Frogs vs. Toads for Big Bass

Keri: There you go.

Glenn: There we go.

Keri: What did I say?

Glenn: Right here. Oh boy, come here. Come here, honey. You ate that thing. Both hooks. Both hooks, look at that. Look at that, both hooks right in his face. Think he wanted that? Again, just waiting. Let 'em blow up on it, give it a second or two, reel down if you see the line swimming off and it starts to tighten up, crack that whip. Nice frog fish. Right there. Let's let this guy go. 

Glenn: Hey folks, Glenn May here with BassResource.com, and today I wanna talk to you about the difference between frogs versus toads, and which one is best for what conditions, when to use 'em, why do you use 'em? And I'm gonna give you a little tip here in the middle of this video that's something, I promise you, you've never heard of before. But I'm gonna tell you something that you're gonna really like. So stay tuned for that.

But first, let's talk about the little difference between a hollow body frog, as you can see, hollow body means you can squeeze it, it's hollow, versus a solid body toad. That's a solid piece of plastic there. They both are very buoyant. But a frog really floats. It's got quite a bit of flotation to it and you can just let it sit there on the top and it won't go anywhere. That is a critical difference between that and a toad because, with a frog, you can throw it under the same kinda cover, same weeds, same pockets, lily pads, that sorta thing, but when you get to a little opening, you can park it. Just let it sit and not go anywhere at all.

Because you can see, this is weedless. The hooks in there, weedless, everything, it's not gonna hook up in any of those weeds I just told you about. But it gets to that opening, you can let it sit and sit and sit and not move and give a little twitch with your rod tip or move your reel handle just a little bit just to give a little bit of movement, to give it that life like action, and oftentimes that's what triggers a strike.

Other times I'm just bringing it across woody cover, lots of thick heavy bushes. I'll find an opening. I'll let it sit there for a second and that fish has followed it all the way through all that cover. And as soon as you pause it, pow, they clock it, right?

So it's...you gotta use that buoyancy to your advantage. That's exactly...that's the key thing that this does that other baits don't, is that it floats. So use that to your advantage.

Keri: There you go.

Glenn: There we go. Boy, I had to wait.

Keri: That is very beautiful.

Glenn: There we go. That's a decent fish. Come here, you. 

Keri: Frog fish.

Glenn: Got a mouthful of frog. Got a mouthful of frog. Look at that. See that? See, that's the key, folks. When you're fishing frogs, you gotta wait for it. Don't set the hook right away when they blow up on 'em. That fish right there, he blew up on it and I waited and waited and waited until I saw the line swimming off and then I tightened down on it just to make sure he had a good bite on it and set the hook. And what you wanna do is have a little bit of slack in that. So if you let it tighten up too much and set the hook, you're just gonna pull his head. So in one swift motion, drop the rod tip and yank really hard. It's like cracking a whip. By throwing that slack in there, you can drive these thick big hooks right into his face. Gotcha, buddy. All right, let's let you go. Let him out over here. All righty. 

The other thing is a lotta people like to do is "walk the dog" with these baits. Personally, I don't. "Walk the dog" is just a way of, you know, bringing it back and forth and back and forth back to the boat. I just twitch it. I just pop it, pop it, pop it, just kinda gurgle it back to the boat. I feel it's the same sort of action. It's just a commotion on the surface that the fish key in on. It doesn't have to be "walking the dog." But if you wanna "walk the dog," you can. That's what these baits do...work really well for. 

Now, toads on the other hand, they're a little bit different. See these legs on the end, these phalanges, they're designed to create a little bit of action in the water. They kick back and forth and kick back and forth as they're going across the surface. And so they gurgle and gurgle and create a commotion on the surface that attracts the fish.

Really? Some bushes right here at the end of a flat.  That drop right off. Really, this is like a prime spot. And it was. Yes. 

There we go. Big old fish on a toad. On a toad! There we go. There we go. Come here. Right there. There we go. Think he wanted that? Look at that, boys. Took that right down. That's what toad fishing can for you, right there. All right, buddy. 

Here I've got it on a keel weighted hook so it keeps it upright. Keeps it from turning over. And I have more tips and tricks on these things, by the way. I've got some videos I'm gonna link here at the end of the video to show you, more detailed about this.

But this is really good for, you can fish across the tops of weeds, matted weeds, just like you can with the frog. You can fish it across lily pads and timber and that sorta thing in the same exact areas, but the difference is that this tumbles and falls through those holes, which can often get a really good strike when the fish aren't as active. The fish are really active, the frog is it. But if the fish are a little reluctant to bite. You bring this across that cover and when you get to that hole, pause it, and it'll fall down and it just kinda flutters, tumbles, kind of erratically through that hole, and that often will trigger a bite from lethargic fish. So that's the key difference with this bait, and it falls real slow because this...all this plastic, it's really buoyant. It's got a real slow fall right to it. And so that's perfect for...you go over say, for example, submerged weeds, where they haven't broken the surface, still, bring it across that, find those holes, drop it in there, and wait for that strike. 

Keri: There you go. Good one, honey. Good one. Good one. Good one. Good one. Good one.

Glenn: Here we go. 

Keri: Nice fish.

Glenn: There we go.

Keri: Nice one. 

Glenn: Come here. 

Keri: Toad fishing at it's finest.

Glenn: Come here. There we are. 

Keri: Nice fish. 

Glenn: Come on.

Keri: We gotta get some pictures.

Glenn: Now, that's the normal way to fish these. Now, my wife came up with another way to fish these toads, and I'm telling you, it is really effective. I wanna give this tip to you guys. You guys haven't heard of this, I know you haven't. I haven't seen anybody talk about this anywhere, not on our forums, not on other YouTube videos. So if you see somebody that's done a video on how to do this, what I'm about to tell you, check the post date on that versus the post date on this video. I promise you, they got it from this video. So you guys are seeing this first.

But one day my wife was looking at a toad here and she said, "You know what, that looks a lot like a jig, doesn't it? It's got the same kinda profile. So why can't I use it like a jig?" And so what she started to do with this is actually flip it and pitch it in the pockets on the shoreline. Literally pitching this into holes like you would a jig, in the same exact spots you would a jig, and let it flutter and fall like I said, that erratic kinda falling...slow falling action. And guess what? She caught fish. 

Keri: There we go.

He came out of there just to eat the toad. Came out of there just to eat that toad. Good job, baby. Come here, you. Little guy, but, you know, he came right out. You've been caught before, I think. Cute little guy.

Glenn: Nice.

Keri: Got him on a toad. Here we go, let's let you go and you go play with your friends. There you go, little guy.

Glenn: So, guys, toads are a lot more versatile than what you might think. Fish it like a jig. I know it sounds really weird, but when you go to tie on a jig, tie on a keel weighted toad and fish that instead, and pitch it and flip it in the same kinda pockets you would a jig, and you'll be surprised how many fish you'll catch. They just don't see that kinda presentation. 

Anyway, I hope those tips help. For more tips, I've got some links on this video to go to these baits in much more detail, way more detail, exactly how to fish it, and the color choices, and the rigs, the kinda rods you need, everything you need. Click on those links now to learn a lot more about toads and frogs.

And for more information and for more answers to all your questions about bass fishing, always you can visit BassResource.com.