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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: BrisBassMan on September 16, 2012, 05:55:49 PM

Title: Toga Blues
Post by: BrisBassMan on September 16, 2012, 05:55:49 PM
Hi,

I was hoping I could pick your brains on a issue I'm having with Toga.  Went out yesterday to try and get a Toga.  Being land based I was gonna be behind the eight ball as I was going to be fishing holes in the weed and I reckon I would have found it very difficult to even extract the fish once hooked but I was gonna worry about that when it happened.

I have been trying to get a Toga for ages and only ever lost fish because the hooks just aren't sticking.  Yesterday I found a hole in the lilies and when the ZMAN Popper Frog(SP) was thrown into it there was a boil on the water as it landed.  I knew I had a good chance and sure enough it got smashed and I was on for all of about 1.5 secs.  I thought maybe the hook I was using was maybe a little too big and maybe this was confirmed on the next two casts to the same hole as it got nudged two more times.

I thought I might throw on the Jackall frog to scale the lure size down and this got smashed three times more with the last being a real good one and but alas no cigar.  I have tried many times letting the fish take it for a little and also tried hitting it hard to set the hook and nothing so far.

What do you guys use on the Toga(my Nemesis)

Cheers
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: StevenM on September 16, 2012, 06:41:43 PM
Firstly I am no expert

Was talking to the toga king yesterday.

His secret

Smaller lures, smaller hooks.
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: sooty on September 17, 2012, 07:17:51 PM
Use barbless hooks or crush the barbs down, I have found my success rate has increased since I did this.
Sure you still lose a few but get a much better hookup rate and that has to improve your success rate
Kev
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: Sweetwater on September 17, 2012, 08:47:01 PM
When are you losing the saratoga when you've managed to get a hookup? On the jump perhaps?
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: BrisBassMan on September 17, 2012, 11:53:51 PM
Thanks guys, good food for thought.

Fitzy - Mainly they have hit and stayed connected for a second or two.  I thought I needed give them a bit more of a chance to get it in the gob so I have varied the times I try to set the hooks.  This is also the reason for the soft plastics so that the initial reaction for them would not be to spit it immediately but maybe to have another go.  Of course I could just be unlucky  so far too  :o

Very hard to get a hard body lure into the spot and then drag it out again without disturbing the and snagging the lilies hence the SP Frogs.  Otherwise I would throw on a small surface lure(NW Pencil) with small sharp hooks for sure.   


Cheers
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: bushwacker on September 18, 2012, 08:16:49 AM
I have had much the sam problems down at Hinze ive seen allot of toga hooked 3 or 4 and lost every one of them.

That was before the water level rise havent been back since.

Heddon tiny torpeedo's it what a few blokes swear by but yeah its still a mistery .
One bloke did say using muddler minnows (fly) to count to 3 then strike to the side and low.

Just what i heard.

Steve
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: NormGood on September 18, 2012, 08:43:33 AM
Not sure if this helps for lure fishos, but for fly I use a VERY sharp and thin wire gauge hook. Gam B10S are very good.  When I hook up I set that hook HARD and fight with rod tip IN the water.

Norm
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: elops on September 18, 2012, 10:17:12 AM
Geoff, if I can use them prefer small walkers with sharp trebles or subsurface or very shallow wakebaits. Weedless frogs my favorite is the Tiny Toad with eagle claw double.  Toga are suckers  for any thing that walks or or swims surface/subsurface been eating bugs, reptiles, amphibians for 140 million years it is an instinctive reaction. Unlike Bass or Barra they are not inhalation feeders they grab and hold their prey chewing and crushing before swallowing. Not a fan of single hook weedless rigged frogs exept the River2sea Dahlburg the stiff single gets better hookups than a single which rolls flat when they crush it.   
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: BrisBassMan on September 19, 2012, 11:36:10 AM
 Thanks guys I will continue to put this into practice bad keep on trying.

Steve thanks mate I now remember you talking about that tiny toad.  I will look for one as the weedless is definitely the go I reckon.
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: BrisBassMan on September 23, 2012, 11:04:03 PM
Hi guys,

I have turned my frown upside down !!!!  Yeah Baby  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: bushwacker on September 24, 2012, 09:02:44 AM
Awesome  :GoodPost)

Stinger hook hey ?

Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: elops on September 24, 2012, 09:19:18 AM
Nice one  :youbeauty
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: aussiebasser on September 24, 2012, 09:40:11 AM
Excellent.  Pam got two 'toga over the weekend.  She now has more than me so I'll be looking for tips from her when she gets home.
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: elops on September 25, 2012, 11:03:07 AM
Have a try on your way home from work Dale  ;)
Title: Re: Toga Blues
Post by: BMESS on October 01, 2012, 12:47:07 PM
Try replacing your trebles with single barbless hooks on poppers, seems to help with the hookup.