I've just started using these, I haven't caught anything with them yet, but they seem like they should be an awesome bait.

One of the places I fish has alot floating grass, so I will rig the bait weedless, pitch on top of the grass and then start twitching it accross the top of the grass with the tip of my rod, stopping for a little bit at any open places in the grass and again when it finally comes completely off the grass.

My question is this, are these baits also effective in open shallow water? I ask because I was watching a fishing show the other where two anglers were competeing head to head and one of them referred to the Horny Toad as a buzz bait, but I didn't get a chance to see how he was using it.

If it is effective in open shallow water, how should I retrieve it? Slow steady retrieve, tickling it occasionally with the rod tip? Or little short jerks with a pause in between?

If you are using a floating frog or rat then the twitch, twitch, pause, twitch retrieve will work fine as will the shake in one place after coming across the mat of weeds.

The horny frog will not float as well so you have to keep it moving. It is super weedless. It works well when coming across the mat like a buzzbait as well. However it will also work well when used as a buzzer next to lay downs, docks, weeds, and other forms of cover. It has a sound that is different from a buzzer, but with a lot of the same action while on top.  A few things that are different are, that it will sink slower than a buzzbait, and it will get back to the top faster also.

The retrieve that I use when using it as a buzzer is, just fast enough to keep it on top, and keep the legs sputtering. I will crash into the cover and kill it and let it slowly sink before ripping it back to the top. I pretty much use the same retrieve that I would use if I were using  buzzbait.