Buzzbaits

[k olson]

I would like to debate the issue of buzzbaits. I believe it was in the latest issue that John G. talked about his favorite types based on sound & presentation. I would like to respectively disagree with him and claim that the "Boogerman Buzzbait", which is made in Illinois is by far the best one on the market.

Its the only one that I know of, that the blade is made to hit the shaft on purpose for an extremely loud clanking sound that really pisses off large smallies. I will admit that the buzzbait takes quite a beating and must be tweaked on a regular basis because of its large size but based on my experience, larger

baits produce larger fish. The second issues is the presentation. I have read and was told many times, that a very fast retrieve is often the best method for strikes. Personally, I feel a fast retrieve will increase your percentages of misses whether you are throwing a large or small buzz. In addition to that, we are supposed to be mimicking a potential food source, a large moth or dragonfly does not rip across the water. Therefore, I purpose a slow and steady retrieve with increased speed at the end will ultimately increase your odds of hook ups. Any thoughts ?

[Guest rich mc]

I also favor a slow retrieve I let the water bulge from the blades with just occasional breaks of the surface. but then there are times it has to be churning. my fav is rob folders buzz bait 1/8. rich mc

[Mike G]

I just caught a nice Largemouth this morning on a Buzz bait custom made. Mine are made with quad plastic blades. I also replaced the smallish blade on my 1/4 oz white Boogerman with a quad blade. (BTW the 1/4 oz Boogerman weighs 1/2 oz out of the box.) The quad allows fast or slow retrieves and it climbs to the surface like a helicopter. No argument the Boogerman is a good one.

[sambennett]

Whichever buzz bait you use, roughing up the little spacer where it contacts the blade makes 'em sing louder. I use my needlenose to make an indention in both the base of the blade and the spacer. Over time it gets worn smooth again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

I'm headed down to the Conecuh National Forest this weekend and you can be damnsure the buzzer is the first bait in the box.

 

I always thought they were supposed to mimic a small mammal or a baby bird. I've caught 'em just about every way, from jerking and letting it actually submerge to burning it as fast as I can. Nice thing about the buzzer is that you can go through a variety of cadences on a single retrieve. The fish will tell you what they like.

 

One thing is for certain - big bass love 'em and small bass won't hesitate to whack 'em.

 

-SB

[Tim C.]

I have never used a buzzbait on a river until I saw some of the online postings here. A couple of weeks ago I tried one by the Geneva area.......holy cow did I have a blast! Others were using fly gear and some were drifting live bait. I was the only one who was picking them up. I did switch it up with a rapala but I caught about six on the buzzer (lost a bunch also). Cant wait to tie one on again.

[sambennett]

Trust the Buzzer™.

 

-SB

[Brian R]

Whichever buzz bait you use, roughing up the little spacer where it contacts the blade makes 'em sing louder. I use my needlenose to make an indention in both the base of the blade and the spacer. Over time it gets worn smooth again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

I'm headed down to the Conecuh National Forest this weekend and you can be damnsure the buzzer is the first bait in the box.

 

I always thought they were supposed to mimic a small mammal or a baby bird. I've caught 'em just about every way, from jerking and letting it actually submerge to burning it as fast as I can. Nice thing about the buzzer is that you can go through a variety of cadences on a single retrieve. The fish will tell you what they like.

 

One thing is for certain - big bass love 'em and small bass won't hesitate to whack 'em.

 

-SB

 

Sometimes big bass love 'em. However, I've also seen buzzbaits spook the heck out of just as many big bass as well. The same thing does happen with poppers and any other surface baits that make a lot of racket and commotion, but on a much smaller scale when compared to buzzbaits, in my opinion. I won't hesitate to throw one from time to time to change it up, and I've picked up some good sized fish on them. However, also factoring in the number of strikes that are actually produced and how many of those fish miss the bait (seems to be the majority), I've never been completely convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs in regard to buzzbaits.

[Bterrill]

I partially agree with Brian. Buzzbaits can spook fish and do often. You should never neglect to try one in the Summer and Fall.

 

They can also be the most effective lure you can throw, covering a tremendous amount of water very quickly and soliciting strikes from fish that wouldn't have hit another lure. If you combine a buzzbait with floating or power wading, throwing casts over logs and dragging them over the top, you'll find they are very effective at removing bass from wood. In fact, this is the best feature of a buzzbait for me- they don't hang easy, so you can throw them and drag them over anything. I fish them when I want to cover a lot of ground and fish cover thoroughly. For a slower paced topwater there are more realistic and further casting lures I like to employ.

 

Just be prepared to take the rod high to get fish over trees and such.

 

I prefer a dual counter rotating blade which I bend to smack together. A trailer hook will get you in the neighborhood of 70-80% hookups on decent fish. Do the micro dinks that slap and miss really matter?

 

If you aren't fishing a lot of wood, there are far better topwaters than buzzbaits. Larger propbaits make better noise and you can pause them. The hook up is near 80% for all strikes. Prop baits almost always cast better than buzzbaits. You do have to be very careful around cover not to hang.

 

For smallmouth bass, you cannot beat a walk the dog plug like a Sammy 100. That motion will draw strikes when buzzbaits spook and creep out bass. The ability to skip the lure under low hanging branches and cast close to 50-60 yards means you're showing the lure to unspooked lunkers instead of wary dinks. You can afford to be further from the water when you cast, so more bass acting naturally=more caught. The WTD hitting the surface sounds like a bass nailing a large baitfish and often is enough to start the reaction.

 

Yeah, always carry a buzzbait, or two.

[Norm M]

I let the fish decide how fast they want it.