught both doing this.

Frog fishing and for that matter Top Water Fishing is my favorite type of fishing. Some think it only works at dawn or dusk and the water has to be calm. I believe this is not true. I fish this way all day long and still catch fish.

If this is your first time frog fishing and you seem to miss alot of hits you are setting the hook to soon.

To get around this if you are missing alot of hits when you see or hear the hit count fast 1 2 and set the hook. Your % of hooks sets will increase 10 fold.

This happens alot when you are using super lines or braids (no strech lines). Mono and fluorocarbons will stretch and give you that 2 seconds.

I do 95% of my bass fishing TopWater and this what has worked for me.

Just my .02 cents

[carlcmc]

hey aquajoe, what colors of those do you typically fish here in minnesota? i have a black with yellow spots on top, white with white/green moss pattern on bottom, and green with yellow/orange belly of these. I bought them but haven't used them to catch anything yet. tried just a few times and since i didn't have any bites (or confidence) back into the box they went.

[AQUAJOE]

Carl I did the same things years ago didn't give them much of a chance and threw them back in the box. I even went as far as throwing the 2 had away cause I never used them.

I was bored one morning prefishing a tournnament up in Park Rapids first week in June(several years ago). I asked the peoples in the boat if anyone had a top water frog one of the gals did. It was white with a green mossy top with yellow tails.

I tossed it out at some lilly pads the first three casts brought 3 largemouths. All over 4lbs.

I was shocked. I parked the boat I went to Northern bait and bought every frog they had one of each color and style. I went back out the lake and caught fish all day long.

I now have several boxes full of them. I prefer dark blue, black and purple with flake. Yellow spots or stripes are an added plus.

Rain or shine, clear or murky will do the trick.

Give them a chance they will produce. The first time you have a muskie and or a northern break water hitting the frog you will about have a heart attack. At least I almost did. The 30in. muskie came completely out of the water. It was cool.

Here are my favorites:

[JPSavage]

I had a cery surprising experience last year that relates to your comments of casting past your target and deep into weedbeds.........I was working some pad and mixed weedbeds in late June....This was clear water 3-5 feet deep on a flat coming out from shore with intermittent to thick weeds and just YUMMY looking topwater potential....Considering that the weeds were out from shore and 200 feet mol beyond I was making long casts into the beds to avoid spooking fish........The sun was high ,but, at a slight angle .....Now this blew me away!.....As I was making these long casts with a plastic frog and braid, I noticed fish obviously being spooked along the entire lenght of these casts(that as far as I could cast).....As the lure passed overhead I could see weeds moving, swirls of water, etc......A swirl or two wouldn't have surprised me, but, this happened repeatedly, cast after cast......Were the fish that aware because of looking up , or whatever......Has anyone else seens this?.....By the way, I did catch several decent fish there.

[AQUAJOE]

Oh yea this happens quite often. What is so great about it you can cast and cast and cast and catch fish all day long, also you know the fish are there.

This kind of response is good for using a tube or plastic worms(Weedless of course) especially if the pads are so thick that the fish are having a hard time getting there mouths around it. This will allow you to get that bait below the weeds and better chance for a good hook up.

With using a braid you can rip them right out of the weeds.

Even if you miss a few it is fun and exciting fishing.

[AQUAJOE]

ISH Monroe used the Snag Proof Tournament frogs I showed above to win at AMISTAD. There is an article about it on bassfan.

He got one of his 9-04 on the frog.

[FlipR70]

I did really well using the Horny Toads last year. I like them a little better than the Snagproof frogs because when you stop them, they'll sink & "swim"(the legs swim) below the surface.

I rig them with a 5/0 straight-shank (Not extra wide gap) Mustad megabite hook. I like the straight-shank hook because I like to pull it through serious slop & I don't think that it gets fouled as much as an extra wide gap. Also, I like the Mustad because it's heavier (to cast farther and flex less) when I set the hook.

I've caught a lot of fish in the lilly pads and heavy slop using a black or junebug-colored horny toads by working them over the top. I've heard others have had good luck using white as well. Usually, I work them slow enough to just kick up some water. It seemed to me that they worked under similar cirucumstances as a buzzbait might.

Last year, I had one of the best days of my summer fishing horny toads slowly below the surface on a cloudy day just before the rain. They were hitting like a jig bite with a 'thump' rather than a typical soft plastic pecking.

I've had good luck with them and I bough 8 more packages of them for this summer. Let me know if you have any more ???'s

FlipR70

[Daze Off]

I love skipping the Zoom and Yum frogs under docks and running them like buzzbaits - buzzbaits under docks not a presentation fish see very often - at least from my experience....

