Horny Toad Recipe

[squigster]

Does anyone have a recipe for Del's Horny Toad mold? I am having problems getting the bait to run right. Do you use medium plastic or hard, soft, add salt , floating plastic, inject vs. hand pour? Any help would be appreciated.

[MONKEYqpHUNTER]

i dont have dells toad mold but on the frog molds i use i have a lil recipe i use

i use 4 oz medium plastic.before the plastic i heated i add .5 oz of hardner and 1 table spoon of super float bubbles.now heat as normal.add your color and flake after the plastic is heated.stur your scent in right before you pour the plastc into the mold.now with the dell mold.warm up the aluminum mold before you pour the plastic in it.you dont need the mold hot just warm.a cold 2 part alumionum mold will sometimes give you a hard time pouring so warm it up.also being you added a lil hardner right before you pour nuke the plastic for 30-45 seconds right before you pour.if you are using a pouring pot follow the same steps and raise your plastic temp to around 340 when you pour.this formula floATS GOOD AND THE HARDNER IMPROVES THE ACTION AND MAKES THE BAIT A LIL MORE TUFF.HOPE THIS HELPS .

[Richard Prager]

If you are only pouring for yourself, you might find you will have better action if you don't trim all of the flash around the feet. I don't have that mold anymore, but I also use to leave the sprue (overpour)on as well.

[squigster]

I am going to try an injector even though I dont want to use it due to its danger. I tried these in two different plastics and they seem really light and dodge all over the place and upside down. They run good the first 10 feet and the last 10 feet but the 20 feet in between they are turning upside down and not staying nose up. I tried rigging them 2 different ways and both give the same result. I suck at handpouring the legs so I kind of attribute some of it to that, but the nose has to be cut to trim off the topoff and I think that is a problem that I cant resolve due to it having a flat face.

If you are only pouring for yourself, you might find you will have better action if you don't trim all of the flash around the feet. I don't have that mold anymore, but I also use to leave the sprue (overpour)on as well.

[Richard Prager]

When you pour the feet, try using only 3 or 4 ounces in the cup. It will be much easier to control the flow into the mold. It's a good bait and I caught a lot of fish on it. I caught more fish leaving the the topoff on there.

[squigster]

I can pour the legs but I have a problem with it filling in the point on the tails and thought that it may be a problem. You said you leave the sprue on. The whole thing? What do you insert the hook into? The sprue? Wouldnt that leave a flat face which is the top of the sprue?

When you pour the feet, try using only 3 or 4 ounces in the cup. It will be much easier to control the flow into the mold. It's a good bait and I caught a lot of fish on it. I caught more fish leaving the the topoff on there.

[Richard Prager]

With that particular mold you HAVE to pour the feet first. With the mold open, pour into the feet on one side of the mold. Then close the mold and pour the rest.The mold has to be warm and you have to pour rest into the closed mold otherwise the feet and legs won't bond and will peel apart. With the sprue, I just trimmed it just a bit. It kind of looked like a button. I used a frog hook with a hitch hiker and inserted the hitchhiker into the button. Here's a link to the hook.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/attachments/soft-plastics/2215d1190150632-frogs-583e_1.jpg

[squigster]

I have poured some already the way you have explained and they still do not run right. I will leave some of the sprue on and see how that goes. I am also going to try and use softer plastic so it will run easier at slow speeds like a real Horny Toad. I am also going to add some salt for weight and see if that helps. As fas as the hook goes, it is almost exacty what I use on my frog baits. I will give it another shot and will post as soon as I get a chance to try them. Thanks a bunch for everyones help!

With that particular mold you HAVE to pour the feet first. With the mold open, pour into the feet on one side of the mold. Then close the mold and pour the rest.The mold has to be warm and you have to pour rest into the closed mold otherwise the feet and legs won't bond and will peel apart. With the sprue, I just trimmed it just a bit. It kind of looked like a button. I used a frog hook with a hitch hiker and inserted the hitchhiker into the button. Here's a link to the hook.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/attachments/soft-plastics/2215d1190150632-frogs-583e_1.jpg

[King Bait Co.]

I am going to try an injector even though I dont want to use it due to its danger. I tried these in two different plastics and they seem really light and dodge all over the place and upside down. They run good the first 10 feet and the last 10 feet but the 20 feet in between they are turning upside down and not staying nose up. I tried rigging them 2 different ways and both give the same result. I suck at handpouring the legs so I kind of attribute some of it to that, but the nose has to be cut to trim off the topoff and I think that is a problem that I cant resolve due to it having a flat face.

I had the same problem with the Strike King Rage Tail Frog flipping over. What I did is switch to a 4/0 wide gap from a 5/0 wide gap hook. Then I will stick it the hook point in a little further than normal. So when you turn the hook the eyelet buried further back in the head. The body is not striaght. The middle of the frog will dip down so the head is pointing up at about a 45 degree angle. It has work realiy well so far and it seem to get up and buzz quicker and is 99% weedless. That should also help with them flipping over but they will every know and then. Also I hold the rod so the tip is almost straight up but has a little angle to it. The bass 9 out of 10 times will pretty much hook them self. I still set the hook but not as hard. Mine sink I think that helps them from flipping over if they are rigged right plus if they float wouldn't the legs skim over the water but if they sink the legs should dig into the water. Sorry I couldn't help much on the making of them but I do use them quite a bit.

