Best Frog Rig

[Creature]

Just brought a pack of the Mann's Hardnose Swimtoad and wanted to know how you guys and girls rig it and your success with it!! Thanks

[Rob G.]

I like the Zoom hooks, they have a screw spring attached to the line eye.

[linesider7]

I'm using the Zoom Horny Toad hooks as well, with great success.  

I haven't used the Mann's Hardnose toad yet, looks like there might not be the best action with that one.  I'm partial to either the Zoom Horny Toad or Gambler's Cane toad.

[L-Train]

You made a good choice IMO.  I throw these a lot.  If you team up the Zoom hooks with the mann's hard nose, you can catch far more fish per frog than with any other set up.  

I used to like the horny toad but have gotten away from it.  Try some Ribbits.  they have unbelievable action.  If you want big frogs, look at Seismic (sp.)  these are huge.  

let the fish get the frog before setting the hook.  I caught some good ones yesterday afternoon on the Ribbit.  My girlfriend was throwing the same frog. I caught 6, she caught zero.  she missed everyone bc/ she has a quick trigger.  when you get a hit.  count to two (maybe three) then jack his jaw.  good luck.  

[Bass Bass Bass]

 count to two (maybe three) then jack his jaw.  good luck.  

I second that!!!!  

[Shakes]

First off, you didn't make a very good decision. In my opinion and experience, the hard nose frogs produce the least. Zoom Horny Toads blow all other frog imitations completely out of the water, just for future reference. Stanley Ribbit Frogs are probably your #2.

Zoom Hooks aren't neccessary, but its good to have one rigged on. Little screw into your bait, basically turns any frog into a "hard nose." I hook into the back about an 1/8 inch and bury the barb to make it weedless. Great baits.

- Aaron

[brian_d]

i use a gamy wide gap #5 hook

[jasone]

I completely agree with Aaron. Use the Horny Toads in the Brown and white color (cant remember what its called) and the Zoom hooks. You can catch them without those specific hooks, just have a couple packs of the frogs and expect to use one per fish.

J

[mike bat]

i have never used manns frogs yet ,,, so i wont say anything about them ... however there are a few frogs i have been useing with great success ... ive been using 3 different froggs and have been getting bit alot ..... the zoom toad , sizmic toad , and the ribbit ..... this year i will try the cane toad .... i have to say my favorite frog is the zoom toad ,, but the ribbit also catches a ton of bass ..... see the advantage you get with the ribbit is huge ..... the ribbit can be ran way slower while stayin on top , and kicking .... the zoom toad is great but for me has a faster speed to it ... so all im saying is they all have there place and time ,,, so try a few different ones ....

  you will see some days that sizmic will get hammered ... when the zoom toad wont get touched .... i like the sizmic when the bass want a smaller and more quiet toad

[Brad_Coovert]

IMO, you're not gonna find a bad soft plastic frog as long as you use the right tackle, line, hook and hookset.

I happen to fish both the Cane Toad and the Horny Toad.  They both have a place and time and I have had days when one outfished the other hands down.

If I'm gonna keep the bait moving, I'll start with a Cane Toad most times.  Those paddle feet make a lot of noise and move a lot of water with little effort.  

Now, if I plan on stopping the frog now and then and letting it deadstick through a hole in the grass or in the pads, I'll use a Horny Toad.  I have yet to find a soft frog that glides like a Horny Toad and that is the biggest thing that sets it apart from other frogs IMO.

Brad

If it's a serious frogging day, I'll have both rigged on.

[.ghoti.]

Frog season is not quite here yet in the middle of Illinois, but I'm ready for it. I've found that this is a warm water bait. I don't have a preference in baits yet. I have in my bag horny toads, ribbits, cane toads and sizmics. All I used last year were horny toads. I did very well with them while the water was warm. When the temps started dropping the toad bite disappeared.

I use a very large hook. Started doing this after missing a few and tearing up the baits after one fish. I really don't like the one bait per fish ratio. For the hormy toads, I'm using a Gammy 5/0 magnum superline hook. I don't know why they label it as 5/0. It is quite a bit bigger than the normal Gammy 5/0 ewg hook. After running the hook through the nose, you'll find that the hook is too long to run through the bait. I slip the hook between the toad's legs, and let it rest on the back of the toad. Sometimes I'll skin hook it, most times not. I put a drop of glue just behing the hook eye to keep it in place. The big hook rigging does three things for me. It's swinging free, so my hookset percentage goes up, I get more than one fish per bait, and the hook acts as a keel, keeping the toad from spinning. It's a bit heavier, so I have to crank just a bit faster for the topwater presentation, but on the pause, it has a nice glide, and on slack line will most of the time do a "death" spiral. I caught a lot more fish last year with the toad on the glide than on the top.

I have to say that that big hook is hard, nearly impossible, to set with 10lb test line. The wire is a larger diameter, and the barb is a little farther back from the point. I had to go up to 14. Whne warmer water shows up, and the frog bite turns on, I'm going to try out the lighter of my two muskie rods for froggin. It has 50lb braid on it. I don't use it for much, but his may be one of the applications for braid. Don't know, haven't tried it yet.

Give the magnum hook a shot. At the least, you'll use up less baits.

