2025 Record Year On The Z-Man ToadZ

 

I caught 1,011 fish on a Z-Man Goat ToadZ in 2025, making it my most productive lure in a year, and it isn't even close. The previous best was 701 caught on T.H.E. Jig in 2021. My first fish caught on the ToadZ in 2025 was on May 13th. Here is the species breakdown:

Last Topwater Bass of 2025(10/30/25)

19" ToadZ (Green Pumpkin)

At the end of October, I thought I was still going to be able to catch some topwater fish in November, but it was not to be. I got this 19" bass I worked my way up the Intersection NE Reed Point on October 30th and it was my last topwater bass and topwater hit of the year. The water temps kept dropping, and even when it was reasonably calm and baitfish were on the surface, I couldn't draw a bite. But I was getting hit subsurface, so I didn't stay with topwater very long. 
 

BP's Top Bass Snatcher of 2022

 

In early July, a poster in the In-Depth Outdoors bass forum wrote about his success on a Z-Man GOAT Toadz. My ears perked up, seeing that he was talking about topwater explosions. I did some investigating. There are 4 different GOAT baits made by Z-Man. Three of them are different-sized grubs (Baby GOAT, The GOAT, Billy GOAT), and the fourth is the Toadz, which made its debut in 2022; they released the Grubs a year or two earlier. All I could get my hands on at first was The GOAT size. Immediately, fish were all over it, so I quickly placed an order at Tackle Warehouse because they had baits in stock, hoping to get some Toadz and Billy GOATs in time for a tournament on the Crow Wing River. Unfortunately, they got delayed in shipping and didn't make it. The Billy GOAT and Toadz were straight-fire for me until it finally got too cold for topwater. The Billy Goat was my #1 bass catcher in 2022, and the Toadz finished #2. Not counted are a significant number of fish that got off in the reeds or heavy slop. Also not figured into the numbers is that I used the Billy GOAT as a Chatterbait, Spinnerbait, Swim Jig Trailer, and the Toadz on buzzbaits. With this bait concept, Z-Man hit a home run; it draws strikes like a champion. 

Here are my Top 10 Bass Lures for 2022, by the numbers:

The Craw Tube's total put it into 3rd Place overall.
The Brovarney Jig caught an additional 26 largies putting it in 5th Place.

The eBay Chatterjig also caught 7 largies making it my 6th most productive bass lure of 2022.