SPLASHING BITE!
By: Hugh Crumpler III

The way to get a "SPLASHING BITE" is with topwater baits. One very specialized type of topwater bait will give a thrill of a life time when that Monster bass BLOWS UP and inhales it. That very specialized lure is a buzzbait.What follows is a brief history of buzzbaits, some personal experience, technical information, how to, manufacturers, and improvements.

Brief History
Buzzbaits are one of the oldest lures used to catch bass. In the 40's and 50's one technique used to catch Monster Southern Bass was the use of an in-line buzzbait. Here, the hook, wire, and blade were in a straight line. The lure was usually massive in size and had a very large amount of hair tied to the hook. The lure was tied on to some massively large sized braided line. (Braided line then was not the braided line of today.) The other end of the line was tied to a real stout and long pole. Some times the pole was as long as ten feet.

The angler would select a stump or other cover of his choice and begin to make a figure eight with the lure around the cover. The object was Monster bass. Forget the little guys. This was a technique for the Monsters. It also took a bunch of strength and stamina on the part of the angler to work the lure for very long. Who can hold a ten foot long pole and make a figure eight for very long? After a long period of making a fuss around the cover the Monster would get upset and strike the lure. THEN the angler needed enough strength to set the hook and fight the bass and lift it into the boat or drag the bass on to shore.

This buzzbait technique will still work today. However, not many anglers are in the physical condition it takes to fish this way. And today's anglers want more immediate gratification.

Personal Experience
About two years ago I took a look at my fishing lifetime. I took a mental survey of fifty some years of bass fishing. The idea was to figure out what techniqes, types of lures, and times of years produced best for me. Some how this type of mental survey leaves out the humbling experiences, or at least a portion of them. I found that a majority of the lures that brought me success were lures I had originally thought would not work. Buzzbaits were one of them.

Being a very specialized type of bait a buzzbait is very limited as to its use. It is not a lure that can be used every day. It is not a lure for every situation. The time and place to use a buzzbait is very specific. When a buzzbait works. It WORKS!!

In the 1970's buzzbaits came into popularity. They were the lure to own! They were the lure to throw! Some one caught some fish on one, did it in a tournament and then every angler had to have and use one. Lunker Lure was the buzzbait every one wanted. And Lunker Lure was the buzzbait every one copied. The arrival of the Lunker Lure was like the arrival of the Big O, the arrival of the Rapala, and like the arrival of Gene Larue's salt impregnated Electric Blue Worm.

At that time I was considered to be a very good spinnerbait fisherman. I used them like there was no other lure. I was in a bass club with some very good fishermen. One of the members was Ken McTeer. Ken and I decided to go fishing. I want you to know that Ken and I were both some what compedative. The length of a basss boat was not important except that it had some thing to do with what amount of horsepowere engine you could put on the back. Once you got the bass boat into fishing territory the only part of the bass boat that mattered was the front part where you put your feet. When Ken and I stopped to fish he and I were side by side. We both had our toes over the front of the boat. Our feet right on the nose of the boat. The only reason I was more in the boat than Ken is because I had longer feet.

On this particular day Ken and I were working the upper portion of the Kings River on Table Rock Lake. We had both caught bass on spinnerbaits. Ken dug out a Lunker Lure. We had some sort of conversation that I do not remember. But, I do remember telling Ken that I could do any thing with a tandem spinner bait that he could with a Lunker Lure and more.

Right in the middle of the channel was a log; really a partially submerged small tree. Ken and I threw to the tree. His Lunker Lure went past the tree, as did my spinnerbait. His Lunker Lure got snatched by a bass. My spinnerbait returned to the boat without incident. I decided to "wake" my tandem spinnerbait. Ken threw his buzzbait again. Again it was snatched. My tandem spinnerbait returned to the boat without incident. This tree produced seven bass for Ken. Not a bite; not even a swirl for me.

I went home and immediately went to the Bass Pro Shop and bought a full load of Lunker Lures. I learned to stick them out the window of the truck on the way to the lake to get them "tuned". I learned about trailer hooks. Yes, I made a full study of Lunker Lures and buzzbaits.

Very specific times and places are the opportunity to catch bass on buzzbaits. All I can emphasize is that buzzbaits have a place in every bass anglers arsnel. The perfect times are not many. When the perfect times come the angler needs to be prepared.

Within a year I won a bass tournament and caught Big Bass on a buzzbait. That was on Table Rock Lake in the same area Ken and I had fished. Ken was in the same tournament. My partner loaded up the boat with bass just under the length limit, also on buzzbaits. In June of 2001 at the Everstart Tournament on the Missippi River out of LaCrosse, Wisconsin my first day limit came by 8:20 AM on buzzbaits. During that tournament I fished an area that had already been fished by two boats, two times each. I moved in behind them and caught seven bass in a row. You should have seen the other guys switch to buzzbaits!

Technical Information and How To
Understanding what makes a buzzbait work is critical to using it successfully. By this I am referring to understanding the buzzbait physically and technically and understanding what about the buzzbait produces bass bites.

The most common form of buzzbait is found with a wire form that holds the blade over the head of the lure. The wire form is attached to a hook inside a lead head. Some kind of skirt is attached to the lead head. Here is what happens. The lead head allows the lure to be casted. The lead head also holds the hook under water. The blade makes a fuss on top. The skirt looks good. (Buzzbaits will work without a skirt and will cast better.) On some manufactures type of buzzbait the blade is made to hit the head creating an aluminum on lead hitting sound. This adds to the noise. Properly tuned buzzbaits will squeek as the blade rotates on the wire form.

Other manufactures put an aluminum clacker on the wire form so the rotating blade hits the clacker and makes an aluminum on aluminum sound. These are usually called "clacker" style buzzbaits.

