What's all the Buzz About? It's Buzzbait Time

It's buzzbait time! A nice smallmouth that exploded on a buzzbait in a foot of water.

Where I fish on Lake Powell (Arizona/Utah) there are a lot of high cliff walls constituting the shoreline. Early morning topwater fishing tends to be best and also lasts longer on what locals call "east-facing" walls. Actually, these are walls on the eastern shores, so technically the walls face west. Still, everyone understands when someone says they had good topwater action running the east-facing walls in the early morning hours.

The aerial photo above shows five east-facing walls in spots called the Kanes, a couple of creeks above West Canyon and in Friendship Cove. They fall within a ten mile radius, or ten minutes apart. Running these walls quickly (about 15-20 minutes fishing each wall), you can cherry pick a bunch of decent bass off each wall while they are still throwing down some shade. This same "run and buzz" pattern can produce anywhere that east-facing shorelines throw down early morning shade a little longer time than more open shorelines.

A key aspect however, is not just any east-facing walls, but the real key is for otherwise good spots to lie underneath the east-facing walls. Simply because there is an east-facing wall, that does not make it a good spot. Each of the spots shown on the aerial photo represents an inflowing creek mouth. The fact they lay under east-facing walls makes them prime for early morning buzzbait or topwater action. Another plus is these spots are clustered less than ten minutes apart from each other. So you can run them all quickly and pull a few decent bass off each wall if you are lucky.

In terms of size, I tend to use the 1/4 oz sizes more when it is calm out; the 3/8 most of the time; and the 1/2 oz size when the wind blows or it's choppy. I tend to use a buzzbait more in cover, in the shade, in a chop or in rippled water. I tend to use hard plastic topwaters (such as poppers, Super Spooks, Lucky Craft Sammy, etc.) more in open, sunny or calm waters. So if I was fishing around a point that had a shaded, rippled side, I'd probably pick up the buzzbait rod until I got to the calm, sunny side, and then I'd pick up a rod with a Super Spook or Sammy for example. However, I have used buzzbaits successfully under any and all conditions. The best time to use buzzbaits is simply when bass are willing to belt them, which is often. In fact, I'd rather use a buzzbait than any topwater since a buzzbait fishes faster, covers more water, and I like the upright single hook. It's like fishing a topwater jig to me. Given a choice of line, I like to use fluorocarbon line with buzzbaits and a soft-tipped rod.

I often rig two buzzbait rods - one baitcaster with a heavier buzzbait and heavier line, and one spinning rod with a lighter buzzbait and ten pound test. This way I can show fish a couple of different buzzbait styles, colors, blade configurations, actions, change casting arms, and if one rod temporarily goes "down" or out of commission for whatever reason, I can instantly pick up the other rod to keep fishing. A third rod with a throwback soft bait (either weightless or lightly-weighted) is also essential to throw back at any good fish that blow up but miss the buzzbait, follow it to the boat or that you otherwise spot with your eyes or on the sonar. They may or may not swipe at the buzzbait again (or at all) but you can often catch them on the throwback soft bait of your choice. It's tough to beat a 4 or 5 inch Senko as a throwback bait.

A good throwback bait rigged and ready to throw - is essential. Shown above is a 4-inch 9S-Series Yamamoto Senko in "threadfin shad" color #927 with lightweight 1/8 and 5/32 oz wacky jigs. Being able to instantly throw back an unweighted or lightweight soft bait can be crucial to catching many more bass than just with buzzbaits alone.

Although this info is specific to how I use buzzbaits on Lake Powell, you may be able to apply some of these principles to your own home waters anywhere. Good luck!

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There was a time, several decades ago, when a few cronies and I restricted ourselves to only using buzzbaits. There was no special reason to do this, except we liked the challenge. We had done this sort of thing before by voluntarily restricting our fishing to only certain lure types or designated colors, in order to make fishing more challenging to us. Not for a day, or for a few fishing trips, but for entire seasons.

So I tied on a buzzbait at the start of one season, and never took it off. A few friends did the same thing. One friend in particular, Phil Chan and I, we fished mainly buzzbaits for not one but two seasons. There was no reason, except the challenge. Likewise, there was no reason NOT to fish buzzbaits. We scored well most any day or night, under any conditions, with buzzbaits. Oh, there were vexing days we wished to try something else, but we stuck with it. By the end of each fishing trip, we could usually conjure up a decent catch, most any day, on buzzbaits.

