Buzz baits on the Delta

[stubbs]

So never tossed them before but have heard good things...looking for a crash course on them for this year....time of year? A few colors to start?

[scott h]

Best advice anyone can get is go out and start throwing them, now, next week, next month and start experimenting with cover, open water weather conditions.... There never will be a shortcut to knowledge, knowledge earned is knowledge gained and only you can do that for yourself. Get and throw the basic colors, keep it simple, get a few different blade variations to see what you like and go grind em out! Tight lines.

[Burke]

I've thrown them all day depending upon the cover that I run into. My favorite colors are white, white/chartreuse, or red/black. I prefer the single blade buzz baits because you don't have to worry about cleaning out 2 blades when you run into weeds. I love throwing them over weed beds where there can just be only a few inches of water over the top of the weeds. You have to practice your timing so that you can start cranking just before the buzz bait hits the water. If you wait to start cranking after the lure hits the water, it will sink and you can get caught up in the weeds.

I've also started to throw the Whooper Plopper a lot too. They act like a buzz bait but they will float when they aren't being cranked. You can twitch them when they are sitting on top of the water and that will sometimes get you a bite. My favorite colors are the white and munky butt. I throw either the 90 or 130. I upgrade my hooks to Owner 4x hooks.

[Randy Walker]

Agree with the other 2 replies... Go out and throw them for sure...

There are great brands on the market. I prefer the Persuader in several styles because they get up on top of the water quick, you can move them pretty slow if desired and they last a long time.

Play with speed retreives... What works very well for me is a slow to med speed and give it 2-3 small rips of the wrist while retrieving in. The same way you would retreive and twitch a spinnerbaits in clear water. This mimics something fleeing faster and changes the cadence more.

Colors: I love black (with or w/o colors mixed), white and chart/white, chart/blue.

Styles:
- single w/clacker - this makes a loud clacking sound and is great in stained to dirty water and especially on windy days when the water has a chop to it.
- double buzz - two blades are sometimes better than one.. You got to have a couple in the boat because they draw a huge strike.
- two timer: this is a duel inline blade... This bait flat out catches fish! Blake with silver flake during low light or dirty water or white/chart

Trailers: depends on on situation. Small ribbon tails, beavers, brush hogs all work well as do many other plastics. A Havoc Pit Boss works really well, has a ton of action and since it's similar flat on the bottom it helps the bait rise quick.

Trailer hooks: ALWAYS if tourney fishing. Daichii makes a good red stinger hook . You can also put a large treble hook on as a trailer and cut of the un-welded side leaving 2 hook points that will face up and even drags well across the top of vegetation.

Places: around wood. Spawning areas, along rock walls between the rocks and weed line (high to mid tide), along side of docks and of course across weed beds.

I like a 7:1 reel... Just my pref

Line: 30-65 braid (spider wire)

If your missing fish, put a trailer hook on and/or go with a rod change.. Use a rod with a softer tip which will allows the fish to get the bait before you pull it away from them. Your hook up ratio may go up..

Hope some of this helps with your buzzin future...Just get out and play with them... It's a fantastic bait and way to catch fish. I've caught fish on them on the Delta from February threw the fall...

As said, The Plopper is AWESOME as well and should be in the boat.. +1 for the Munkey Butt... The new tweety is also good.

Another thing to consider is a soft buzz style bait like a Zoom Horney Toad or a Strike King rag shad. These are basically like buzz baits that are weed less. They are great around weeds and allows you to kill the bait around holes... Sometimes can be deadly!!

Have fun!
You can also check out rbbassfishing.net and search the word Buzz, you may be able to pick up some additional info.

Randy

[Burke]

I agree with Randy on the reel and line to use. 50 lb or 65 lb Braid is a must. Many times you are going to have to pull the fish out of thick weeds and braid will cut the weeds

[mark poulson]

Always have a Texas rigged senko ready to throw back to fish that miss the buzzbait.

Bobby Barrack's Buzz Frog is another good option, and it floats on the pause, so you can pull it over grass, pause at holes or at the edge, and then swim it back again. He has videos on Youtube you should check out.

[surfk9]

Hey Stubbs..I agree with everything before me...Buzz Baits are a great lure (irregardless of the brands...I make my own)they're an exciting bait to have in your arsenal....But be forewarned ..they are addictive!!! I began throwing buzzers in the early 80's...first buzz bait i threw was the "Lunker Lure"..I've had buzz baits tied on ever since irregardless of the time of year or conditions...most conventional wisdom is throwing from spring to fall in "calmer" waters...in my opinion that is out the window...i've caught fish January to December in calm to damn near delta force winds (albeit most of my fishing friends think I'm wacko)..but i've caught some of my biggest fish on the Delta throwing buzzers into wind chopped shores ("they" say the wind is your friend)....my favorite situations on the Delta are pitching into small pockets along tullie lines, pockets between tullies and rip-rap banks....i try to "bang" into any structure on the retrieve....pay attention cuz when you least expect it they'll blow-up right at the boat..have that blade moving on contact with the water...like scott says "buzz baits in February...%#!@@&...my son once told me
on a cold January morning your not suppose to be throwin' that lure now followed by a nice 5plus fish demolishing my buzzer...Go out there an throw 'em you'll be glad you did!!!

[stubbs]

Thanks guys this will certainly get me started