Picasso Toad Slayer Buzzbait: the bare frame that skips under docks
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There is a category of spot most topwater lures never see: the two square metres of shade under a low dock, the inside of a tree fallen into the water, the underside of a branch skimming the surface. A silicone skirt slows the lure in flight and stops it skipping. The Toad Slayer removes the skirt precisely so it can go there.
A buzzbait, not a frog
The shelf label says frog, but the maker's description is unambiguous: this is a buzzbait frame, with a rotating blade and a wire arm, designed to carry your own soft frog or swimbait. It is sold bare, with no trailer at all. Picasso specifies that the plastic slides on and ends up covering the head entirely, which locks it in place instead of letting it creep down the shank on every cast.
The product photo shows exactly that: a nickel single hook with a keeper barb on the shank, a long unpainted lead head, the wire arm, and a black two-winged buzz blade with its brown rusted rivet. No skirt, no eyes, no paint. That is an observation from a product photo, not a specification.
Why losing the skirt changes the fishing
A silicone skirt does three things: it adds bulk, it slows the lure on the retrieve, and it acts as a parachute in flight. Remove it and all three reverse. The description highlights the most interesting consequence: without that drag, the bait skips effortlessly under docks, blowdowns and overhanging cover. A conventional skirted buzzbait does not skip, or skips badly; this one bounces across the water like a stone.
The maker also says it performs well in open water, and that deserves a caveat depending on what you rig. With a bulky hollow frog you get drag back and the bait fishes higher and slower. With a slim soft swimbait the whole thing stays compact and casts a long way, but you lose the broad silhouette.
Choosing and rigging the trailer
Thread the plastic onto the hook so it rides up and caps the lead head: that is what the set-up is built to allow, and it is what stops the trailer sliding back down into the bend after three casts. Check the plastic's body stays in line with the shank; a trailer rigged crooked makes the whole lure spiral and ruins the straight tracking.
The two families that suit it are soft frogs with kicking legs, to maximise the commotion, and paddle-tail swimbaits, for a quieter signature and better casting distance. If what you actually want is a complete topwater already armed for dense weed, a closed hollow-body frog such as the 6th Sense Vega Hollow Body Frog answers a different need.
Do not skip with a short rod or thin braid. The move is a low sidearm cast, almost parallel to the water, with just enough thumb pressure for the lure to leave flat. Braid in 0.40 to 0.50 mm absorbs a hookset inside cover and lets you drag out a fish that has wrapped itself round a piling, which thin fluorocarbon will not forgive.
The noise, and what to expect from it
The Toad Slayer carries over the pre-rusted rivet from the Picasso Rusty Squeaker Buzzbait: rusted metal squeaks instead of turning silently. Picasso pairs that squeak with an oversized blade and claims a surface commotion fish are not used to, capable according to the brand of pulling fish up from deep water. That last statement is a manufacturer's claim, not a verifiable figure.
What is factual is the technical combination: a large blade plus no skirt. The big blade makes up for the lift the skirt no longer provides, which is what lets a bare-bodied bait plane at all. It is coherent, and it is also why you cannot shrink the blade on this model without unbalancing everything.
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Frame and hardware
The arm is a heat-treated wire in .040 inch gauge, around 1 mm, presented as a balance between function and durability. The hook is a Mustad Ultra Point in 5/0, the single size given in the description. It is a wide hook, which makes sense on a bait meant to carry a bulky plastic that masks part of the point.
On the other hand, neither total weight, nor length, nor exact blade size is published. Since the lure is sold without a trailer, the final weight depends on the plastic you rig anyway: two anglers with the same Toad Slayer can be casting very different packages. If you need a precise weight to match a rod, start from the rigged lure and weigh it yourself.
The classic mistake
Fishing this lure with light buzzbait tackle. Skipping under a dock sends the bait deep into cover, and the strike comes at the end of the line, behind an obstacle. Heavy rod, thick braid, tight drag. And as on every buzzbait, never strike at the noise: keep reeling until you feel weight, especially here where the hook point is partly masked by the plastic.
Colours by light level
- Overcast skies, dark water: black blade, as in the photo, paired with a dark trailer. The silhouette is what the fish sees from below.
- Stained water: gold or copper blade, throwing a warm reflection when light no longer gets through.
- Clear water, bright sky: nickel blade and a natural trailer, white or pale green, to stay consistent with visible forage.
The best rig in the world is worth nothing if there is no fish under the dock you are aiming at. That is what CarnaFish helps settle: one photo of the spot, and the AI suggests the zone, the depth and the lure type that suit the conditions. For the rest of the method, our guide to getting started with bass fishing covers how to read cluttered cover.
What to remember
- It is a buzzbait frame sold bare, not a frog: the soft trailer is not supplied and it caps the head entirely.
- Losing the skirt is what makes it skip under docks, blowdowns and low vegetation.
- A pre-rusted rivet for the squeak, an oversized blade to replace the lift the skirt no longer gives.
- A .040 inch wire, around 1 mm, with a Mustad 5/0 hook; no weight or length published, and the final weight depends on the trailer.
FAQ
Does the lure come with a trailer?
No, the manufacturer states explicitly that soft plastic trailers are not included. The Toad Slayer is sold as a bare frame — hook, lead, wire arm and blade — to be completed with your own frog or swimbait.
How much does the Toad Slayer weigh?
Picasso publishes neither weight nor length for this model. Since the final balance depends on the plastic you rig, the simplest answer is to weigh the whole thing once rigged if you need to match a rod precisely.
Why remove the skirt?
Because a skirt slows the lure in flight and stops it skipping. Without it, the bait skips under docks, blowdowns and overhanging cover, the kind of spots a conventional buzzbait never reaches.
What sort of plastic should I rig on it?
A soft frog with kicking legs for maximum commotion, or a paddle-tail swimbait for a quieter signature and longer casts. What matters is that the plastic rides up to cover the lead head and stays in line with the shank.
How does it differ from the brand's Rusty Squeaker?
The Picasso Rusty Squeaker Buzzbait is a complete skirted buzzbait that fishes as it comes. The Toad Slayer keeps the squeaking rivet idea but drops the skirt to carry a plastic and gain skipping ability.
Do I need a steel leader?
Only if the spot holds pike, which happens regularly in Europe along summer weed edges. The .040 frame is no protection against teeth, and a surface strike turns into a break-off very quickly without a leader.
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