I wish there was some deep insight I could give you after two years straight, throwing buzzbaits only. There's not. Things that pop to mind are:

• Make that first cast count. Percentages are that you will either catch or be rejected by most fish on that first cast.
  
• Make the splashdown count. Casting a buzzbait is like pitching a softball. Due to the air-resistant big blades, it is more like an arcing slow lob cast than a fastball. So fish have more time to see it coming through the air, and they are most likely looking up expecting to see dragonflies, butterflies, bats and what not hovering close to the surface. Odds are, you will get hit upon splashdown or within the first few seconds many days.
  
• Make that first bite count. If you miss a bite, which happens often with all topwater lures, just keep it coming. If you plan to toss the buzzbait back at the same fish that missed, wait five minutes. If you cast right back in, there's more chance the fish will reject it. If you wait five minutes, the fish will often do its best to make a more solid strike after you wait five minutes.
  
• Bump the Stump. This almost goes without saying, but it's so true. Anytime the buzzbait bumps anything, odds are high you'll get hit.

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What Makes these Buzzbaits Great? Let us count the ways:

1. Oxbow Wire. Drop down bend in lower wire arm allows skirt to ride lower in the water for more solid strikes and hooksets. Oxbow bend also has stabilizing rudder effect, helping buzzbait run truer and straighter.
    
2. Oversized Gamakatsu. Extra-long wide-bend 4/0 Gamakatsu hook set far back to nab short strikers.
    
3. Two-Dimensional Planing Head. The horizontally flattened head is not just wide, but the flat plane is angled upward in front for instant lift. Behind the horizontal planing section, there is a second vertical planing dimension. This awesome engineering feat is like the water flow hitting a wall. It forces the buzzbait straight up, helping it plane as soon as it hits the surface, and keeping it on top at the slowest possible crawl. The hydrodynamics of it all are astounding.
    
4. New Skirt Technology. Either Hole-In-One, EZ Skirts or Wrapped Skirts are used. Short-striking fish can't easily pull these skirts down, which wrecks any chance for a second swipe. These skirt strands come glued onto a rubber core. They stay in place so bass keep hitting until you hook them!
    
5. Heavy Duty .051 Wire Arms in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. There's an .051 diameter wire in the 3/8 and 1/2 oz sizes, making this buzzbait a monster bass machine! It sports one of the strongest arm you'll ever see for wrestling the biggest bass on heavy line.
    

6. .040 Super Wire Arm in 1/4 oz. Much fuss is made with spinnerbaits about wire arm diameter. But when it comes to buzzbaits, there is rarely any discussion of wire diameter. Therefore, most buzzbaits are made with very heavy wire arms. For instance, these 3/8 and 1/2 oz buzzbaits have a heavy duty .051 wire arm. That's a wire size never used in spinnerbaits for bass.

   However, the 1/4 oz buzzbaits have an .040 diameter SUPER WIRE arm. Now, .040 is considered heavy wire for a spinnerbait, and most "big bass" spinnerbaits on the market have .040 wire arms. What this means is these 1/4 oz buzzbaits with the .040 wire are quite durable to land lunkers, and the .040 wire does allow for better harmonics and more vibration than .051 wire on a lightweight (1/4 oz) buzzbait.

   Yes, vibration is as important in a buzzbait as a spinnerbait, and the SUPER WIRE vibrates almost 50% more and is 30% more durable and bend-resistant than standard wire of the same diameter. Now, that 30% more strength is on a lab-testing machine. While actually fishing, it seems the bend-resistance equates to more than that.
    

7. Did we mention the oversized set-back 4/0 Gamakatsu for hooking, holding and landing the heaviest lunkers?

Those are just the facts. No hype.

That's What Makes these Buzzbaits Great!

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Wrapped Skirts

The buzzbaits below have the brand new wrapped style skirt. These are the very latest breakthrough in new skirt technology for 2007. Bassdozer's Store is one of the first to offer these. The non-stop wriggling motion of the strands is especially attractive on these buzzbaits.

