Freshwater Lures

There is one popular bass fishing lure looks more like some kid's idea of a model airplane than a real fishing lure? It's the buzz bait.

Kissing cousin to the spinner bait, a buzz bait is a top water bait for a variety of situations in which the angler wants to make a lot of noise and disturb a lot of water, and a lot of bass. Looking more like a kid’s toy aeroplane than a bass lure, the Buzz Bait’s job is to draw out Bass into a suicidal feeding frenzy

A buzz bait consists of a big hook hung on the end of a hunk of stiff wire bent like a long L, partly concealed by a skirt of some plastic or rubber stuff, and out in front is this big propeller. Some models even have two propellers. Whatever a buzz bait's makeup, it's a strange fishing lure that you would swear it should frighten every bass in the lake. The fact is that buzz baits not only works, but works well just goes to show that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Far from scaring bass away, buzz baits often draw bass from a considerable distance. Sometimes when churning a buzz bait it leaves a big V-shaped wake on a lake's surface, and more often than not, eventually you'll see a second wake converging on the buzz bait as a big bass homes in on it from several yards away until the final climax, where the Bass 'assassinates' the buzz bait.

By design, a buzz bait has two main bass-attracting features. A big propeller blade produces a lot of noise and vibration, and the skirt gives the bass a good, bulky mouthful of color and movement to home in on. Plastic or pork trailers added will increase the size of the offering and perhaps add their own song of vibration to the general uproar going on at the front end of the lure. The whole thing is nearly six inches long, and you would expect a bass to retreat to its lair with a severe headache after encountering something like that roaring across the surface.

Buzz Baits would have to be the perfect weapon for early calm water mornings, evenings, or overcast rainy days, this is mainly because it’s the best time for bait fish to come out and the Bass know this! Ideally the action of all Buzz Baits mimics the natural action of shad (type of baitfish), which are a favourite food for Bass.

Using http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkU3hk49NEg can give you one of the most exciting thrills in all of fishing; having a huge bass come up and knock your bait out of the water is just awesome.

How to best use Buzz Baits:

1. Cast your buzz bait far, you'll cover more water for a better chance of attracting a fish. Cast as close to cover as you can, but don't get hung up.
2. Reel fast enough to keep your bait at the water surface. The motion of the blades will disrupt the surface and emit noise. This is how buzz baits lure fish from their cover. You should be able to see and hear the blades chugging through the water as you reel.
3. Stay close to your cover. Keep your bait near where the fish are. Pull your bait along ledges, over logs and near the edge of weed beds.
4. Keep your rod tip up. This helps keep your bait at the surface where it's effective. If the bait drops below, it won't make as much noise. At the surface, the buzz bait mimics small schools of minnows or shad.
5. Twitch your rod from time to time. A constant speed may not attract fish, and an occasional jerk can make your bait appear more lifelike.

Experiment with different sizes and patterns. If silver isn't working, try black or green. Perhaps the bait is too big for the fish to strike, or too small to bother with. If you try different combinations and are still unsuccessful, switch to another type of bait or change locations.

Ideally Buzz Baits are designed to ignite that inbuilt predatory instinct that all Bass have, as the Buzz Bait creates noise at the surface of the water which can get the attention of a hungry fish when quieter baits can't. When used properly, fishing with these lures triggers the feeding frenzy instinct of an otherwise lazy fish.