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Buzz Baits


Oldtyme

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Hello all.

I am new to fishing for bass & have just started targeting them since I like to C & R and love the fight (and the possibility of a 4-5 lber testing my light gear)

I've had good luck with divers & senkos, but the waters I fish almost scream for a top water bait. So I was watching a fishing show & they were using buzz baits.

So I went & bought a Strike King Buzz King Junior (big enough for the fish in my lakes).

The questions are, are these productive? Any conditions where they are more productive?

Any tips on throwing them? I was thinking of casting & retreiving along the outside of the lilly pads in 2-3 feet of water.

Should I run a trailer grub behind? (like I seen on TV)

I was thinking of taking one of my beat up senkos & tear it in 1/2 & use it for a tail.

Anyways. Looking forward to any advice. I will be going out tommorow morning & the forecast will be overcast.

Give me some confidence in this lure smile.gif

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Old- Buzzbaits can be a lot of fun. And the ones you bought should be fine. Remember to try and keep them near cover. You said you are going to throw them near pads.. wonderfull... The best time is low light conditions. Early morning, late evening , or clowdy! Trailers are nice sometimes. You can keep a buzz on the surface while reeling slower if you have a trailer of some sort. I myself seldome use a trailer.

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Oldtyme,

You picked the right time to start pitching them. We're just starting what I consider the peak time of year for buzzers. Deitz is right. Tossing around shallow cover is the best deal, and low-light makes for a better bite. But, if it's cloudy, I've had them go all day on buzz-baits.

One thing I do this time of year, is the closer we get to lake turnover, the bigger the buzzer I throw. Eventually, I throw double-buzzers in September. The cooler the water gets, the more likely a bass is in the mood for a big meal. I just got a picture from last year of a September buzz-bait fish that went 6lbs. 5oz. I scanned it, so it's a little grainy.

wacbass6el.jpg

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Wow. If that won't give me confidence in a buzz bait then I'm not sure what will smile.gif

I just tied on my little Buzz King. It's a 3/16 oz & looks OK sized to me, but I don't mind the smaller fish biting.

I am going to use my good baitcaster instead of my light spinning setup. (just in case big mama bass comes along, plus I'm sure it'll be easier to throw)

Glad to hear they work well & this is a good time of year to throw them. Like I said before, tommorow is supposed to be nice & cool & cloudy, plus I will be on the lake before the sun comes up so I will be there at a peak time.

I'll report back tommorow. smile.gif

Thanks again.

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Every lake is different. On most of the lakes up north here, they hit buzzbaits all day. Northerns love them too. Just use a trailer hook, no need for any thing else hanging from it. I recommend BOOYAH buzzbaits, the northland ones are crappy and they dont work after a few fish are caught on em. The fish tonite were hitting the buzzbaits when Id pause and let them sink...but like I said every lake and every day is different. Tonite 3 of us caught about 50 largemouth from 5-9pm, the senko outfished the buzzbaits, but the buzzbaits are more fun!

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Every lake is different. Ray mentioned the less light and the more cloudier weather makes for some better fishing.....not the case tonight with low light and cloudy conditions. Fished a lake just south of my home and couldn't get anything to go on the buzzbaits. Fished in 1-5 FOW around docks and pads, nada.

Buzzbaits are great and typically do work in those situations. I have had great success with them as the sun is just hitting the horizon. Did that earlier in July up against the pencil reeds on this one lake. Didn't catch a fish all night and as soon as that sun starting setting....BAM, 7 fish on buzzbaits all between 3-5lbs!

They are a blast to catch on buzzbaits! Good luck and enjoy!

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If you fish the lakes you're talking about often, you should see a pattern for size. It depends on the time of year as Ray said, using bigger bait when they are packing on the feedbags in fall, but many lakes tend to be more productive other times of the year on smaller, or bigger baits. My biggest bass yet was on a lake that I do well fishing small baits, and it was caught on the smallest buzzbait I own. On the otherhand, I;ve fished lakes where I couldn't buy a strike on this size buzzbait, and had to go big. So as with other lure types it's good to have a couple different sizes and colors.

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Well darn. That's what I was hoping for del, but it was skunkaroo on the buzz bait today. Not for lack of trying as my arm is sore from throwing it smile.gif

I did get a couple on senkos & a few larger ones on cranks in 7-10 feet of water. Maybe the weather has them all goofy (coolest day in a long time)

Maybe next time.

Also maybe next time I'll try one of the 'suggested' buzzes here in this post.

Oh. Yes I had question. How fast do you want to retrieve these?

(edit: nevermind the question, I found a great article on buzz baits ... )

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Honestly the speed varies. Seems they love it going fast through the weeds (and it keeps u from getting stuck). Other times they like it just breaking the surface. Only takes a few casts to find out what they like.

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Ok. I took your advice Sledneck & went & bought a 1/4 oz Booyah (black jig/black spinner blade).

I wasn't sure if you told me to use a trailer hook so I'm sure glad I picked some up smile.gif

Goin' Round 2 tommorrow morning with the buzzbait.

(if they don't like it I got a couple more cranks,lol)

Couple more questions:

How do I put these on the line. Should I tie direct (which I did last time) or use a snap swivel?

Also, on trailer hook.... where do I want to put that "hook keeper on'er thingie" they provide? (if it matters it's a gamakatsu 2/0 red).

I've read to put the trailer facing the opposite direction of the lures hook. True?

