horney toad...help!

[Pez]

I picked up a few packs of horney toads and rage toads(havent used the rage toads yet). I been rigging it with the 4/0 gamakatsu offset shank EWG hook. The bait doesn't ride true, once it hits the water and I start reeling it goes belly up and the frog is completely upside down. I got tons of strikes and only hooked 2 bass. I varied my speed retrieve, keep my rod at like the 10 o'clock position and always makes sure I rigged it straight. Should I change to maybe a twistlock hook or even the horney toad hooks, or???

I really wanna get into froginn!

Any tips? thanks!

[Gangley]

Been fishing the horny toad for a while now with great results.  Two Things:

1.  Use a 5/0 owner twistlock, the 4/0 gammy ewg doesnt have enough clearance for good hook penetration.  The twistlock feature on the owners is fantastic for horny toads, I will never use a different hook unless I absolutely have to for some unknown reason

2.  Once they hit the Horny Toad, wait, wait, and wait some more.  A good thing to remember is to keep doing your retrieve until you feel weight on the rod, even if they boil up right on top of it.  Just keep doing your normal retrieve until you feel the weight of the fish, and then wait another second before setting the hook.  Often times, you can count to 2 or 3 in your head while realing up slack after the initial blow up, and then set the hook once you feel weight.  I generally count to 3 and set the hook hard on the 3 count, i try to cross the eyes. 

The reason you want to wait before setting the hook is because many of the bass will strike at the legs of the horny toad, take it down and then re-bite/swallow.  If you set the hook on the horny toad right when you see the boil up, many times you will have a frog come at your head with no legs attached. Just give them a second to really inhale it and then set the hook, you will get a lot more hookups that way

[Pez]

thanks, I think Im gonna pick up some of the owner 5/0 ewg twistlock. I know your supposed to wait on setting the hook until you feel the weight of the fish, but is there a reason why it always retrieves upside down?

    Thanks!

[Gangley]

Check your frogs, ZOOM is notorious with their horny Toads for having frogs that have been dented or bent during packaging, and when you look at them, you can see defects such as large indentations in the bellies or leg attachment locations. Boiling them will solve the problem, but I check each of the frogs in the pacage before I buy to make sure they are all properly formed and not mishaped because of packaging or improper heating/cooling rates. If the frogs are not mishapen, check your hook setup. make sure the back is not arched, this can cause the frog to submerge itself and twist during the retrieve. You want the back level or somewhat concave so that the belly of the frog creates an upward lift allowing the frog to ride on top of the water. I prefer the back to be flat so that I can run it on top of the water, or retreive it just under the water depending on what the fish are wanting. Certain colors float better as well. The bullfrog color will float much better than the watermelon red color which tends to sink fairly quickly.

Basically, check to make sure the body is not mishapen on its underside, and make sure the the hook is properly placed within the horny toad. Ill check for pictuers and see if I have any that show how I rig them.

This is with a Gammy 5/0 EWG before I started using the Owners (I only use the Owner Twist Locks now):

[Pez]

thanks, man! bty I been using the bullfrog color, but ordered a couple packs of the green pumpkin/pearl white belly.

[Wayne P.]

Use the Horny Toad hook. Rig it with the hook bend between the legs with the hook point skin hooked on the back. Don't put the hook thru the body so the Toad will swing out of the way on the hookset and not take up any hook bend space.

The middle hook and second from the top rigged Toad.

[Pez]

Thanks, im gonna give that a try, but I first gotta get the hooks.

[Gangley]

The ZOOM Hooks and the Owner Tiwstlock are almost IDENTICAL, so close that I can't tell the difference.  I love the bullfrog color, it is my best producer by far.  I havent tried the pearl belly, but it seems to be pretty productive in the area.

[n8casCT]

just to add to the thread... which of the brands has the most splash during retrieve? 

And why do some toad hooks have weight in the front? -  does it help with casting distance?  cadence?  running correctly belly down? 

[Gangley]

the weighted hooks are to get hte frogs to run under the surface.  I like the Horny toad to run subsurface, creating a bulge in the water, but there is no need for weight to do that.  Other frogs require weighted hooks to get them to go subsruface.  The rage toad puts out a lot of splash, the ribbits do ok, and the horny toad does least.  Thats my perspective, other people may find those frogs to perform differently.  Remember though, fish dont always want a lot of splash.  There is one lake in particular that I will not catch a single fish on a frog unless its run under the surface.  If it makes a top water splash, the fish wont touch it.  I can't use poppers, chug bug, spooks, torpedos, or anything that makes a top water ruckus.  But if i run a frog just under the surface, the bass will usually slam it.