The buzzbait is one of the oldest topwater lures of all time. Dating back to the 1940s, the original design looked slightly different than the modern buzzbaits we know today. Then, in the 1970s, the Lunker Lure hit the shelves and took the bass world by storm. The design includes a prop that spins across the water’s surface, which draws explosive, aggressive reaction strikes that make for some of the most exciting topwater action you can find.
Over time, the buzzbait evolved, and new iterations of the lure emerged. Now you can find dozens of different buzzbait models, sizes, colors, and weights. Of course, the classic Lunker Lure still gets the job done just as well as any other buzzbait, but there are specific designs that excel in different situations. To help you really dial in your buzzbait game, we put together this guide about the different types of buzzbaits, including when, where, and how to fish them. Here's everything you need to know about one of the best lures of all time.
Four Categories of Buzzbaits
Though there are a few outliers that don’t land in one of these buckets, there are essentially four types of buzzbaits: a traditional buzzbait, a buzzbait with a clacker, a double-prop buzzbait, and a buzzbait/soft plastic combo. Here's a closer look at each.
Traditional
A traditional buzzbait has a single prop on a bent arm that’s situated over a jighead, hook, and skirt. The Original Lunker Lure is a great example of a traditional buzzbait. This lure can be modified, but at its core, a traditional buzzbait has four components: a prop, a jighead, a hook, and a skirt. These are great baits to use from spring through fall anytime there’s a little wind, cloud cover, or low light.
Clacker
A clacker buzzbait has an added element that is designed to create even more noise as it makes contact with the spinning prop. Some of these baits use a bead on a metal arm, some use a metal rudder, and others are built so that the prop makes contact with the head. The Damiki MTB Noisy Buzzbait is a great example of a clacker buzzbait. These baits are often preferred when an angler wants a little added noise to draw fish in on a cloudy day or in muddy water.
Buzzbait with Soft Plastics
There is another group of buzzbaits that swap the skirt out for a soft plastic. You can buy baits specifically designed for this, like the Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Pro Buzz, or you can slide the skirt off almost any buzzbait if you want to try this combination. While soft plastic/buzzbait combos work well in the open water, the real advantage of this setup is its ability to skip. Add something like a Zoom Horny Toad to the back of one of these and you’ll find that you can skip it way back under docks, bushes, pontoons, and other overhead cover.
Double-Prop Buzzbait
There are several buzzbaits that have two props as opposed to one. These baits create twice the commotion, with two metal arms coming up to house dual props. There are a couple of advantages to this style of buzzbait. First, you can fish it a lot slower, since the dual props keep the bait up on top of the water better. And, these baits typically track in a straight line better than single-prop baits, which usually pull to one side or the other.
How to Select the Right Buzzbait
When taking into consideration the four types of buzzbaits and the dozens of variations within each of the categories, there’s quite a bit to consider when picking out the right combination. I like to start with the size of the prop and the weight of the bait first. A 3/8-ounce buzzbait is what I deem a “standard-size” prop and is a great all-around bait. Look at a 3/8-ounce Lunker Lure for a good example of what the size of a standard prop is. You can catch fish on this bait from spring through fall, though there are certainly times when other buzzbaits work a little bit better.
It’s rare for me to use a 1/2-ounce buzzbait, since these heavier baits are harder to keep on top. That is, unless you’re using a double-prop bait. That added weight will help cast these baits, and the double props will help keep it up. Anytime I’m fishing around smaller baitfish, like in the fall, for example, when the shad are small, I’ll drop back to a 1/4-ounce bait, which usually comes with a smaller prop.
Now let’s look at the selection of the color of the skirt, prop, and paint job. Brighter, solid colors like white and chartreuse with gold blades perform well in muddy water. Silver blades, silver heads, and translucent or natural color skirts work better in clear water. Look for something in between when fishing in dingy water. Black buzzbaits with black props work well at night and are a good selection during the summer in the daytime, too.