Edited July 9, 2008 by King Bait Co.

[Delw]

Squigster, something got me to thinking, are you using a spinner reel or a bait caster?, a spinning reel will cause a frog to roll the closer its gets to the rod tip, what you do in that case is turn your rod 45-90 degrees from the bait.

does the frog always roll the same direction when its closer

[squigster]

Del,

I am using a 7 ft Quantum PT rod with a 6:3:1 Quantum PT baitcast reel with Suffix Braid. It works great for frogs. I cant say whether it rolls the same direction or not. I just know i rolls over. I will try them again and see if I can tell.

[King Bait Co.]

I use mine on a 6' 6" med heavy rod with a 6:3:1 Browning Midas baitcaster. I have 30lb Fire Line Crystal on it.

[Delw]

bait casters are fine, spinning reels tend to roll frogs when they get close to the tip

[GB GONE]

Frogs seem to roll when the bait is not rigged completely straight or, as mentioned, the hook is to large for the bait.

While I do not use this particular frog, I frog fish a whole lot. I use a Carrot Stix 7'2" Hvy rod with a fast tip and a REVO 7.2:1 reel filled with FireLine Crystal. I burn mine as the bait is great at getting reaction strikes.

The only time I have an issue with the frog running right is when I rig it off center (hook point is not aligned with where the hook went in near the head) or whent he frog is not rigged straight horizontally. As you fish the, the frog body will slip on the hook unless you place something there to prevent the slippage. If the body bends or is not straight, the frog flips over and may even roll, especially at HIGH speeds!!!

Jim

PS I fish frogs made with super soft plastic up to saltwater plastic. The plastic formula does not seem to make a significant change in the way the paddle tail frogs run. It may, however, with this type of frog.

[squigster]

I am not sure but I think part of it is that when you trim the sprue off you end up with a flat face which pushes water instead of being streamlined. The other major factor is me handpouring the legs. I get overruns and sometimes cannot get the tails to pour to a point which I am not sure makes a difference or not. I ordered an injector and even though i dont want to use it it may be my only options other than modifying the mold to put a vacuum on it to pull the plastic down into the cavities so that they fill. As far as rigging I think they are rigged as straight as they could be. I tried two different rigs and they both acted the same. Also without salt in it, it seems too light and catches the wind a little and seems like the rear end dont stay in the water. As I stated in my previous post I am going to try the injector and add salt and see what I get. Someone suggested also leaving the sprue on so I will try that also. Thanks for you input. I will post the results as soon as I get a cahnce to make some more.

Frogs seem to roll when the bait is not rigged completely straight or, as mentioned, the hook is to large for the bait.

While I do not use this particular frog, I frog fish a whole lot. I use a Carrot Stix 7'2" Hvy rod with a fast tip and a REVO 7.2:1 reel filled with FireLine Crystal. I burn mine as the bait is great at getting reaction strikes.

The only time I have an issue with the frog running right is when I rig it off center (hook point is not aligned with where the hook went in near the head) or whent he frog is not rigged straight horizontally. As you fish the, the frog body will slip on the hook unless you place something there to prevent the slippage. If the body bends or is not straight, the frog flips over and may even roll, especially at HIGH speeds!!!

Jim

PS I fish frogs made with super soft plastic up to saltwater plastic. The plastic formula does not seem to make a significant change in the way the paddle tail frogs run. It may, however, with this type of frog.

[King Bait Co.]

This may help with the flat nose problem. Get some of those Betts Carolina Floaters. They come in flo. green and black and their is five in a pack for a $1.69. They sell them at Bass Pro the item number is 12-475-830-08. They should help move water around the nose area better.

[squigster]

I finally got the injector today. It worked to fill the cavity but was a little scary to use. The Lurecraft version is made for the clear plastic molds so using it for aluminum is a guessing game when filling the cavity. I had plastic running down out of the sprue becasue I overfilled it and plastic was running everywhere. I didnt know it but it overfilled and ran down the back. Luckily I had gloves on or I may have lost a few fingers becasue I grabbed the mold and only then realized that the cavity overfilled. As is always suggested here, wear the appropriate clothing and gloves and be safe. The bad part about the injector is that it is so small that I can only do one frog at a time and that its a little dangerous and a pain to clean between pours. If anyone wants to go this route I would suggest multiple injectors. I would like to do this a safer way but have not figured one out yet. I have not fished the Toad yet but I added some salt. We will see how that all works out. I will keep you posted.

[gunnie3035]

I don't know much about anything, but wouldn't a lightly weighted [3/32, 1/16oz] frog hook help keep the bait upright OR maybe a snap on the hook?? I know when I'm buzzing a swimbait sometimes a snap gives the bait enough freedom to stay on top rather than being pulled beneath the surface after the line soaks up water.