here we go
come on
got a belly on him you'd been eating that work nice bright Bluebird day why
not throw a buzzbait
hey folks glenn may here with bassresource.com and today i want to
talk to you about phishing buzzbaits yeah buzzbaits great lures to use when
fish are biting their aggressive topwater is exhilarating bite it
absolutely is it's so much fun this one here this is what I'm talking
about a buzzbait that's what they look like now this skirt you guys made it I
don't want to know what that skirt it's a luma flex skirt they're hard to find
but I like using skirts on I do a lot of kind of modifications on these baits
I'll show you what that's all about here in a minute but I'm going to give you a
brain dump here of all the stuff I know about buzzbaits I've been fishing them
for about three or four decades now and there's more to them than just chucking
and winding so let's start off first of all with the gear you got to have the
right gear when you're fishing buzz bait so this here is a 7-foot 4 medium heavy
power moderate action rod that's what I like for throwing these and moderate is
the reason being is because buzz baits are relatively light they're kind of
hard to throw so moderate action allows you to fling that bait out there plus
it's got the backbone to set the hook these have big heavy hooks on them thick
hooks and it's hard to set the hook if you got a Wimpy rod so a medium heavy
rod with the moderate action tip is exactly what you want pair of that is a
fast action real fast speed you need that to get it up on plane and retrieve
it and then with the line I'm using today I'm this this here line is
monofilament I like monofilament a lot because it floats it helps get the bait
up on plane but if I'm throwing a lot of heavy heavy color what I'll do is I'll
change up the braid and I'll use Seaguar at least 40 pound braid maybe 30 pound
or 50 pound braid depending on what I'm throwing I like the 50 pound when you're
fishing heavier cover it's buoyant so it aids in getting the bait up on plane and
keeping it up on the surface better if you're fishing a lighter lure then I
might go down to 25 or 30 pound braid so that's what I use for throwing it let's
talk a little bit about the baits themselves but the most popular ones are
the 3/8 ounce sometimes quarter ounce this is a 3/8
that's what I fish the most for most conditions if I'm fishing say in the in
the springtime right after the spawn I'll go a little bit smaller I'll use a
quarter ounce to match the bait fish and then as summer progresses I'll go back
up to that three three eight ounce bait I'm not even using eight thousand just
right after there's red for the spawn real light like babe in windy conditions
yeah it's harder to cast it's harder to control the bait it's harder to get it
the accuracy so then all the way up I'll go up to a half ounce bait at that time
and that way you can get it out through the wind you can get it won't the wind
won't catch it and throw it somewhere where you're not aiming half ounce works
really well for that but for the most part I'm throwing quarter ounce 3/8
ounce buzzbaits there we go finally
make me throw a buzzbait aren't you
Hey look at that look at that weird that
2:30 in the afternoon a bright sunny day yeah
can't beat that don't ever let them fool you into thinking that oh you can only
do it in the early morning hours or in the evil positive now there's several
different designs buzzbaits out there this is that single blade look how big
that blade is it's a big blade that enables it to come across the water at a
slower speed a bigger blade allows you to get it up on plane and kind of go as
slow as you can across the water and a lot of times that's the best way to fish
a buzzbait is a slow slow across the water as you
can but another times the fish really wants you to move it quick and then I'd
get a smaller sized blade but a lot of the blades come in different colors
you've got gold you've got silver you have a lot of different there's actually
about every color in the rainbow really there's a lot of different ones you can
get but I just stick with silver or gold but there's a couple other designs too
to look at for example there's the double buzzer blade alright pretty wacky
looking this gets up on plane easier and you can fish it a real slow because it's
got both blades to keep it on plane for me I don't catch as many fish with a
double blade buzzbait but when I do catch one it's usually big so this is a
really good bait to throw say for example you've got a limit on a
tournament you want to start calling out and get bigger fish that's why I would
start throwing something like this or if you just want to target big bass good
bait to throw another type they some of these that come with double buzzards on
the line trip ball sometimes this will be a triple version there's a lot out
there but I tend to stick to those and then this kind to this is a clacker all
right it's got a clacker on it what that does the blade hits it so I don't you
could hear they're not but it goes across the water and it makes a lot of
