Buzzbaits in Fall

[LrgmouthShad]

Hey y’all,

 

So fall is a way off but I just like thinking about it. I have a hypothetical. Let’s say someone wanted to throw buzzbaits and similar topwaters for the entire duration of fall, never tossing another lure. Assuming reasonably stable lake conditions, is this a good idea, or…. Nah LrgmouthShad I dunno what you’ve been smoking but that’s ripe darn dumb right there. 

[Team9nine]

Buzzbaits in the spring; buzzbaits in the summer; buzzbaits in the fall; buzzbaits at night; buzzbaits when it's sunny; buzzbaits when it’s cloudy. There’s hardly ever a bad time to throw them. One of my all-time favorites ? 

 

I’ve heard of dummer ideas - lol

[LrgmouthShad]

9 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Buzzbaits in the spring; buzzbaits in the summer; buzzbaits in the fall; buzzbaits at night; buzzbaits when it's sunny; buzzbaits when it’s cloudy. There’s hardly ever a bad time to throw them. One of my all-time favorites ? 

 

I’ve heard of dummer ideas - lol

Do you have any suggestions on trailers to use with the skirt still on? I have trouble getting em to run straight up and down when it’s a skirt and trailer. 
 

Im very encouraged by your response, by the way ?

 

2022 was a such a great year because the first fish I caught that year was on a buzzbait and it went over 4lbs. I miss buzzbait bites

[gim]

One fall about 5 years ago I had a really good fall buzz bait bite. Haven’t been on a good one since. The slower speed of the cavitron was key during that period.

[Team9nine]

17 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Do you have any suggestions on trailers to use with the skirt still on? I have trouble getting em to run straight up and down when it’s a skirt and trailer.

Zoom split tail trailers are about all I use - sometimes even just an old piece of plastic worm. Buzzbaits tend to pull better quality bites.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

10 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

sometimes even just an old piece of plastic worm

I will go with that. I actually tried to put an old zoom split tail trailer on the ones I’m using, and the hook is so long it doesn’t fit. Lol. They are Picasso Hog Snatchers. I do have some Nichols around but the Hog Snatchers I burned the rivets down by driving with them and they are good squeakers

[Team9nine]

7 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I will go with that. I actually tried to put an old zoom split tail trailer on the ones I’m using, and the hook is so long it doesn’t fit. Lol. They are Picasso Hog Snatchers. I do have some Nichols around but the Hog Snatchers I burned the rivets down by driving with them and they are good squeakers

As long as you thread them on straight and have the hook come out the end between the tails, they’ll still work fine. I have a few buzzbaits with extra long hook shanks to replace using a trailer hook, and all is good as long as the two tails extend back past the skirt. You actually want the bulk of the trailer body on the hook shank for better hookups. Using thin worms like Roboworms works fine also - minimal drag, good color combos, and a little extra weight for casting distance.

[GReb]

57 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Buzzbaits in the spring; buzzbaits in the summer; buzzbaits in the fall; buzzbaits at night; buzzbaits when it's sunny; buzzbaits when it’s cloudy. There’s hardly ever a bad time to throw them. One of my all-time favorites ? 

 

I’ve heard of dummer ideas - lol

You sound like wheeler lol

[VolFan]

Strike King Perfect Plastic Caffeine Shad for the trailer. Size based on what size buzz you throw.

[Team9nine]

12 minutes ago, GReb said:

You sound like wheeler lol

And he got it from…

 

 

LOL ? “Buzzbait - jig, buzzbait - jig”

[casts_by_fly]

I love buzzbaits. I start fishing them in April or may and stop when I put the rods down. You can fish any color you want as long as it’s black. The only tricky thing is that black split tail trailers are harder to come by than white and other colors.

[LrgmouthShad]

20 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I love buzzbaits. I start fishing them in April or may and stop when I put the rods down. You can fish any color you want as long as it’s black. The only tricky thing is that black split tail trailers are harder to come by than white and other colors.

Maybe it’s just me, but so many people say to throw a black buzzbait that I don’t want to throw a black buzzbait. Kinda the same reason I don’t use green pumpkin for plastics. Well, other than the fact that it’s bland and ugly

[casts_by_fly]

If it makes you feel better, mine have chartreuse or chartreuse/green tips. 

[papajoe222]

I only throw black or white buzzbaits. The fish don't seem to have a preference for any particular.  I own some other colors, but they've never gotten wet except for when I pull the skirt off and add a white or black soft plastic. Then they're no longer a different color.     