Beginning Buzzbait presentation:
Cast the lure out. AS SOON AS IT HITS THE WATER stop the line and lift the rod tip. DO NOT LET THE LURE SINK! Begin reeling the lure in. The lure should ride on the top of the water raising all kinds of water and noise. Bass are ambush feeders. And the successful use of a buzzbait depends upon presentating the lure where ambush feeding takes place. That means bringing the buzzbait over cover or by cover or both.

Advanced Buzzbait presentation:
The closer to the ambush site you get the lure the greater the possibility of a strike. The slower the lure is presented over, or by the target, the longer the lure is allowed to attract the bass. Remember, sometimes the bass want this thing going so fast you can not reel it that fast.

Setting the Hook:
This is tough for the beginner. When you see water fly, when you see a swirl, when you see any thing- DO NOTHING! WAIT until you see nothing- the lure is gone. WAIT until you feel a PULL! Then and only then can you set the hook.

Advanced Understanding:
When the angler is reeling the lure the lure is trying to come out of the water. The rod tip, the reel, the line and the blade are lifting the lure. The only thing that is holding the lure in the water is the lead head and the drag of the skirt. If there is too much lift when a bass come to bite his actions will create a change in water conditions that will cause the lure to lift out of the water before the bass can get the lure. Many anglers compensate for this by dropping the rod at the time of strike. (Boy does this take alot of practice. Better not have an itchy trigger finger.) Another form of compensation is not looking at the lure. That way the angler misses the bite and gets the feel before setting the hook. (I throw one partially to get to see the bite. This does not work for me.) Another way to compensate is to use a more limber rod, a rod with slower action, action down the full length of the rod. This way the rod has a reduced tendency to lift the lure at the time of strike.

All the three compensating methods at hookset work. For me, I use the slower action rod. This would be similar to a slower action rod that many anglers prefer with crankbaits.

The probability of getting a bass to come out of thirty feet of water to hit a buzzbait is very slim. Buzzbaits work best when presented around or near cover. They work best when the weather is a real mess. When the weather is cloudy, thundery, and water is coming down, that is when buzzbaits tend to work very well. During the spawn and right after the spawn. Put all that into combination and you have real prime buzzbait time. In the fall when bass are more aggressive buzzbaits work. On really hot, and still days, when nothing is moving- not even the bass; it is possible to get a monster bass to strike a buzzbait. In one of the worst cold fronts ever experienced at a BASSMASTER TOURNAMENT Jim Morton won it on a buzzbait.

When Stick Marsh first opened buzzbaits far out produced all other baits. Conditions were awesome for the use of buzzbaits. The cover was there, the bass were there, the bass were roaming, the bass were ambushing and the weather was Florida's wet season. Also, it was fall feeding time for the bass. WOW! Glad I was there for that!!

Manufacturers
Almost every spinnerbait manufacturer makes a buzzbait. There are also many manufacturers who key on buzzbaits. Lunker Lure was not the original buzzbait manufacturer- they were the manufacturer who's product brought buzzbaits to the forefront of the bass fishing industry. Angler lore tells of the Hydrilla Gorilla as the first noise making buzzbait. For years and years two of my favorite buzzbaits were the R & S Chatterbuzz and The Boogerman Racket Buzz. Boogerman is made by Shadow Lake Lures.

There are times when a "standard" buzzbait will not work. I set out to figure out how to improve buzzbaits. I wanted a buzzbait that would go over cover much better. I wanted a buzzbait that made noise. I wanted a buzzbait that did not lift so easily out of the water. I ended up with two designs. Both designs worked. Each design worked a little better in specific situations. I made them for myself. Well, I had to buy so much stuff to come up with what I wanted that now I am in the custom lure bulding business, on a limited basis. My lures are available by clicking on "Products" on my website: www.HughCrumpler.Com..

Improvements
First, I wanted a buzzbait that would go over almost any thing. This was accomplished with an in-line design. That is to say that the hook, head, skirt and blade are in one straight line. Just like the early buzzbaits. I have named this design as "AirBoat". The bait works just like an airboat. It makes lots of noise; goes across the top; has very little in the water; and goes over almost every thing. I used a LONG SHANK, ROUND BEND, VERY SHARP HOOK. The long shank helps to hook the fish deeper. The long shank also is more likely to hook a short striking bass. Sharp hooks work better.

Experimentation with the AirBoat produced lots of nice bass. However, experimentation also discovered that the bait rotated in the water. To compensate for this each AirBoat comes with a quality ball bearing swivel. The AirBoat will go over almost every thing. It makes a fuss and catches bass.

Secondly, I wanted a noise making buzzbait. The AirBoat design is extremely valuable when you want the ideal buzzbait to come over cover. However, the AirBoat can not make the metal on metal sound I wanted. The drawing board in combination with the experimentation field produced a new design of buzzbait. I named it the BabyBassBoat. This lure has some in the water, makes lots of noise going across the top, and bass strike it because it looks like a baby bass boat and they do not want it to grow up.

The BabyBassBoat has a blade that strikes the head. Or, the angler can bend the wire form and have a blade that does not hit the head and still have a lure with superior wire form design. The design of the wire form helps to prevent lifting when a bass comes to strike. The design of the wire form also aids the lure in coming over cover. Some of the hook is in the water helping the bass to get a better hold on the BabyBassBoat.

BabyBassBoats and AirBoats are available in 1/4 and 3/8 ounce heads with three different size blades. The hooks are all long shank, round bend, and very sharp hooks. AirBoats and BabyBassBoats are available in hot white, hot chartruce, and hot chartruce and hot white.

About the Author

Legendary Professional Angler and Guide, Hugh Crumpler, has been fishing for more than fifty years. Hugh's clients and himself have caught more than nine hundred bass over ten pounds.

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