Of the two, I like the Yum frogs better. I intend to try the new one by Reaction Innovations - I think it is called the Trixie Shark.

Daze Off

[Stelz]

I look forward to trying these.. seeing we got em for 2 bucks a pack, it was hard not to grab a few packages of them...

thanks for all the info fellas..

it was good reading..

[dan sexton]

Ikeslayer,

Cute future fishing buddy. I have 2 of them (8 years old and 10), they get big fast!!!

Last year quite a few tournaments were won using the Horny Toad and other imatation lures like it. BUT, they are fishing them like spinnerbaits through (not on top) the grass and tulies.

Heres the secret (trust me it is a well kept secret out west still!)"FlipR70" is on to something here (it's just a little bit differant). Here is what I know:

1) 1/16 oz to 1/8 oz(max 1/8) tungsten weight (NOT PEGGED) it has to slip freely so the line and bait don't twist.

2) choose a hook that works best for you, I like the Owner extra wide round (riggn hook) 4/0

3) your choice here, I use 17# Silver Thread

4) 7' Med. Heavy rod to penetrate the hook through the bait

5) any 6.3:1 baitcast reel that can handle 17# to 20#

Technique:

1) open water - must throw the bait to the edge of the grass or tulies, brush etc.

2) let the bait fall (count top 5, 10, 15 and so on, your choice here)

3) slow retrieve like your slow reeling a spinnerbait or crank. I have caught fish post spawn reeling it pretty fast (while keeping the bait submerged) on windy banks.

Do the same thing though the grass (slop) and tulies. This technique is weedless, puts out a lot of vibration and is deadly for big fish. With all the aquatic vegetation you have in Minnasota this should be gold!!!

Let me know how it works,

Dan

ps.have you FMers heard about the chatterbait (part jig, crank and spinnerbait)? This bait is so Hot right now you have to give them 45 plus days to ship. This bait is awesome in the grass here right now. I would leave a web-site but I must respect FM rules...unless I am given permission.

[katoguy]

A lot of on-line "chatter" about chatterbaits right now. There are also a lot of knock-offs that are considerably less expensive. I can not see how the original can be that much better (but I have been wrong before).

[dan sexton]

a little help on the knock off. Can you e-mail ([email protected]) me the name or site? I am with you, $7 bucks for a jig is insane.

[katoguy]

Of course I can't find them now. lblures dot net has them for $6.75 -- not much of a deal ("wobble jigs").

I guess Rad Lures (original Chatterbait) was selling them for $6 bucks at the Classic. There are lengthy back orders for them now. Supposedly there is a "jiggerbait" being sold on hsolist, but I haven't gotten around to searching for them yet.

[river rat316]

Micro Munch Tackle.... HSOforum is there name... he also sells em on hsolist

[OnTheWater]

I bought 2 chatterbaits off of backwatersonline, at $5.99/each. They have been on backorder for almost a month, so I haven't actually received them yet. The same site also just added another bait called the Gambler swim blade, its nearly identical to the chatterbait by rad lures, at $5.69/each

[V-12 Merlin]

AquaJoe, your comment about pike or muskie coming out of the water for a frog reminded me that I've had the same thing happen. The only time I've ever seen a northern shoot out of the water like a rocket! Where are the TV cameras when you need them, it was way cool.

FlipR70 and Dan Sexton, thanks for the tips - something I will definitely try this season.

[Slyster]

So back to Horny Toads... I bought a bunch of them myself just today.. how are they supposed to be used?

- Hooked onto a big jig with a skirt? Or...

- Hooked onto a regular jig head? Or...

- Like a senko.. texas style.

[Eye-lander]

Has anyone had any trouble with hooking fish with hook buried in toad? I bought a couple packs of the Zoom brand, and they seem very thick to me and I am apprehensive about the hooking percentage with this lure. They are obviously not as soft as say a worm or a lizard. Any feedback?

[OnTheWater]

I've also had a bit of trouble with the hooking%. My suggestion would be to definitely use a 5/0 hook.

[Stelz]

I agree, use big hooks, i used to think too small, now i try and put big hooks on stuff.. and make sure you run the hook all the way threw the toad, and then just tuck it back into the top, so it is weedless but barely has any toad to come threw when you set the hook on a fish..

[dan sexton]

Hooked like a Senko texas style. But I would try the jig thing if you want to experiment.

I like 4/0 (owner xxwide round, rig'n hook), but if you can get away with 5/0, your odds do improve!!!