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Lure Review

 

 

Big Bite Baits Tour Toad & Suicide Shad Buzzbaits

 

Date: 4/12/20
Tackle Type: Lures
Manufacturer: Big Bite Baits
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 7.25 - GOOD

Introduction:
Buzzbaits remain one of my favorites, not just as a topwater bait, but as a bait/technique in general. Anything you can just chuck and wind is a great way to get in a rhythm and find fish. Big Bite Baits has released their own spin on this popular bait incorporating two of their more popular soft plastics. Here's our look at the Tour Toad/Suicide Shad Buzzbait.

 

Big Bite Baits Tour Toad/Suicide Shad Buzz Specifications

Type Buzzbait
Depth 0-feet
Skirt Material N/A
Weight 1/4 & 3/8 oz
Colors/Patterns 4 (5 for Suicide Shad Version)
Additional Features Includes one, pre-rigged Tour Toad : Suicide Shad version includes one pre-rigged and one spare swimbait
MSRP $5.99 ($6.99 for SS version)


Introducing Big Bite Baits's Tour Toad Buzz

Impressions: Most of the buzz surrounding Big Bite Bait's new topwater offering surrounds the Tour Toad variant because it's the combination of two topwater baits. Their Tour Toad is a take on the popular soft plastic buzzing toad popularized by baits like Strike King's Rage Toad, Kalin's Sizmic Toad, and Zoom's Horny Toad. By taking their Tour Toad and packaging it with a skirtless buzzbait with a matching head, they've created their Tour Toad Buzzbait.

 


It's a buzzbait minus the skirt and plus a pre-rigged Tour Toad

 

Similarly, by painting matching heads to a few of their more popular Suicide Shad paddletail baits patterns, and pre-packaging the baits and buzzbait heads together, Big Bite Baits has created their Suicide Shad Buzzbait.


Also available is the Suicide Shad Buzz

Real World Tests: Both of these baits have their own unique appeal. The Tour Toad Buzzbait for the potential commotion of having the buzzing blade up front, and crazy, buzzing legs trailing, and the Suicide Shad Buzzbait for it's more subtle, above and below surface agitation.


This bait is a little more subtle in the water

 

Having honed my buzzbait technique on the California Delta, my combo for throwing these types of baits might be a little unconventional. I tend to look for flipping stick type rods with a soft tip and then any reel that casts well with a retrieve ratio over seven to one (7:1). This past Fall, that meant one of two combos: My Megabass Destroyer Valdivia matched with an 8.1:1 Shimano Bantam MGL or my Abu Garcia Ike series MIKE76-6 matched with the Revo4 IKE in 8.0:1.

 


Doesn't take long to experience the effectiveness

 

In a perfect world, my line of choice for throwing buzz type baits is braid. Fluorocarbon sinks, and nylon monofilament is a little too stretchy for my liking. I mention the perfect world scenario because as a tackle tester, sometimes, you can't concentrate on just one component of your combo when out not he water testing.


The head on these buzzbaits is designed to help get them to the surface quickly after a cast

So the biggest difference with Big Bite Bait's two buzzbait options here and a standard buzzbait is the doing away with a skirt. All you really have is the buzzbait wire, hook, and weighted head with a soft plastic attached to it. The head of the bait itself is a planing type to help get the buzzbait to the surface ASAP and no the backside of the head are two prongs for maximum bait retention - it works very well.


What I like his how the heads are custom painted to match the baits they are packaged with

Performance of the Tour Toad and Suicide Shad Buzzbait is good. It casts well and comes to the surface easily. As mentioned above, the baitkeeper does a good job of keeping the soft plastic bait attached. However, there are no special knocking plates for the buzzing blade to hit against and the buzzbait wire shoots in a straight line from the line tie area to the hook. This works well for the Tour Toad version since you want that toad on the surface too, but a little bend in the wire to set the Suicide Shad just below the surface would have been a nice touch.


A two pronged bait keeper keeps the soft plastics pinned

Design & Ergonomics: The Tour Toad and Suicide Shad Buzzbait are available in two sizes, one quarter, and three eighths ounce, which sound a little light at first glance, but the soft plastic baits add plenty of bulk to the bait to help with casting.


The Tour Toad has the added advantage of already being a buzzbait of sorts

Perhaps my favorite feature of these baits are how the heads are painted to match the baits along with the different blade color options. Given the intricate nature of the baits they represent, these custom colored heads are most intricate with the Suicide Shad Buzzbait. All but one color in the Tour Toad Buzzbait are pretty basic.


You can of course, rig it with your favorite weighted or unweighted EWG

Price & Applications: Big Bite Bait's Tour Toad Buzzbait retails for $5.99 while the Suicide Shad Buzzbait retails for $6.99. Other than the availability of colors and matching painted heads, the only difference between the two baits is the soft plastic bait that comes in the package and the fact the Suicide Shad version includes a spare bait while the Tour Toad just the one that is pre-rigged.


The tails/feet are attached out of the package and can be split for more action

Ratings

Big Bite Baits Tour Toad/Suicide Shad Buzz Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality Matching heads are a nice touch 8
Performance Behaves like a typical buzzbait 8
Price Right in line with the cost of other single blade buzzbaits 7
Features A buzz with a different bait 7
Design (Ergonomics) Limited color selection 6.5
Application One version with a lot of commotion, the other a little more subtle 7.5

Total Score

7.25

Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!
For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus

Minus
+ Custom painted heads to match baits - No spare bait with Tour Toad Buzzbait
+ Two sizes to choose from  
+ The Tour Toad Buzzbait creates a lot of commotion  
+ The Suicide Shad Buzzbait offers a more subtle approach  

  


Big Bite Baits extends the rigging options for two of their popular baits and what bass fisherman doesn't like options?

 

Conclusion: If you make a habit out of tipping your buzzbaits with a soft plastic bait trailer, you'll appreciate what Big Bite Baits has done with their Tour Toad and Suicide Shad Buzzbait offerings. By eliminating the skirt and matching the weighted head (and buzzbait blade) to the popular colors of these two soft plastic baits, they've extended the utility of those baits and given us a different way to rig and fish them, and what bass fisherman doesn't like rigging options?

 

Both of these baits are available at TackleWarehouse:

Tour Toad Buzzbait : Suicide Shad Buzzbait


 

   

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