anyone want to share about buzzbaits?

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

anyone like or dislike them? any rules about them? Out of the year it seems like i only may throw one about 5% of the year. I do have a favorite bait and i seem to like them on sonoma and trinity the most. I do not doubt clear lake has it's buzzbait moments........

let's talk buzzbaits! I want to improve my odds with bait!

Steven

[BassManDan]

Buzzbaits are without question the funnest "conventional" topwater. (Of all topwaters, i think the shellcracker is the top dog)

I haven't thrown them in a while really, but they're just too fun.

My Rules for buzzbaits
1. TRAILER HOOK, always have one on, usually you are tossing a buzz where that stinger hook shouldn't hang up too bad. If you are throwing in open water, flip the trailer hook upside down, the hook up ratio skyrockets, you catch every fish that hits it!

2. Use the lightest buzzbait you can get away with, now I don't mean size, but if you can throw a 1/4 oz bait that is still "standard" buzzbait size, that's gonna be the ticket.

Old funky buzzbaits work best, even better if you have no idea where or when it was made! I have come Cavitron baits that I have done some custom skirts on, but the funky blue/purple bait that came from god knows where is always my go to buzzer!

As for line, I'm not usually fishing buzzbaits in really nasty stuff, so 15-20 P-Line CX does the trick, enough to put a little pressure on the fish, but not the kind of gear for jungle hunting.

[Ringer]

Love 'em. Tape them to your car antenna and let them wear the blades to a wobble. Take the blade off and punch it with a square tipped nail then put it back on. Use 65# PowerPro braid and find a rock wall and hug the bank with the boat casting far ahead and on the bank. I use a Zoom trailer and a trailer hook. Fun stuff.

[set'em good]

I love buzzbaits...

You can cover allot of water and the fish you catch are usually of good quality. It is great for those 4-8lbs fish, some of my larger fish have been taken by buzzbaits.

Yes, always use a trailer hook. Most of them come with them now..

I actually use a larger buzzbait, I am comfortable with 1/2oz bait. Longer cast's cover more water.

My usual months for buzzbaits "depending on that years temps" is usually between March and October so that gives you 8 months to throw them...

Set'em Good

[ash]

For some really in depth info look on the southern board under Kelly Rippa he did a great post on this topic.

Me I love buzzbaits, double, single quad clack a lack I gots my buzzbait and my gat....

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

is there a special condition for double blade vrs single blade baits? is there a condition when too much blade should not be used or used?

steven

[ash]

I like the double blade in a few certain conditions I am talking side by side not in-line. The first being when I want to slow crawl the bait it pops up on plane very quickly, and I can slow it down quite a bit. It displaces tons of water squeals and kicks.

I like it a lot in the wind, during pre-spawn when the fish are up and dont want some slow squealing thing above their nest, and at night.

Hope this helps

[buddy brown]

If you are after 2-4 lb fish or fish it fast use a trailer hook for these snappers. Clear calm water I like to use the plastic clear quad blade white skirt. Stained choppy water bulkier and noisy. The slower the roll the bigger the fish. My biggest buzzbait fish to date is 10-3 and the blade was barely turning. Make sure that you use the right rod. Med. parabolic action w/ heavier 14-17 lb mono or heavy braid. This is my own opinion though, it really depends...

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

I was reading how buzzbaits are a big fish lure? Aren't big fish slow, lazy opportunist fish? I think I am going to go out next week to clear lake any try it out!

Should I use a Longer rod?

[JustinD]

I love the in-line double buzz from Persuader baits. White, Chart/White, Purple, or Black/Red with various color blades. Easy to slow roll and virtually weedless. Sometime of the year in the river I will fish the bait ALL day long. Definetly with a trailer hook. I use a longer 7'6" med. heavy rod with 15 lbs. mono unless I'm tossin' over surface weeds then braid. I look for the mushroom shaped deep weed beds that touch the surface (for instance backside of Mildred). One day this summer I caught 7 fish 3+ lbs up to 6 lbs. on the same clump every 15 minutes as i circled an island. Man I love buzzbaits.

[skolnuts]

I love the buzzbaits especially the persuader green clacker, and man I'd love to catch a double digit on one.

[Ba-Ba-Bass]

Find the buzz baits that are in a generic package like in a convenience store tackle section. These baits usually are the squeakiest at a slow retreive 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz black or if you can come across one yellow

[BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER]

They don't work on the Delta!

[Andy Giannini]

My favorite is an old Talon or TOC bait that weighs in at a mighty 15/16 of one oz.

I have some Persuaders that were mismarked as 1/2 oz and really weigh in at 7/8 oz.

The wind is usually a factor on the Delta. You might be at home tying stuff on in the garage, farting around in the boat and cinch down on a quarter oz buzzer for the next day. The next day the wind starts in, and you can't cast up to the levee to get to that smooth water with a 1/4, here is where a half or more can really shine.

The other factor is control during the cast, heavier baits are easier to cast hard into the wind and into cover than lightweight ones. You can put the brakes on it harder just before it touches down, and hit small targets easier with a heavier one.

Another factor is how much water you control in front of you. This is important to a non boater or am. You simply cannot keep up cast for cast unless you have a heavier bait. And as a boater you will dominate and control a huge amount of water in front of you.

If you wait to put a trailer hook on after you miss the first fish or two, you might have already lost the tournament. There are places where you just can't fish them, but its almost time to grab a frog.

I like heavy ones, 20 pound Big Game, and a 7 foot Cranking stick.

.03 A.G.

[185vsfrog]

Saltie, to correct your thinking, big bass are not slow and lazy. They do conserve energy but thats it. They are apex predators. To watch one eat a big swimbait right at the boat or right at the bank is incredible! They waste no time and absolutely kill it!!!!! When big bass decide to commit, there is no stopping them. They will eat something burned, or eat something slow rolled. Just depends on what they want at the time. As far as buzzbaits are concerned, I have caught fish in winter in 52 degree water on a buzzbait (no splash, just a boil). They eat it all year, depending on where you are fishing.

[Hillbilly in Cali]

I use them a lot. I prefer to throw it in thick cover so I don't use a trailer hook. If it is really thick I will throw frogs. Depending on what the fish want it can mean throwing a lot of different baits. As an example 2 years in a row my brother and I went to a creek that runs into a lake in KY and was wading the creek using buzz baits, One year he caught twice as many fish using a small chartruse strike king as I did on a larger black booyah . The next year I caught more using the black booyah.

In really clear lakes I prefer a little more wind with a bait that makes a lot of noise. In darker lakes any thing is fair game. I prefer single blades on a fast retrieve but if that doesn't work I will try different baits with different number of blades and different color and retieve. Don't be afraid to just throw buzzbaits all day untill you figure out what they want. Kind of like when you first start throwing swimbaits which I am still doing.

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

thanks everyone...... Some great info. Just bought 3 new batteries for the boat and a a onboard charger......I'm charged up and getting ready to head out!

[TritonBrent]

They don't work on the Delta!

I knew you couldnt resist and would post something in this thread.

[bassenvy]

blade-runner's 1oz quad counter rotating gold buzzzzzzzer (.)

[FATGUY]

throw them on braid.. braid floats so as for all my top water i use braid .. i remember when floro first came out and my buddy used it for top water .. half way to the boat top water quit working.. it took us about three or four tries before we figured out floro sinks !!!!!