rock ruckus a lot of noise it can attract bass from further distance away
this is a great bait to use in the middle of summer when bass are super
aggressive you're throwing across big flats of
submerged weeds and vegetation where you need to call them from long distances or
out of the dig a model I cover something like this with a clacker works really
well this is a white white and chartreuse skirt white skirt and a black
skirt those are basically the three you need you really don't need to get too
too crazy on these I think the bass really going after the the commotion
that this blade is causing more than the color but uh even so when I'm fishing at
night I'll use black so I got a good solid silhouette going across the
surface when the fish is looking up they see a solid silhouette so I'll use a
black skirt then otherwise I'm using white most of the time but where to
throw it best place to throw it and best times to throw it I usually fish it any
time the water temperature is above fifty five degrees that's a good time to
throw it I know it works and when it's colder out I I have one stuck in my
brain for sure when is I fish in New Year's Eve water temp was 42 degrees and
I saw what appeared to be bass busting baitfish on the surface which is crazy
they don't do that during the winter time don't they read the same books we
do they weren't supposed to be there but I tied on a buzzbait and went out there
and threw and sure enough boom I caught a fish on a buzzbait and hunt New Year's
Day so they can work I'm not saying they're as absolutes but when the water
comes about 55 degrees that's when you you get more bites on a buzzbait and I
like to fish it over submerged weed beds that's my favorite place and there's
milfoil hydrilla where it hasn't broke the surface or maybe stump fields or
sparse lily pads that's a great place to throw a buzzbait you can throw it out
over it call fish from long distances if you got these vast flats with all this
on here you can just start start casting the ten o'clock eleven o'clock twelve
o'clock one just methodically fish your way as you go down over a flat you just
keep making those casts like that and you're gonna catch a lot of fish just by
being that methodical as far as the retrieve is concerned it's pretty
straightforward cast out bring it back right okay there's a little bit more to
it than that two things first of all you've got to
get the blade moving first and that is the main trick in in the retrieve a lot
of times did you do it with the bait you cast it out there hits the water and
then you turn the reel handle and start retrieving I like to throw weight the
best way to throw a buzzbait is when you throw it out there you actually turn the
reel handle just as it hits the surface or before it hits the surface and turn
it really quick this is where you need that fast gear ratio to get that blade
moving and get it up on the surface once it's move and then you can slow down the
best you can keep that rod tip up about the 10 o'clock position to keep that
bait up on the surface and slow down as much as you can while keeping that blade
above the surface and bring it on back that is the normal retrieve that you
catch a lot of bass on it's that cast this is the reason why I like using bait
casting gear you can thumb that reel and get it almost to stop you can put your
thumb on the reel as you transfer hands midair and turn to get the reel handle
going right when it hits the water it's very very difficult to accomplish that
with the spinning gear okay you can try but a lot of times what happens is you
get a little loop in the line and your next cast you get a get big bird's nest
so it's very difficult to cast this way with spinning this is why I like using
bait casting gear but other other retrieves if they're not going after
with a nice slow steady retrieve speed it up that's the first thing I would do
try different very varied speeds I like to fish slow because the fish and gives
them time to find the bait it gets them in this you know it stays long in the
strike zone and they're more apt to to get it when they blow up on it if you're
reeling it really fast you have a lot more missed strikes but sometimes that's
the way the fish want is a fast retrieve another thing is when you're just
retrieving it give it a little pop and give a little jerk just give it a little
erratic movement and sometimes that elicits a strike a fish will be falling
and falling following you give a little pop boom they'll just clock it all the
side
whoa he missed it there he goes no he got he came back
twice he came all the way out of the water for that that was awesome
I missed it turned around and get it again
nice looking buzzbait fish all day long face full of buzz babe come here baby
I'm trying get up nice little guy he came out of its muscle that's just
shocked me
gently I got the Finn there's a lot of different modifications people do one of
us this you've been literally to the wires bent
you literally bend the wire to one side and you can curve it and you can get it
