Story and Photos by Dan O'Sullivan
As the overnight temperatures begin to fall, and the water temperatures follow
suit, the one thing that you can be sure will happen is that bass activities
will increase. Now is the time of the year that anglers will begin to more
readily see boils of surface activity as bass begin to gorge themselves on shad
that are beginning their fall migration upstream.
As clouds of baitfish begin to swirl on the main lake, heading towards the
river and creek mouths, bass will intercept them and will often appear like a
pot of water boiling on the stove. The bass can be worlds of fun to catch, and
they can often produce solid limits of bass for a tournament angler in a hurry.
But, while the average size of bass in a school setting like that can be
decent, there are relatively few times that this kind of situation produces a
true kicker. These are the type of fish that are needed to propel a tournament
bag from 14 pounds to 18 pounds, or give you that picture for the wallpaper of
your smart phone or Facebook page.
One of the best ways to find that type of fish this time of the year is a
buzzbait.
What is a Buzzbait?
Like a spinnerbait, a buzzbait is basically a leadhead
molded onto a sort of safety pin shaped wire fram
that blades and a skirt are attached to. Unlike a spinnerbait, which has blades
attached to the wire by clevises and swivels designed to run under the surface,
a buzzbait is built to run on top.
The flat bladed buzzbait is threaded onto the top wire of a buzzbait and it
rotates around the wire creating a gurgling sound as the bait is retrieved fast
enough to keep it on the surface. While the bladed portion of the bait is
churning on the surface, the leadhead, hook and skirt
is riding below and to the rear of the blade. This position gives the bass
something solid to target when striking.
There are single, metal bladed buzzbaits, single plastice bladed buzzbaits, double bladed buzzbaits, counter
rotation blade inside the blade buzzbaits and there are clacker buzzbaits. This
is not a primer on when to choose which style, as many people have their own
preferences, but more a primer on where and how to throw buzzbaits.
Equipment
First off, I believe that you should have a long rod with a strong backbone and
a soft tip with a buzzbait. I prefer to throw them on a 7'6" Wright &
McGill Co. Skeet Reese Swimbait / Carolina Rig rod. Why? Let's just say that in
the past I learned the hard way from making a long cast, getting a big bite and
not having enough leverage in the rod to set the hook.
I prefer this action of rod because it has a strong backbone, but about
30-percent of the rod bends on the load, making the rod have more of a moderate
fast action. The reason I prefer this action is because I have taken to using
braided line primarily when throwing topwater baits of any kind because it will
help me set the hook on long casts. Basically put, any 7' to 7'6" rod with
a medium heavy action will do.
Again, I tend to use braided line, and for buzzbaits, I prefer to use
50-pound-test size. If I am mainly throwing over open water with a few obstructions,
I prefer a smooth braid for castability; I choose
Spiderwire Ultracast for this application. However,
if I am throwing around weedy flats or near reeds, then I prefer a braid with
some teeth to it. I line with a coarse braid like a Stren
Sonic Braid or Sunline FX2 braid will actually act like a serrated edge knife
under pressure and cut reeds or weeds more than a smooth braid which just tends
to fold the vegetation over itself.
I like a 6.2:1 or 6.3:1 retrieve speed reel for most of my buzzbait fishing
because it gives me the flexibility to speed up or slow down, unless bass are
extremely aggressive and I need a fast, burning retrieve to trigger strikes,
then I'll go to a 7.0:1 or 7.1:1 speed reel.
Colors and Conditions
I basically carry three colors of buzzbaits. White, black and shad are the
three choices I keep with me most of the time. I also prefer that the blades
match the skirt color, not for any scientific reason, just because it gives me
confidence in the bait.
In the morning, I'll typically start out with the white bait, then turn to
black as the sun comes up on most instances because I feel that the white helps
visibility in low light conditions, then the black silhouettes against the sun
better. My one exception is to throw a shad colored bait on really clear water
when I don't want the fish to get too good a look at the bait.
I really prefer for there to be a slight breeze on the water, but have also had
good days on a buzzbait when there is no wind and the noise of the bait just
seems to aggravate bass into striking. I like to look for cover edges and
points to make my presentations, and it is always a good idea to bump the
object with the bait, that always seems to create strikes more so than a steady
retrieve.
Buzzbaits are great around grass flats, standing timber, boat docks, bluff
walls and walls of reed or tule edges. If you ever come across a single stump
off the end of a reedy island with current washing nearby in the Western end of
the California Delta, by all means toss a buzzbait. By the way, I just started
drooling a little as I wrote that sentence.
Retrieve Tips
The best advice for throwing a buzzbait is to keep your rod help in a ten
o'clock position as you retrieve the lure with the reel handle. By holding the
rod tip in an upwards position, you can control the speed of retrieve a little
better than if the rod tip is pointed at the water.
My best advice is to bring the lure as close to cover as possible, and then
slow the lure down as you near the individual piece of cover. There is
something about a buzzbait the is churning by until it gets near a tempting
piece of cover and then slows down, bbbbuuuuzzzzzzzz,
buzz, buzz, buzz... plop... plop... plop, that absolutely infuriates bass into
striking.
So, if you want a heart stopping experience, grab a few buzzbaits, a rod or two
and head to your favorite lake. Pick out some likely cover and experiment with
several casts around each until you get feedback. Don't worry, you won't have
to wonder what a strike looks like.
Read more like this at AdvancedAngler.com
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