“I admit you might get more bites on a worm,” Berry continues, “but my buzzbait fish will be bigger. If I can get five good bites, or maybe just four, I can win most tournaments.” For this summer pattern, Berry chooses a 3/8-ounce Terminator T-1 Buzzbait. “It works well at a fast retrieve,” he notes, “due to its titanium frame that flexes to make it run straight. In hot weather, cast it over the thickest cover and crank it fast. Keep a soft plastic jerkbait handy to throw back if a bass misses the buzzer.”

Fall is prime buzzbait time, whether you fish weedy natural lakes or rocky reservoirs. Cooling water moves bass shallow, and they feed aggressively under prime conditions. In fall, prime buzzbait conditions include both sunny calm conditions and overcast windier times.

As water temperature falls through the 50°F range, weedgrowth on middepth flats thins, providing better feeding opportunities for big bass. In clear lakes, a strong buzzbait bite often lasts until waters cool below 50°F. A big, slow-moving, single or double buzzer will lure bass to the top better than a soft plastic bait or a spinnerbait—a strong pattern for the year’s biggest bass.

In reservoirs with a shad prey base, cooling water also brings a strong, shallow bite as bass push baitfish schools against vertical banks in the main lake or in feeder creeks, and they also surface-feed offshore in clear impoundments. In both situations, a buzzbait can be a top choice, particularly for bigger bass. As the water cools, slow your retrieve rate. Wherever possible, run the lure into stumps, rocks, or snags to suddenly change the cadence.

Buzzbaits work in water clarities from ultraclear to muddy, but most experts feel their odds are best with visibility from 6 inches to 3 feet. Water of intermediate clarity keeps bass relatively shallow, while still providing sufficient visibility for them to track the lure from below.

Tricks For Tuning Buzzers

Straight off the shelf, buzzbaits catch fish. Still, pros often alter lures to gain a slight advantage in sound production, in appearance, or in hooking ability.

Stinger Hooks: Because bass often seem to strike behind a buzzbait, many experts add a stinger hook when conditions allow. It’s arguable whether a bass that misses a bait actually wanted to eat it, however. Fish accurately aim attacks on steadily moving objects on the surface. Bass sometimes charge a bait to chase it away, or to investigate it more closely. An extra hook can hook these fish.

Bill Berry prefers a Mustad Triple Grip hook as a trailer, holding it on with a section of hard plastic that allows it to swing freely. “The bend of that hook doesn’t catch objects as readily as other hooks, but when bass hit it, you’ve got ’em,” he says. Some anglers remove the low-hanging tine of a treble to reduce hang-ups, and double hooks are a good option that helps balance the lure. For buzzers in the 1/8- to 3/16-ounce range, a #6 treble is generally sufficient, increasing to a #2 for big 5/8-ounce models.

When adding a single hook, most anglers position it with the point up to reduce snags. But in open water, a down-turned point often will catch schooling bass—largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass—that slash at the lure.