up underneath docks for example instead of a long side docks it's a great way to
get up underneath things overhanging trees sometimes these baits when you
when you cast them they're coming back like that on their side one side or the
other then you want to take the blade part and twist it one side or the other
not the arm but the blade and that's just like turning a spinnerbait if
you've ever done that move that blade one way or the other you tuned it so
it'll it'll run straight a couple other modifications people like to do I know
some people like to put them hang them rather antennas on their car while
they're driving down the freeway so they get it to squeak and make a lot more
noise some people like to put the rivet into some kind of acid of some sort to
make him squeal make more noise you can do that I I don't go that extent but
some people like that but putting trailers on the bait that's one thing I
will do so for example I like to use the young pulse middle I'll take a three
three and a half an inch young pulse Mill minnow like this I'll
take the skirt off and put this on it gives it an entirely different profile
and a lot of times you get a lot more strikes that way just make it a little
like the skirt but they want something like this and it looks realistic to them
I'll use the three and a half inch from spring to midsummer and then from mid
summer through fall I'll up it and go to the four and a half inch to match the
the growth of the bait fish another trailer that I'll put on here is the the
UM the tiptoed here it is that this color here by the ways is pearl white
that's the call I use most the time when I'm what I'm doing it with the tiptoed I
like the summer Gill and also watermelon with red flake but the summer Gale works
really well this tiptoed you put that on instead of the skirt and that does a
couple things number one it adds more buoyancy buoyancy it's easier for it to
get up up on ply and float on the water and stay on the
water it's got these little kickers in the back so it creates even more of a
commotion and you can bring it back a lot slower because of the buoyancy it's
a great modification to make it gives it a big bigger profile plus it adds weight
to the bait so now you can throw it further distances be more accurate with
it you can throw it in the wind better great modification to make to these
baits
Gosei fish
oh that's a nice one - really nice
that's the sun's out yeah no clouds bright skies yeah no wind
don't stop fishing these just because the Sun came up well I got it right all
right let you go
last thing I want to talk to you about is is the hook-up a lot of people they
have problems with with hook up ratio the bass will come up they'll miss it it
happens a lot they miss it you set the hook there's no fish a lot of times when
people do is they take a trailer hook and they add it to their to their but
their buzz bait trailer hook basically is just this that's just this little
thing I'll just show you how it looks like it's got a little rubber it's got a
piece of surgical rubber on it you get a little trailer hook right here on the
end it's this little stinger that you add at the end of it and this little
rubber piece here keeps it from going past the Barb that stays on the hook
okay a lot of people like to put a trailer hook on there to get those fish
that blast out it and miss it I don't that's the only buzz bait I have with a
trailer economy I don't like to use them because you're typically you're fishing
it over weeds or vegetation and you get hung up more often with that trailer
hook instead really need to focus on your hook set when the fish hits the
lure so what I mean by that is a lot of times the fish will come up it'll blast
the lure and what you see is this explosion and if you're not ready for it
there's that knee-jerk reaction just boom set the hook right away and that's
when you pull the bait away from the fish and how that happens the fish blows
up through the water his mouth is open your lures here he doesn't have it yet
you react to that explosion you pull it away from him and he misses it okay it's
kind of like Lucy taking the ball away from Charlie Brown all right what you
need to do is while you're retrieving this bait be ready for that explosion
keep telling yourself don't set the hook don't set the hook don't set the hook
wait for it as soon as that hits don't set don't react
whatever it is coach yourself on that so when it happens you go I mean even I
flinch because I'm not ready for it even though I'm still telling myself but you
won't react and set that hook right away what you need to do is wait until that
fish turn swims underwater and you feel them swimming away with your lure when
you feel that boom then you pop them and then you set the hook but you have to
have that discipline in order to do that if you do that you'll have more hookups
and you'll catch a lot more fish so those are the tips I have for fishing
buzz mates I hope it works for you for more tips and tricks like this visit
bassresource.com