Horny Toad Set Up Suggestions

[David Rangel]

I would appreciate suggestions of set Up, for fishing horny toads.

Thanks,

David

[BASSHUNTER1961]

 

 

[David Rangel]

Thanks Basshunter very illustrative, maybe I didn't explained enough, I' m thinking in Rod, length, action and tapper, and fishing line, I would appreciate suggestions from experience.

Horny toads, or soft plastic toads unweighted, is what I' m thinking, and basically my question comes because frog rods are suggested heavy action fast tapper, but all kind of frogs?, because all these rods, came with the minimal weight suggested in 1/4 oz. most of them in 3/8 oz. and some of them in 1/2 oz.

And Horny Toads according to me, weight less than 1/4 oz., then I might think, that frog rods, refer to other frogs than "soft plastic, weight less, surface frogs" and I like to know, more about rods, reel and line for exclusively " soft plastic, weight less, surface or burning frogs"

Thanks

David

[A-Rob]

I use a normal ewg hook as big as I can fit into the frog

a 1/16th oz weight with a bobber stopper

65# braid, san diego jam knot

Rod and reel of your choice but something with enough tip to cast the lighter frog and a reel to do the same

[MCS]

I fish them just fine on my 6'-6" MH/F carbonlite rod with pflueger spinning reel and 8# stren megathin mono. Use vibe worms topwater on that as well as various weighted and unweighted plastics. The frogs are on the heavy end as far as weightless soft plastics go(comparing to say a weightless trick worm) and plenty cast far on this setup. never hand an issue with using 8# the fish never get a chance to bury themselves in thick weeds.

[Silas]

I've found a 7foot or longer rod with medium or medium heavy action helps in lifting the line off of the lily pads when you are working the frog, and getting a good hook set from a long distance off. Also, I've found that the split handle rods are, for me, not as effective as a full cork model, when I set the hook....more leverage. Others may disagree....whatever works for you.

The Horny Toad is pretty heavy and casts like a bullet unweighted. The Zoom Horny Toad hook DOES work well also. But a 4/0 Owner Beast hook is very good, too. Watermelon Red is the color of choice for my area.

Also have found HI Vis Braid, which floats and does not tangle in the pads, works well. The Hi Vis helps me see where the line is back in the lilies or brush. I use Sufix 832 65# and a 2 foot 15# flourocarbon leader. I tried it with and without the leader, and have caught more bass with the leader. Also, when I retie or change frogs, I don't use up the braid. I keep the leader short because flouro sinks and gets fouled in the weeds. Sometimes a good copolymer like Yozuri Hybrid works better.....I use a 12# test then.

I have used a Pflueger President or Calcutta 200 reel for frogs.....I feel they need to be "stout." But you can certainly use lighter reels.

The other frog that does well here is the RIBBET, Watermelon pearl, on a 4/0 Owner hook.

[BrianinMD]

whenever I use this type of bait I use a 7ft 6in, heavy action fast time rod, 65lb braid and a 7.1 reel. Using a keel weighted hook will help with casting and getting the bait to run right. But when I do it is in heavy grass so you have to get them out of the cover fast as possible.

[Bass_Fanatic]

7'+ rod

Mh/F or H/F

6.3:1+ reel

65lb+ braid

I dont know how the heck some people use 8-12 lb mono for this kind of fishing. Around here, if you aint got HEAVY braid, you aint catching the fish.

[MCS]

I dont know how the heck some people use 8-12 lb mono for this kind of fishing. Around here, if you aint got HEAVY braid, you aint catching the fish.

I guess it just depends where you are fishing. I am fishing ponds with grass/weeds under water, near the edge or light grass sticking up maybe some lite slop. One pond only has weeds at the edge(carp do a nice job). No reeds or lily pads in any ponds around. The fish hits top water it is out of the weeds, n he just never gets back down in them. I had one pond problem was the dead weeds near shore, 20# braid fixed the but majority of the time I am running 8#. I always think people that run that heavy braid are nuts unless ur fishing lily pads i guess. Lol

My question is this, what type of line do you use to throw a buzzbait? It is no different right, fished the same way IMO.

[Silas]

I use exactly the same setup for buzzbaits.....rod/reel/line/leader. Usually because I'm casting in some of the same stuff.

Here we have water lilies that line both banks on the bayou. Sometimes you throw into them, and get back to the back and come through the holes in the pads. Other times cast parallel to the lily pad line. Once a bass hits, he will dive straight into the lilies. Those stems are really tough.....you can snap a rod if you are not careful when trying to get the bait off them. What's a beautiful thing to watch is when a bass is down in the pads and you whip the rod up, the 65# braid slices right through the pads and stems. But......a light action rod won't be able to manage that.

