Buzzbaits not working

[.dsaavedra.]

:-/dont know what the deal is. i try buzzbaits whenever applicable and i cant even seem to get a strike out of them. i dont mean to be rude but please dont give me that confidence

yeah i know that confidence has a big part of success but i am confident in them, because ive seen them work i know they work, i just cant get them to work. could you give me any tips?

[Triton21]

Just keep throwing them.  Over grass, any cover you can see, ie, stumps, trees, brush, beaver houses, rip rap, boat docks, boat ramps., points.   Repeated casts will agitate Bass into biteing.  Throw black as well as white and white/chartruse.  I have my best luck with 1/4 oz.  Had 5 keepers Friday morning when they wouldn't hit anything else.  Of course I practice C&R.  I was pre fishing for a tournament next Sunday(6/24).  Always use a trailer hook.  Also see thread about night topwater.

Kelley

[5bass]

When you throw the buzz, are fish breaking the surface around you? Are there shad popping on the surface? You just cant blindly throw a buzz and be effective with it....just like every other bait, it has its time and place. The reasons you cant get bit could be color, size, retrieve, time of day, where you fish it, just anything like that. Bass are picky and just beacuse you think they should eat a bait does not mean they will.

When I throw a buzz I like a little chop on the water and low light conditions. And if bass are busting shad, I will throw a Pop-R or something that imitates a dying shad, I wont be burning a buzz across their heads. Not saying it wont work but I believe a popper type would work better in that situation.  

[Triton21]

A buzz bait will work on schooling fish also. Throw past the school and retrieve it with short jerks allowing it to sink a couple of inches between short jerks. Try it sometims 5BL.  Schooling Bass will Kill it.

Kelley

[5bass]

I might if they ever stop plastering the Pop-R  ;D

[Guest avid]

Don't ever call confidence BS.  It is the single most important factor in your being successful.

That being said, I didn't do well with buzzbaits at all till I starting throwing just before and after dark.  Once you get the feel for them in low light conditions you will gain CONFIDENCE and do better at other times of the day.

Here's one of Avid's famous tips.

Bass in different lakes have a distinct preference for different sounding buzzbaits.  Play around with the props, make em bang into the wire, hang em off your truck antenna, leave em out in the rain, in other words experiment to get different sounds from them.  Let the bass tell you what they like then fish with confidence.

[.dsaavedra.]

thanks guys. you were all very helpful. and avid, i havent even been here 10 days but i already knew you were gonna be the one giving me hell for caling confidence BS ;D but really, thanks alot cuz you all wer very helpful. whenver i fish them there usually arent alot of surface activity. maybe i'll try them again when i go evening fishing this week.

[Marty]

One thing I'd ask is if you're catching fish on other topwaters in the areas where the buzzbaits aren't working. If the answer is yes, then I wouldn't know what to say, but if it's no, then it's not the buzzbaits, it's probably because you're not fishing them in the right time and place.