(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Florida anglers, accustomed to the Sunshine State’s weedy environs, better learn to do two things especially well if they’re going to compete at home – flip and throw a frog, and not necessarily in that order. Lakeland’s Bobby Lane is no exception to that rule, and he takes the braid and heavy rods wherever he goes.
In order to maximize his frogging success around the country, he’s worked with Berkley over the past three years to develop the Rib Toad buzz frog. While he’ll fish popping frogs, walking frogs and swimming frogs as appropriate, this one gets a heavy dose of usage. He said that the ribbed legs make a massive amount of commotion, the paddle-tail feet create a rooster tail, and it swims straight, but the toad itself is only one part of the system -- accordingly he’s developed a tackle system that keeps him competitive anytime this bite is in play.
It starts with an Abu-Garcia Revo STX baitcasting reel. “The reason I like the STX is 20 pounds of drag, so I can crank this thing down so when I go to set the hook it is not going to slip at all,” he explained. He pairs it with Abu’s 7’6” heavy-action Villain rod, a stick that is stout and barely bends at all, the better to winch big bass out of heavy cover.
Lane’s line choice is 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast. Before putting it on his Revo he’ll start with 15 or 20 turns of monofilament as backing, and then he’s careful to apply pressure as he spools on the braid. Doing so, he explained, eliminates most line-related problems.
While many anglers use an offset-shank hook with their buzz toads, and Lane admitted that they can be very productive, he prefers a straight-shank model, specifically a Trokar 6/0 Flippin’ Hook. He said that it tends to catch on grass, pads and other debris far less than an offset version. Some anglers go to a 5/0, and he said that will work in the Rib Toad as well, but he prefers the big gap and heavy wire around big fish. He ties it on with a double Palomar knot that he learned while fishing for Florida’s ultra-powerful snook, and he said it is “indestructible and it needs to be for hauling big fish out of heavy cover.”
The Rib Toad is a fairly heavy and aerodynamic lure, so it casts like a bullet, but sometimes a little bit of extra weight is needed, either to cast into the wind or to help it create a firmer impression on top of a grass mat. In that case, Lane will add a 1/16- or 1/8-ounce weight to the nose of his toad.
If you want to learn some of the other keys to Lane’s frogging success, including why he prefers Flat Out Tungsten weights, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