[LrgmouthShad]

7 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

If it makes you feel better, mine have chartreuse or chartreuse/green tips. 

Yeah, you would do that ?. That’s clever. You think it helps? 

[casts_by_fly]

Yes

[LrgmouthShad]

11 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Yes

I believe you. Thanks for sharing that little tip with us. Much appreciated ? 

 

Edit: my response isn’t sarcastic but if you’re into humor, read the above in Randy B’s voice

[Catt]

@Team9nine beat me to it!

 

I throw buzzbaits year round. Every year in mid-February to late-February we will have a warming trend. Ya don't throw nothing but a buzzbait. 

[king fisher]

     I throw buzz baits every time I go bass fishing here.  It doesn't take long to find out if they are working.  If they are on, I will find out right away, when that happens I know I am going to have a great day.  During the rainy season July - October, many days it is the only lure I fish.  I don't know why, but my average size of bass goes way up, when the buzz bait bite is on.  I fish them the way they come out of the package, black with a skirt, no trailer, or trailer hook.

[gim]

9 hours ago, king fisher said:

It doesn't take long to find out if they are working.  If they are on, I will find out right away, when that happens I know I am going to have a great day. 

This is accurate.  It usually doesn't take more than 10 minutes to figure out if there is a good buzzer bite.

9 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

One or the other seems to work better than the Cavitron's I used to throw religiously around here a up until a couple years ago

If I'm not mistaken, the current state record largemouth out of Lake Auburn was taken on a buzz bait in October.  I remember reading that the angler was on a really good buzz bait bite and it was essentially only a matter of time before he piled into a horse.

[LrgmouthShad]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

This is accurate.  It usually doesn't take more than 10 minutes to figure out if there is a good buzzer bite.

9 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I just don’t believe this. I don’t believe it because I think the mood of the fish can change, and they may be in a different mood depending on where they are

[gim]

6 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I just don’t believe this. I don’t believe it because I think the mood of the fish can change, and they may be in a different mood depending on where they are

You're absolutely right.  But its an aggressive approach, and I don't keep pounding sand if something isn't working.  I alter my strategy until I start to get bit, and usually that means moving and/or fishing with a different approach.

 

I'll use a recent outing as an example.  Just yesterday I was on a pretty good spinnerbait bait but it was a low cloud deck at the time.  At 10:15am, the sun poked through and the clouds went away.  The bite almost completely died. 

 

I tried a buzz bait for about 10 minutes when the spinnerbait bite was going and couldn't get bit, but when I went back to the spinner, I started getting bites again.

[NorthernBasser]

On 6/19/2023 at 7:06 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Do you have any suggestions on trailers to use with the skirt still on? I have trouble getting em to run straight up and down when it’s a skirt and trailer. 
 

 

Well, tomorrow is fall, and I remember this thread from earlier this year.

 

Personally I don't run skirted buzzbaits too often. Usually just a traditional toad of some type. But this season my favorite trailer has become the new Zoom Uni Toad. Paired with a Croc-O-Gator skirtless buzzbait, the bait runs very true. The flat head of the buzzbait has something to do with it, but the Uni Toad has kind of a keeled underbody which also helps. 

 

[Pat Brown]

Buzzbait has been my most productive lure for the past month.  I've had success with every buzzbait I've used.  I have caught them with a skirt and no trailer, a skirt and a trailer, no skirt and a trailer, 'silent' buzzers, clackers, squeakers, with and without trailer hooks and in white, black and even red.  

 

The secret seems to be a little ripple and a warm breeze and super super shallow water with hard bottom and random isolated pieces of cover.  But I have caught them on featureless banks in slick calm conditions in the middle of the day and on very windy nights.

 

There isn't really a wrong way to fish them but bass seem to either want a fast and subtle buzzer (1/8 oz) or a PAINFULLY slow retrieve (1/2 oz with skirt and big flappy trailer).

 

I like black in the sun and white when it's dark.

 

Yeah, opposite of convention.

 

The only wrong way to fish it, would seem to be to not throw it.

[Woody B]

I fish strictly by a calendar.  (not really but others do) Around here at least 1/2 the people on the crowded lake throw buzz baits from April until the end of August.   I stop throwing them after March, and start back in September.   

 

Regarding a buzz bait/trailer combo not running straight.  Depending on the cover I'm fishing I'll keep a couple rigged up that don't run straight to run into, or under cover.   I was running buzz baits under docks and boat houses decades before I had ever heard of skipping.