It's kind of a retro rolled-up layered skirt. Made of a new generation of super soft, super thin silicone remindful of living rubber in terms of action under water. These have an inner core tube that three layers of super soft, super thin silicone are wrapped around so the finished skirt appears rolled up. The innermost layer is wide spear-point strands. The two outer layers are thin-cut strands. Each layer can be the same or different color. This new soft silicone is so thin that glitter cannot be added to the skirts. Glitter flake is too thick to go into this new material.

The main reason why wrapped skirts go so good on buzzbaits is that they stay put on the lead collar. They can't easily pull down. The wrapped skirts have a solid inner core tube that stays in place on buzzbaits. They are very durable and they wriggle like crazy.

Standard skirts can pull off the lead collar even just from casting a buzzbait with the standard skirt band. A buzzbait needs to be cast a little different than and more forceful than a spinnerbait or jig. A standard style skirt, once you catch a couple fish on it, just does not stay in place on a hard cast or when a fish grabs a buzzbait and misses, a standard skirt often gets pulled down the hook. On the other hand, the wrapped skirts stay in place.

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Citrus Shad ~ Clacker

Clacker. These buzzbaits have clackers. Bottom beads ensure the clacker sits up high enough so it constantly contacts the main blade. The longer wire bent down behind the rivet ensures the main blade stays far forward and in constant contact with the clacker too.

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Citrus Shad ~ Clacker

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ White ~ Clacker

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EZ Skirt Models

EZ Skirts. Buzzbaits in the section below have have "EZ" skirts, which are new on the market since mid-2005. These have a new style of "hubbed" center retainer to hold the strands in place. They are rugged and durable, the strands are locked in place so color patterns can never get messed up. They present beautifully on buzzbaits and have an incredible wriggling action.

Reason I use these on a buzzbait is I can carefully glue the center hub to the lead collar of the buzzbait, making it almost impossible the skirt can ever pull down. Keep in mind, it is the center hub that can be glued to the collar - not the individual strands.

These EZ Skirts have a good action and a lot of wiggle in the water, making them great for buzzbaits, plus the fact that bass can't easily pull them

When moving - swimming, buzzing or reeled steadily, this skirt style has incredible wriggling, pulsing, puffing movements not possible with other skirt types. You will definitely notice (and like) the difference these puffing, pulsing, swimming skirts make on the following three buzzbaits.

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ White Silver

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Smokey Shad

1/2 oz Buzzbait ~ Bluegill

1/2 oz Buzzbait ~ Chartreuse White Stain

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Black Red

1/2 oz Buzzbait ~ Black Red

Here are a few new colors I added without the spinner blade:

3/8 oz White Gold

3/8 oz Silver Hologram

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Hole-In-One Skirt Models

The Hole-In-Ones are center-hubbed, all strands come factory-glued perfectly in place. If you want, the solid center hub (not the individual strands) can be glued to the collar on the buzzbait, making the total buzzbait package nearly indestructible!

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Threadfin Special

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Gold Shiner Flash

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Smallie Special

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Alewife

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Chartreuse White Flash

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Chartreuse White Pearl

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Threadfin Shad

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Summer Shad

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Spot Special

3/8 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ White Pearl Flash

1/2 oz Buzzbait ~ Threadfin Flash

1/2 oz Buzzbait ~ Chartreuse White Flash

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Frogs, Toads and Buzzbaits.  Hollow rubber frogs and soft plastic toads have become a trend for fishing thick grass the last few years. Hollow frogs are often nudged or bounced along with the rod tip in order to impart some semblance of natural movement. Soft plastic toads are often kept moving, reeled or "buzzed" slowly across the surface of a congested grassy area. Many frog and toad lures are colored to resemble the same. Although buzzbaits are not as weedless as rubber frogs and soft plastic toads, buzzbaits also come across the surface in thick cover, but buzzbait colors rarely resemble frogs or toads. So now, Bassdozer introduces two new buzzbait colors for grass (and frog) filled areas: 1) Green Pumpkin Gold and 2) Natural Frog. Please enjoy!

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Green Pumpkin Gold

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Natural Frog

Merthiolate. Another productive color you've probably never seen in a buzzbait before!

1/4 oz Buzzbait ~ Style P ~ Merthiolate