Zoom horny toad & Hollow body frog

[wade_son]

Hi. So far this summer, I’ve really been struggling to fish topwater, especially frogs. I can’t walk a frog to save my life and I’m not sure why. I currently have an okuma 7’3” TCS heavy frogstick paired with a Curado 151 DC. Right now i just have one of those spro frogs tied onto 50 lb braid. I guess i need suggestions on two things. Which kind of topwater frog is the easiest to walk and what kind of hook and hook size do i need to rig a zoom horny toad in order for it to be weedless? Just bought a 5 pack of zoom horny toads today and tried rigging one with a straight up weightless Gamakatsu EWG hook and a Gamakatsu weighted superline spring-lock hook. Both didn’t seem to work. When i casted with the weightless EWG hook, it flipped over on its backside every time i reeled it in. When i casted the Gamakatsu weighted superline hook it caught more weeds than ever. It’s a 4/0 1/8 oz size hook. The casting was alright but i just caught a lot of weeds. I’m on a pretty bad dry spell. Haven’t caught a fish since last summer of May. If any of you guys can give me some suggestions, i would really appreciate it. Thanks

[the reel ess]

Just throw that hollow body frog in the weeds and twitch it back. I don't get too many strikes during the walk in open water. Occasionally, I'll get a strike as soon as it hits the water. I use a Booyah Pad Crasher and it walks OK. None of them are easy. I use a Hvy-XF rod made for frogs and it's about as stiff as a pool cue. You'll get a feel for it after a while, but it's not an easy thing to do.

 

Keep in mind, they won't want a frog every time out.

[YoTone]

owner has a toad double hook that works well for toads.

 

for me, walking the dog requires the rod tip pointing down and popping it on slack line. too long of a rod and it becomes difficult because popping the slack line the rod tip keeps touching the water messing the movement.

[BassNJake]

Horney toads are notorious for flipping over.

 

Keitech noisy flapper and the rage toad are engineered a little better and dont have the same issues.

 

 

 

[Glenn]

This video shows how rig the toad:

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

I don’t use horny toads much anymore because to me they had a low % of fish caught for all the effort. And I would lose many of the fish that did bite. I didn’t have much trouble with them flipping over though. I never found a hook I liked, even some that were recommended. The smaller the hook, you couldn’t hook the fish because  the body of the toad got in the way. If you used a bigger hook, it was too long for the toad body. So at least I can empathize.

I love Zoom z- hogs. They are lighter and the hookup and catch rate improves greatly with them. Havent seen them in stores lately, but I’m assuming they are still there. It is one of my fav. summer baits. I seem to get a larger avg. size fish with them too. The best hook I can find is a Gammy 3/0 wide gap hook. It isn’t the best because it doesn’t fit the body of the bait just right but it will catch lots of fish if you don’t mind      The bait slipping down the hook a lot. I’m sure there’s a better way but haven’t found it yet. Maybe the screw-in hooks. I never could find the right size for them either though.

[N Florida Mike]

23 minutes ago, Glenn said:

This video shows how rig the toad:

 

 

After watching Glenn’s video I’m going to try the hook he recommended. Maybe you CAN teach an older dog new tricks.?

[the reel ess]

4 hours ago, BassNJake said:

Horney toads are notorious for flipping over.

 

Keitech noisy flapper and the rage toad are engineered a little better and dont have the same issues.

 

 

 

But they work upside down too. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

8 hours ago, the reel ess said:

But they work upside down too. 

I was going to say the same thing.  I've used several soft plastic toads and they all seem to flip over on me.  I still have success.  My goal is to get a reaction bite by burning it, so I doubt they get a good look anyway.

[Smalls]

Are you twitching your frogs on slack line? They won’t walk if you aren’t 

[wade_son]

5 hours ago, Smalls said:

Are you twitching your frogs on slack line? They won’t walk if you aren’t 

Trying to. Lol. I feel like it’s almost a work of art to walk a frog. I can walk a spook and anything else perfectly fine. When it comes to a frog i struggle and you’re right it’s probably cuz I’m not giving the line enough slack. 

19 hours ago, the reel ess said:

Just throw that hollow body frog in the weeds and twitch it back. I don't get too many strikes during the walk in open water. Occasionally, I'll get a strike as soon as it hits the water. I use a Booyah Pad Crasher and it walks OK. None of them are easy. I use a Hvy-XF rod made for frogs and it's about as stiff as a pool cue. You'll get a feel for it after a while, but it's not an easy thing to do.

 

Keep in mind, they won't want a frog every time out.

You’re definitely right. Walking a frog is almost like a work of art. It’s not easy, just takes practice. I’ll get to walk at times, then other times i won’t. 

[tcbass]

I just posted this reply in a hollow body frog thread but could help you out with your shore fishing problems. The Whopper Frog is pretty much 100% weedless:

 

Best thing I did to start catching fish on frogs was to modify them and turn them

into Homemade Teckel Sprinker Frogs aka the Weedless Whopper Plopper. All it is is a paddle tail frog. 

 

Prior to this I fished for about 8 years with regular hollow body frogs and only caught some fish and I can successfully walk the dog. Fishing the same lakes and locations with the Homemade Sprinker frog shot my success up to like 90% over regular hollow body frogs and they are cheap and easy to modify. It’s also super easy to use. Just cast and reel in. You can pause but most of the time I catch fish on a straight retrieve. 

 

Here is the link on how to make them. I think once you do this your success could be so great you may never throw another regular hollow body frog again. 

 

 

 

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/205493-initial-thoughts-review-of-teckel-sprinker-frog-vs-booyah-toad-runner-vs-homemade-teckel-sprinker-frog/?tab=comments#comment-2331638

[Jaderose]

You want to walk a frog?  Well, my friend, have I got a solution for you!  Get yourself a Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher and cut the legs OFF.  And I mean OFF, not just short.  Cut them close and then pull them out  Throw that into whatever you are throwing your frog at (with the exception of heavy mats....you ain't gonna or need to walk there).  That stupid little modification raises all kinds of ruckus.  It'll pop and splash and roll around.  You can walk it in place.  AND it's Obviously weedless.  I was just out this morning fishing chocolate milk and knew I needed to raise a fuss so I tied one of those on.  I caught a couple of very nice girls on a day when I most likely would have gotten skunked

[GreenPig]

The Terminator Walking frog is very easy to walk. 

[BassNJake]

On 6/7/2019 at 9:35 PM, the reel ess said:

But they work upside down too. 

The problem is the increased hook thru the tongue scenario.

I know as a tourney guy the chances are slim to none that a tongue hooked fish makes the scales before dying.

If I gut hook a fish, I have the confidence I can cut the hook and release the fish with a probability for survival

With a tongue hooked fish it's gonna end up in the garden because it will die and I don't eat fish

 

 

[Shimano_1]

I love hollow body frogs and from my experience the booyah pad crasher is the easiest to walk. As already stated you need to twitch it on slack line...like a good amount of slack. And also tie a loop knot to the frog. This let's it walk much much easier. Plenty of stuff online to show how to tie the knot. Try that and the slack line and you'll figure it out. Lots of guys say just hop it but I've had a lot more success walking it especially in high percentage areas! Once you get good at it you'll be hooked! Good luck