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if the keeper thingie ? is a collar ; then you slip that over the eye of the trailer hook and run the hook pt of the lure thru it. if it is a littel disk, then you slide the trailer hook on and then run the hook pt . thru the disk.as far as having the trailer hook pt. up or down; you can try both! but if fishig close to weeds or brush etc. then you will want the pt. up so it doesn't get caught on things as much. but in more open water if you want to try having the pt. down go for it. every one has a differnt opion on wether to have the pt. up or down. try both and see which way for yourself.

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Tie direct, especially if it's a brand that has an open crimp(I'm not sure what it's actually called) cause with a swivel it'll make you crazy when every few casts the bait ends up running badly or tangled, it's the same way with spinnerbaits.

Some guys wear to trailer hooks with spinners and buzzers, but so far, I haven't found the same appeal. I find that they get me more weeds, and don't let the bait run as straight. Of course, this is a total personal preference, so you'll just have to see.

Good Luck!

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one other thing i do on spinner and buzz baits that have an open end.( the end isn't stwisted shut ) is to slip a rubber/plastic collar over the open end to make it closed so i can use a leader and it won't slide down onto the body part. ( i don't like loosing a bait to some thing with teeth!)

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Always use a trailer hook. Tie line directly to bait. Dont use a swivel or leader! Ive only had 2 buzzbaits get bitten off by fish ever, and thats intentionally fishing for northerns with 20lb fireline. Now I use 30lb fireline on my casting buzzbait rod (casts the same as 20lb).65lb spiderwire stealth on my speedtrolling rod. Anywhere here up north where you fish for bass, youll catch tons of Pike.

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I dont think a braided line makes one bit of difference in getting bit off or not, I dont use a leader with anything and have been bitten off a lot with 65lb PP I had a monster grab my buzzer on the river about 3 weeks ago and it took all of a half a second to cut it loose! I also dont like trailer hooks to much, I think there bad for the fish if your catching and releasing (getting fouled in the gills) and grab all sorts of dump in the water, in certain situations I will use one but only if Im getting a ton of short strikes!

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I agree with riverrat's idea about trailer hooks but would add that I also do not use them becuase I've found that more often than not it just causes me a headache when I have to try and get both hooks out of the roof of the fishes mouth instead of one. For the most part, with the bait moving that fast (and a solid set) I've found the single hook get's burried just fine to pull fish through even the thickest of cover.

As for leaders/swivels. I always tie directly to my buzz/spinner baits. While I do occassionally lose baits because of this I can also say that I have caught pike over 36 inches on a buzz without a leader. Because of the length of a big buzz basically the only way a pike will be able to bite you off is if it hits the front of the bait (sounds like what happened to RiverRat). The way I deal with the occasional lost lure (probably only 2 or 3 a season and I fish at least 2 times per week throwing mainly buzzbaits) is to buy the cheap ones that you were discouraged from getting. The cheap ones have worked just fine for me, I've had several mornings with multiple bass over 4 and 5 pounds using those cheap northland buzzbaits.

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Honestly Ive went through about 20 northland buzzbaits in the last month. They get bent and the lil rivet thing breaks. The booyahs I have do not get ruined, I have not had to throw one away yet in this time. The booyah has a metal hinge that makes a clanging noise on retrieval that drives pike absolutley crazy. When the water is this warm up here the pike absolutley flip out when they get near the boat, thats the reason for trailer hook. So from a money spending standpoint its more economical to buy a quality BB imo.

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Oldtyme

it looks like buzz baits are like any other lure out there...everyone has their favorites. Sledneck's statement about what I call a "clacker" on the booyah baits is a perfect example. My experience with the lakes I fish (both metro and northwoods) has been that when two people in the boat are throwing buzz baits, the one without any extra clackers or trailers has caught more fish. However, I'm sure that on other lakes or under different conditions Sled's buzz baits would probably work better. I guess maybe I should mention that I actually like that the northland buzz baits "break down" a little. I've found that they are the most effective after they've been thrown for a while. After some use these baits start to make a whinning sound from the blade rubbing against the shaft. It's my opinion that this whinning increases the productivity of the bait, while I may be wrong with that I do know it increases my confidence.

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ahh sled, looking at those pics makes me think about a few lakes up there that nobody fishes and are LOADED with HUGE bass. I'm going to be daydreaming all day tomorrow frown.gif

That little guy is going to get spoiled grin.gif

Did that one go 20?

Those are a couple of pics he will look at for the rest of his life. The best part is that you were there with him, something you both will always remember.

The biggest bass I ever caught was on a little lake up there that rarely gets fished. I lost my last topwater bait right at sunset, so I threw on a floating muskie crank (grandmas bait I believe) twitched a few times and that was all she wrote. No tape or camera....of course mad.gif

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Great fish. The pictures are definitely a confidence builder even though I'm fishless so far with a buzz laugh.gif

But I don't give up easy. I found a new lake yesterday and caught the biggest gills I've ever seen...... I realized "Hey, if the gills get this big, I bet they grow a lot of other big fishies too" so we (taking my friend this time) are going back tommorow armed with buzzes.

I did find the differences in the buzzes from the article I linked too above.

My stike king (white/chart)(on my friends rod) is a squealer. What I did with the Booyah (black) I bought was straighten the end and remove the "clanker" on the lure, so I guess now it too is a squealer type. It's on my rod.

I also took off the trailer hook, but have them if I feel I need them. I thought the fish would only be hooked on the back hook, not both.

Good news is my camera broke, so I'm bound to catch a nice fish tommorow. LoL. laugh.gif

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