Whats the best way to fish the Horney Toad?

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

How to rig? Color? Time of year? Depth? Retrieve? Whatever you guys are willing to share

[gt5bass]

Duh!!...In the water...but sometimes they will even go up on the bank to eat it

[Sacto John]

I have rigged HTs with a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG gammie, but have found they sometimes turn upside down. I found the Owner Wide Gap Plus kept the bait upright (hook down) better because of the heavier gage wire. I have also used Zoom's Horny Toad hook as well as weighted screw in hooks, if I am fishing the bait deeper.

As for how I fish the bait, well that is what makes these baits so great, there are so many ways to fish them. The most common way to fish them like a buzz bait. they work great this way becaue they are more weedless than a buzzbait. You can also use them over mats like you would a frog. I like the fact that you can kill your retrieve and they will slowly sink into holes in the mats. I have also used them with a weighted hook like a spinnerbait, just slow roll them along weed lines. If you use a lighter wire hook you can fish them on top with a pop and pause retrieve as you would a popper as well. I have also used the torn up baits as jig and spinnerbait trailers.

As for colors I use two, white and black.

[Calistar]

4/0 hook
I use the white color.
I like to use a bullet weight 1/8 oz and slow roll on the Delta from March on. Especially on high tide I like to graze the bait just above the weeds or down a weed line or through sparse tules. I haven't caught any real big fish yet but hopefully that'll change in a month or two...