The Need For Speed

Targeting any type of current break, Mason blazes his crankbait in the same direction as the current flow. “I retrieve steadily while trying to ricochet the lure off an object in the current,” he says. “As soon as it ricochets, I pause the lure, which often triggers a strike.“

Fired-up Frogs

A bass has to shift into high gear to nab a frog before it hops out of the water to safety, so retrieving a swimming frog at high speed appears natural. “Burning a frog often is the best way to fish it,” says Jimmy Houston, television show celebrity and tournament veteran. “When you use a stop-and-go retrieve or jerk it, you don’t get nearly as many bites.

”These lures act like baby buzzbaits but with a more froglike appearance.” Houston triggers vicious strikes by burning a YUM Buzz Frog. “They strike that bait like it owes them money,” he reports.

Frogs have a reputation for being one-dimensional but bass pros have expanded their range of use. “Frogs have been widely used in thick vegetation because few other lures can work in that cover,” he says. “We’ve found they work well in open water along points or around cover such as logs, docks, and standing timber, as well.

“In clear water, bass can see far and I’ve watched fish move 30 to 40 feet to strike a frog bait,” he claims. He selects natural colors such as green or brown for buzzing frogs over vegetation in summer, but opts for bright-color lures around spawn time (white during Prespawn and yellow for Postspawn).

Houston rigs the Buzz Frog on a 5/0 Daiichi Fat Gap hook and works it with a 61⁄2- to 7-foot medium or medium-heavy rod and Shimano Chronarch (6.2:1 gear ratio) reel. He recommends 30- to 50-pound non-stretch superbraid lines. “You’ll up your catch rate by adding a stinger hook,” he says. “Around grass, I add a weedless 3/0 or 4/0 trailer hook. In open water, an open hook is fine.” Houston cautions that you should avoid setting the hook as soon as the frog disappears. “Wait for a two-count and feel the weight of the fish, then snatch back with the rod.”

Blazing Buzzbaits

When the water temperature is right, Women’s Bassmaster Tour (WBT) angler Janet Parker likes to burn a buzzbait. “If it’s too hot or too cold, the technique doesn’t work,” says Parker, whose ideal temperature for buzzbait burning is about 72°F.

Burning a buzzbait through schooling white bass also produces largemouths for Parker. “That’s how I caught two of my biggest fish in the WBT tournament at Lake Lewisville in Texas last May,” she reveals.

Parker selects a 1/2-ounce homemade buzzer for this technique. In most cases, she favors a buzzbait with a chartreuse or pearl head and chartreuse-and-white skirt with eight red or blue strands and a red #2 trailer hook. In stained water, she switches to one with a chartreuse head and pumpkinseed skirt with the end dipped in chartreuse dye.

The Texas pro modifies her buzzer by grinding patterns into the rivets and blades. “That changes the pitch of the lure’s sound, and since I grind a deep groove, it creates a subtle tick without having to add a clacker blade,” she says. “Many times, clackers make too much racket unless there’s a good chop on the water. That’s the time for noisy baits.”