When, Where, and How to Fish a Buzzbait
Now that we’ve selected our buzzbait, let’s talk about when, where, and how to fish it. The when is pretty simple. From the time the water reaches the mid-50s until it dips back down below that mark, you can bet there’s a buzzbait bite going on somewhere. These baits excel all day in the spring and fall, and they are great early and late in the day during the summer. They’ll also get bit in the summer during the middle of the day, if you can find an insect hatch, a bluegill bed, or some shade.
In addition to shady areas and places ripe with bait, buzzbaits perform well around any shallow cover: grass lines, docks, rip rap, seawalls, etc. There’s no lay-down or pontoon boat I won’t throw a buzzbait around when the bite is right. These baits traverse all types of hard cover well and can even be thrown through sparse vegetation or at minimum down the edge of hard lines of grass, lily pads, and other greenery.
When it comes to how to fish a buzzbait, slow as you can go is typically the best bet. This is why you don’t want to select a buzzbait that’s too heavy, as these baits have to be reeled faster to keep them on top. One-quarter and 3/8 ounce baits can typically be fished slower, which gives the bass more time to track them down and commit. Basic rule of thumb: try to get the bait up on the surface immediately at the start of a cast, and then slow your retrieve down to where the prop is just gurgling along the surface. Not so slow that you can’t hear it, but you rarely want it slinging water in the air, with the rare exception of a hot summer day.
Modifications
There are a few other modifications you can do to a buzzbait if you so choose. Adding a trailer and/or trailer hook to the back of a buzzbait is a good idea. Even with the skirt of a buzzbait in place, a soft plastic trailer like the Z-Man ElaZtech Split Tail TrailerZ can be used to mask the hook, add a little more action, and complete the profile.
A trailer hook can also be added to the back of a buzzbait to increase your hookup ratio. Bass are notorious for slapping or boiling on a buzzbait but not getting it. Using a trailer hook will help convert some of those near misses into catches. A single trailer hook can be used, and is recommended for fishing around cover. If you’re fishing your bait out in the open or near isolated cover, you can also use a treble hook as a trailer hook, greatly increasing your hookup ratio. Just be sure that whatever trailer hook you use is secured using a trailer keeper.
There’s also a neat little trick you can do with a nail. If you carefully straighten the end of the metal arm and slide the prop off, you can then take a nail and use it to turn the two round holes in the prop into squares. You may have never noticed, but the tip of a typical 9 penny or 9d nail has four sides to it and is shaped like a pyramid. If you take a nail with a point like this, put it in one of the holes on the prop, and then softly tap it, you’ll turn the round hole into a square.
Do this for both holes, then slide the prop back on the prop arm, replace the rivet that holds the prop on, and bend the tip of the wire back over to hold the rivet on. Now, when you reel the bait through the water, you’ll hear a shrill squeak that adds a whole new element of sound to your bait. In a world where everyone is throwing a lot of the same stuff, something this little can make a big difference.
Master the Buzzbait
Buzzbaits are simply some of the best baits on the market for catching big bass. They’re tons of fun to fish with and they’ve proven themselves to be productive for decades upon decades. Pick the best color combination based on the water color and forage present. Start with a 3/8-ounce bait and go up or down from there if needed.
Personally, I keep a 3/8-ounce Lunker Lure with a white skirt and a chartreuse head and gold blade on in muddy water. When I’m in stained to clearer water, I like the 3/8-ounce Damiki MTB Noisy B clacker buzzbait with a silver head and a shad patter skirt. I run trailer hooks on both of these baits 90 percent of the time, sometimes scarring the Lunker Lure prop with a nail to make it squeak.
There are only a few times when I’ll stray from these two here in the South. In the fall, I’ll go with a 1/4-ounce/white skirt/silver prop combo. In the summer, when the fish are on bluegill and mayfly hatches, I’ll sometimes go with a 1/4-ounce/bluegill skirt/gold blade combo. And then I’ll get a wild hair every now and then and throw a black buzzbait in the summer, during the day, and/or at night.
