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Buzz baits have fallen out of favor with a lot of fishermen, but they are dynamite baits for big bass. If you want to show bass a lure they may not have seen lately, throw a buzz bait. (Photo by Larry Myhre)

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

Buzz baits have been around for a long time and most bass fishermen are fully acquainted with them.

Thing is, I wonder why more bass fishermen don’t use them and don’t use them more often.

There are very few lures you can point to and say, “This will catch big bass.”

Not just any bass, mind you. Big Bass.

While its close cousin, the spinnerbait gets cast so much in Siouxland waters that the paint has been worn off many of them, few of my bass angling friends even have a buzz bait in their tackle.

Perhaps it is because they are so bulky that they are hard to store.

It is, however, more likely that this is a bassin’ lure that has simply been overlooked.

Perhaps another problem is that there are so many different designs.

Some are designed so the spinner blades lightly contact the wire shaft creating a ‘clicking’ noise. Some have double blades, some have triple blades, some have flat heads to enable them to plane on the water’s surface, some have blades made of metal, others of plastic.

Yet, they all have two things in common. They are made to be fished over the surface of the water creating a spit and sputter sound. And, they catch big bass.

There it is again, big bass.

I’d suggest acquiring a half dozen of different buzz bait types and sizes. Don’t worry too much about color. It is the sound they create in the water that is the key to their success.

Then try them out, letting the bass tell you which one they want.

I remember fishing spinner baits back in the ‘60s. They were not yet a very common lure. We’d fish them over weeds by retrieving them fast and “bulging” the surface with the Colorado blade.

It worked well and we caught a lot of bass doing that. It wasn’t long, however, before special “buzz” baits were designed for this kind of fishing and they quickly became popular.

Somehow, over the years, the popularity of this method has paled.

I will guarantee you this, however. The ability of these baits to catch bass, particularly big bass, has not diminished.

Buzz baits must be “tuned” to run properly. After many casting sessions or upon landing a big bass, the spinner wire may become bent and the lure will not run properly.

Keep your casts low to the water and avoid loud, splashy entries into the water. Learn to deliver the lure softly and begin retrieving immediately to keep it on the surface.

As with all surface lures, you will miss some fish and that can be frustrating.

Here’s some things you can do that will help hook more fish.

Don’t set the hook immediately. Make sure the bass has the lure in its mouth before setting. At the strike, drop the rod tip for a count or two and then set the hook. You can add a single trailer hook, the same size as the one on the lure or a slightly smaller.

I prefer to fish buzz baits on the new braided lines. Since you are often retrieving the lure over heavy weeds, through stickups or lily pads you will need line strength to prevent the fish from fouling up.

Once the strike is made you must keep the fish’s head up so he won’t snag. This requires powerful line and the new braids testing about 40 pounds are just right for this chore.

And, it follows that your rod must have some backbone to accomplish this task. You must remain in control of the fish. This requires medium heavy casting rods of six and a half or seven feet in length.

When a bass strikes, get him hooked and keep him coming.

Buzzin’ bass is a specialty presentation that simply is not used enough by most fishermen.

If you are not using a buzz bait for bass, you just might be missing out on some of the biggest bass in your fishin’ water. Big, big bass.