Your topwater toad sizzles steadily across the otherwise calm surface of a serene lake. Suddenly, a heart-stopping blow up from a fired-up bass changes the mood!

That’s toad fishing.

Rigged weedless on a single, high percentage extra wide gap (EWG) hook, toads give access to areas off limits to traditional buzzbaits while still calling fish with surface splashing sound.

Toads are perfect for buzz-sawing through expansive fields of pads or grass as well as docks, sea walls, rip rap and the like. While their cousin—the hollow body frog—may work better for targeting single, isolated pieces of cover, toads help anglers cover more water faster in search of active fish.

When toad fishing, stick to braided line. Braid floats and keeps the nose of the lure up so it can climb over snags. Plus, you’re likely throwing a toad in places that call for strong line, and fish are blowing up on it so aggressively that you’re just hanging on for dear life. The low stretch characteristics of braid will help you get the hook in the fish, while the toughness of the line will help you get the fish in the boat.

Video transcript:

Travis Manson:
Hey guys, Travis Manson on behalf of MONSTERBASS. We're actually trying to catch a few monster bass on a Buzz Frog, covering a lot of water. We've got some cloud cover, so these fish are actually going to be roaming. We're going to be fishing some docks, some sea wall, some manmade structure, of course, some grass. And we're going to put this Buzz Frog to work and catch a few fish today. So, I do like to fish these Buzz Frogs on braid. So, I like to use heavy braid, whether it be 50, 65, believe it or not, even 85 pound, depending on the type of structure and where you're fishing. There's a lot of times we're fishing around heavy cover, thick vegetation, so that's why I go with that heavy braid. So, for this particular bait, I'm using a size 4/0 extra wide gap, super line hook, which pairs perfect with this braid.

Travis Manson:
And I'm just going to rig it up, so it is weedless. And the whole key with these Buzz Frogs is the action. So, this one in particular gives off a lot of action on the water. I can reel it fast. I can reel it slow. As you can see, I'm going to be working a lot of these docks and really get it tight up against the bank, because a lot of times, especially early in the morning, these fish are going to be up shallow and just kind of cruising. And then once that sun does come out, we will be fishing it a little bit deeper off of some of these deeper docks, off of the edges. We're looking for anything like a ladder or some type of float, even a jet ski ramp, things like that is where we're going to be throwing this bait today. So, whenever I'm throwing the Buzz Frog, I really like a seven and half foot long rod in that medium or medium heavy range.

Travis Manson:
As far as the reel goes, you want to use a high gear ratio reel. You want to be able to pick up as much line as possible. A lot of times these fish, when you get a strike, you want to be able to get them out of the cover quickly. And so that high gear ratio is really going to help in order to do that. So, the whole deal today with this Buzz Toad is to cover as much water as possible. So, I'm visually looking, anticipating my next target. And I'm going to place that bait anywhere where I think there could be a bass. The whole deal though, is to cover as much water as possible. So, a lot of docks, a lot of grass, I see some overhanging trees down this bank. I have a lot of targets in front of me, and this is the perfect setup. You can see right here, we have some scattered pads.

Travis Manson:
So, I'm going to cast that around these pads and I'm just covering water, troller motor's on high. And I'm just moving down the bank, trying to hit as many targets as possible. So, I'm really excited about what we have here. So, we have a dock, we have some scattered vegetation. A lot of times these fish will actually get up underneath these docks. Now, today it's cloudy. These fish are going to be a little scattered, but oftentimes the key with the Buzz Frog is being able to get that bait back up under docks and shade lines, places where these fish are going to be hanging out, especially if you have high sun. And you want to take those shots and get aggressive with your cast and make sure you get that bait way up under there and hopefully get a bite. So, there's a couple different retreats with this Buzz Frog. I'll make a long cast past the structure.

Travis Manson:
So, here you see a bunch of Lilly pads. And if I want to work this quick through these pads, I'm going to keep that rod tip up, and I'm just going to keep that bait coming through. But there's going to be some days when you're going to want to slow this down. And so, I'm going to make a nice long cast, keep that rod tip up and I'm just creeping that bait over that vegetation. And it's just kicking ever so slightly. And depending on the mood of the fish is going to really depend on how you work that bait. So, it really comes down to figuring out what those fish want for that particular day. This time of year, covering water is key as many targets as possible. We have a bunch of targets in front of us. If you guys are interested in giving this a try, I would pick up some Buzz Toads, cover a bunch of water, put that troller motor on high and go catch a bunch of bass.