[BASSHUNTER1961]

7'6" H/F casting rod with 30# Power Pro..... I fish a lot of very heavy slop and pads.

[Bass_Fanatic]

I guess it just depends where you are fishing. I am fishing ponds with grass/weeds under water, near the edge or light grass sticking up maybe some lite slop. One pond only has weeds at the edge(carp do a nice job). No reeds or lily pads in any ponds around. The fish hits top water it is out of the weeds, n he just never gets back down in them. I had one pond problem was the dead weeds near shore, 20# braid fixed the but majority of the time I am running 8#. I always think people that run that heavy braid are nuts unless ur fishing lily pads i guess. Lol

My question is this, what type of line do you use to throw a buzzbait? It is no different right, fished the same way IMO.

Who knows...maybe I have no clue what Im doing. I have 6lb Yozuri on my one spinning reel and I break that stuff almost every hookset and thats with wacky worms and other finesse junk. 12lb is the lightest I go and thats on my deep cranking setup, other than that its 15lb+. To me, braid is key for frogs because of the lack of stretch which helps bury the hook. Frogs are hard to get a good hookset, even with braid sometimes, so Im going to put as much in my favor as possible.

[MCS]

Who knows...maybe I have no clue what Im doing. I have 6lb Yozuri on my one spinning reel and I break that stuff almost every hookset and thats with wacky worms and other finesse junk. 12lb is the lightest I go and thats on my deep cranking setup, other than that its 15lb+. To me, braid is key for frogs because of the lack of stretch which helps bury the hook. Frogs are hard to get a good hookset, even with braid sometimes, so Im going to put as much in my favor as possible.

Well I never fished frogs, hollow body type, I wouldn't do so with my setup. I have heard many of you all that do you gotta set the hook good n hard on them. With the soft toads/other plastic topwater I fish, a bass hits, 2-3 seconds and boom set. Never have to swing for the fences, just use a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG weightless on the setup I mentioned before.

That being said I do understand to a point where the heavy braid setups come into play, it is with heavy pads and hollow body frogs.

To the OP I guess you have to decide on your setup based on type of cover (lite weeds/grass vs pads) and type of frog (soft plastic/hollow). You see both ends of the spectrum and what you feel comfortable with. It all catches fish.

[piscicidal]

My Horny Toad setup...

804C Dobyns

Curado 200E7

50lb power pro.

That 804 might just be the perfect horny toad rod...can fling a toad a mile, yet has a strong backbone. The Curado casts light baits nicel and has a fast retrieve...necessary for frog fishing.

Any braid will work...I use power pro, because I can get it really cheap.

[FillupD]

I use a Dobyns 704 rod & Zillion reel with Slick 8 Power Pro. IMO, you don't need a super sensitive expensive rod for the reaction bait such as a frog. I think a rod +7' would be better than a seven footer though, it is on my short list.The rod action is going to change on the conditons but one thing probably will be used around 85-90% of the time and that is braided line that floats. I also use a short 15# floro leader because it has some abrasion resistance and if I get snagged up hard, I can break it off if need be + it just makes me feel good. Like said above though, it does save your main line from being used if you change or re-tie often.

Sunline has a line they label as a pitch and frog line that is braid but it sinks, I can see it sinking for pitching but for frogs? can't figure that one out. I tend to lean towards Power Pro products for main line.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Dobyns 804C

Dobyns 736C

50 pound braid on both of them. I prefer using the 804 because of its length. The 736 gets the nod if I'm getting into nastier cover or have a swimbait on the other rod.

[Redlinerobert]

Steez Swimbait rod.

Daiwa Zillion HLC

Samurai 55 lb braid

You'll never need another frog set up again.

[David Rangel]

Thanks to everybody, nice information

David

[DCales84]

Currently using a Lews Mach II 7'3" Heavy. Branded as a swimbait/swimjig rod but it works for both toads and hollow body frogs as well. Lews MB 8.1 ratio reel with 50lb braid. For hooks I use Stanley's double take toad hooks with great success. Nearly a 100% hookup ratio this year. will be trying a single hook setup next time out to compare. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I throw them on a spinnerbait setup of appropriate power either mh or h fast. 

[Gundog]

Any bait that I throw "weightless" I throw on a spinning rod just cause its better at tossing light baits. My rod is Med/Heavy with a fast tip but because where I fish isn't extremely weedy I can get away with using mono, not braid. Braid is recommended when fishing extreme slop to pull them out quick before they can wrap you in the weeds.

[OnthePotomac]

Mine are thrown on a 7' MH fast tip with 20lb mono.  I use the Lake Fork double hooks.