Last night I was out and there was enough surface activity just before sunset that I gave a topwater a shot for the first time this year. At some point in the past few months I had gotten a Booyah Toad Runner in one of the subscription boxes. 

 

Anyone who has used the Toad Runner, have you had any problem with short strikes? I had several hits, but they were all short and I was never able to set the hook. It almost seemed like the fish were targeting the "plopper" on the back rather than the frog itself. Granted, the bass in this particular pond run small, so that could be the reason. I would have tried a Whopper Plopper/Berkley Choppo but the only one I had with me was probably too big. That's why I gave the Toad Runner a shot, it had the plopper concept but in a smaller package.

 

Just curious if this was due to small fish or is a problem with the Toad Runner. Just don't want to try it somewhere with bigger fish and still have short strikes. I like the concept of a frog and a plopper in one, but good concepts don't always make good lures.

They miss it more often than plopper style baits, but I think that has to do with the fact it's a fairly quick moving bait that is fishing in fairly heavy cover making it difficult for fish to locate. I have found that the fish that miss it are almost always little ones. If you have a bait to follow up with they'll come back a lot of the time too so it makes a good bird dog.