Cheers,

GK

[BassFishingMachine]

Yum fan here!  ;D

[FIN-S-R]

Different frogs have different best case scenario uses. The hard nose gives a very subtle ripple action...really good for super clear calm water and spooky fish. The zoom has slightly more obtrusive action, and works well in most situations where you have a little color to the water and/ or some wind action. The smaller Ribbit and the cane toad are good for situations with more wind and more water color or more agressive fish. The lake fork frog and the yum frog as well as the stanley bull ribbit are good for maximum buzz bait type action, They can be fished fast and make a lot of disturbance...good for windy/ colored water conditions. I have caught more and bigger fish using the zoom in black or june bug during low light periods than any other frog. Rigging-The problem with the screw-in hooks is that they kill the slow spiral falling action of the bait. Spiral falling action? You say???? Yes, probably 80%-90% of the strikes you miss on top with these frogs can be translated into hook-ups if you just kill the bait after the miss, the frog will start sinking in a spiral motion, and its a good wounded bait impersonator. I logged many many hours figuring out this frog thing last year, and found the best rig for durability and performance is to use an owner riggin' hook and position it such that the hook point sinks into the bait straight from the rear between the legs. Then take a 1/8 inch length of 20/30/...50lb mono or some other real stiff line and stick it through the bait..through the hook eye. this will keep the hook in place. When runnin it over thick vegitation, I will put 1 wrap of suspend strip on the curve of the hook to keep the lure right side up...if the lure is riding upside down (horny toad/hard nose tend to try and roll over), you will miss some strikes, and get hung up more often. Some folks say to cross their eyes on the hookset with a frog....this works, but you with yank the lure from the fishes mouth frequently if you use this type of hookset with braid....and braid is a must with these frogs. I always wait until I see my line move to the side (after the lure is obviously down below the surface in the fish's mouth) before setting the hook. And the hook set I use I learned from watching my son (8yrs old and cant give it a cross their eyes hookset if he wanted to). He was lazily sweeping his rod to the side after waiting. He was hooking up about 100% to my maybe 50%-70%. Now dont get me wrong, you will hook up nicely with the cross their eyes technique, but those fish (usually the bigger ones) that dont all out blast it need a little more "touch" to the hookset. I was a big proponent of cross their eyes until my eyes were opened by my #1 fishin' bud.

[Wayne P.]

Two days ago, out of 40+ bass caught, about 20 of them were with the Zoom Horny Toad. I used a total of 4 Toads and still have the 4th one rigged up, although it's riddled with teeth marks. I used the Horny Toad Hook and the three other Toads I used were torn off the hook including the spring. I was using it over submerged pad stems in about 2' depths-66 degree water. I was buzzing it with a slight pause every couple of feet. I prefer the Zoom Toad because of it's heavier weight as I can cast it farther and cover more water. I use the G-Mag Oversize hook for slower presentations. I also do not put the hook into the body, I put the hook bend between the legs and the skin hook the point in the back. That prevents the bulky plastic from taking up room in the hook bend and results in better hookups.

[Wayne P.]

Rigging examples-the bottom hook in the picture is used for another bait.

[WhiteMike1018]

Wayne what size hooks are they?

Also are you guys throwing theese ZOOM Toads over mats? like you would a SPRO bronzeye etc.......or are you using them just around cover not over top the mats

Thanks -WM

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i use a gamy wide gap #5 hook

Same here first yr im using frogs ,putting them on a 6 ft falcon pistol grip heavy action and using a  abu 4600 c,4 with 20 lb big game

[brian_d]

the pond i fish the most i have to do casting from shore. so i only use 10-12 mono so i can get as long a cast as possibel. 6'6" mh baitcaster and i can get a good 30+yards out.

[jomatty]

dont pay too much attention to those that say these frogs are no good.  everyone has their favorites (mine is the ribbit) and there are very few that i do not think are good for certain things.

i like hooks that are the style of the zoom hooks with the keeper.  i find the owner version to be a much sharper, higher quality hook than the zoom ones however.  they will work fine on just a 4/0 or 5/0 hook but the keeper style hooks with allow you to get a lot more use out of every frog.  if you use a traditional ewg hook i would strongly suggest getting some super glue to help prolong the use of frogs and keep them from sliding down the hook

frog fishing is one application that i think one type of line is vastly superior tot he others.  braid is key imho.  go ahead and use heavy braid, 50lbs or more and a stout rod.  to be specific a rod with a fast tip that is heavy action with a lot of backbone is best but any flipping stick wil get the job done well enough.

here is how i fish them:

i keep the rod tip high and usually fish them as slow as i can that the legs are kicking good and the frog is staying up on top of the water.  this varies as sometimes a fast retrieve is more effective (not nec. because the fish hit it more but because you can cover so much more water).  i always use a steady retrieve with soft plastic frogs and if i want to stop and pause usually fish a bronzeye.  when a fish blows up on the bait i immediately reel down quickly while lowering my rod tip.  as soon as i actually feel the resistance of the fish i let him have it with a hard hook set.

there is no kind of fishing i enjoy more than frogging when the bite is on.  ive caught a lot of fish on the manns frogs and hope you do as well.

matt

[Wayne P.]

WhiteMike, the Horny Toad Hook and G-Mag Oversize hooks do not have a size shown on the package, but they are about a 7/0

[WhiteMike1018]

Anyone see the new Culprit frog?

Looks pretty sexy...