I just bought my first buzzbait for some night fishing.  Its a black BooYah Buzzbait but it has what appears to be a triangular "clacker" that ticks against the blade as the blade turns.  do these "clackers" work, or should i take it off the buzzbait?

thanks for any and all information.

Depends on what the fish want. I used to fish them a lot and caught a lot of fish with them. Just kinda got away from them for some reason, but they caught fish for me.

They work well at night, when your fishing muddy water and in cover when your trying to draw fish out. It throws off stronger pressure waves than a regular buzzbait.

The waters I fish are pretty clear, I'm thinking maybe I should remove it.  I will try it out and see if I can get anything on it though.

They work well at night, when your fishing muddy water and in cover when your trying to draw fish out. It throws off stronger pressure waves than a regular buzzbait.

I throw a klacker more than any buzz bait 

I can say in all of my years of buzzbait fishing -there is no absolute proof that a clacker produces more strikes than ones without clackers. Im sure that clackers can even be a deterant at times.Sometimes they want it subtle  sometimes not-I believe that that can be changed with the size of the blade to displace water plus or minus. In fact there is no way to prove it. There are too many variables and conditions to ever conclude this test.Again I state that there are no absolutes when working with wild creatures or specimens.Use what you have confidence in.

Booyah buzzbaits with the clacker are my normal choice for buzzers.

I like them because they have a great head design and produce more noise than other buzzbaits.

I use these Booyah buzz baits 90% of the time unless I want a more subtle approach, then I go to a 1/4 oz Cravitron.

I can say in all of my years of buzzbait fishing -there is no absolute proof that a clacker produces more strikes than ones without clackers. In fact there is no way to prove it. There are too many variable and conditions to ever conclude this test.Again I state that there are no absolutes when working with wild creatures or specimens.

Dude come get in the back of my boat & I'll prove it to you especially on Toledo Bend!

I've got a Booyah buzz but never caught one on it.  whats the best method of fishin these? Time, place, retrieve etc?

Watch and learn my friend. I have been in the front and back of the boat and spent more time on the water than most professional anglers. This is what I do for a living -how bout you????? You cannot prove that a fish is hitting that bait because it has a clacker over one that dosent. Tell or prove  to me how you can back that statement. I have heard your comments for a while now -anise oil theories ect- PROVE YOUR FINDINGS WTH FACTUAL DATA.

Your experience with clackers differs from mine. I like something that makes more noise than a Cavitron does, as do other people.

Doesn't make me, nor you, right or wrong.

For the record, Bill Dance "does this for a living" as well.  You wouldn't catch me throwing a Dancin' Eel if my life depended on it.

EXACTLY SPEED- Thats what I was trying to state-There is no way to prove that a fish hits a bait because it has a clacker on it. COULD IT provoke a strike  because of it being a little more obnoxious- Yes I believe so- but it could also deter a strike for the same reason. What I was stating was there is no way to prove it.  Use what you have confidence in.

If they squeak they're gonna catch a few fish.

Personally unless the lake is blown up I like them a little quieter. Those loud ones give me a headache.

Just my preference.

thank you all for sharing your opinions, I greatly apprciate them.  The responses have been very informative, thanks.

I dont like clackers. I have seen many times where they wouldnt hit the clackerd bait but they would hit a non clacker. I have not seen it the other way around. Everytime one of my friends cought a fish on a clacker, I was able to get bit without one.

IMO the most important feature of a buzzbait is the squeek. I will not fish a buzzer that does not squeek. If it has a bead behind the blade instead of a rivet then I wont use it.

what about a metal bead?

NO beads bihind the blade!!! Rivets only! A ggod buzzbait should have a loud squuek almost like fingernails on a chalkboard.

If I fish a buzzbait with a clacker and my partner fishes one without a clacker and I catch 5x more fish than him, wouldn't that prove that the clacker is effective?

Not saying that happened, but just a scenerio that I can think of that seems to prove its effectivness.

In the world of wild fish -there is no what they call control.You cant monitor the fish -there are to many variables and conditions. You can throw a non clacker buzzbait near a fish ten times and throw a clacker type buzzbait the eleventh,The bass hits the clacker buzz bait. What does that say-did it strike it because it had the clacker or for some other reason like a different subtlety or visual profile quality. We will never know.  The only one that knows is the bass.All I wanted to state was there was no way to prove a clacker produces on a consistent basis more strikes than a non clacker buzz bait. If you caught a bass on a clacker buzzbait  how can you tell if you didn't have forty bass pass it up because it did have the clacker.. That's what I meant about there is no "control" BUT BUT BUT what I have done over the years is learn how to manipulate the action of a buzzbait  which I believe can make a non striking bass or non aggressive bass hit a bait. Such an example is the pause and twitch. What I believe this does is gets the fishes attention+possibly make the bass believe that the bait is injured -also to make the bass react to the bait like another bass hit it and missed it. Out of gluttony and being opportunistic-they strike the bait. I reel the bait and every few feet I would just twitch my rod tip creating a popping erratic action.Kinda like a cat and a piece of string-ya have to manipulate it and they will attack it.

It really depends on the lake you're fishing. Some lakes, clackers were they only thing they would hit, other lakes they would produced nothing.

I would say keep it around. If all else fails, go for the clacker.

Ha ha Babby I do the EXACT opposite. I absolutley do not want any variation in my retreive. I want the most fluid consistant slooow retreive. Over the years This is the technique that I have perfected and has produced more then anybody fishing around me with buzzers. I only fish buzzers at night.

You can throw a non clacker buzzbait near a fish ten times and throw a clacker type buzzbait the eleventh,The bass hits the clacker buzz bait. What does that say-did it strike it because it had the clacker or for some other reason like a different subtlety or visual profile quality. We will never know. The only one that knows is the bass.All I wanted to state was there was no way to prove a clacker produces on a consistent basis more strikes than a non clacker buzz bait. If you caught a bass on a clacker buzzbait how can you tell if you didn't have forty bass pass it up because it did have the clacker..

If two experienced anglers are fishing out of the same boat for say 3 days/nights in a row and the angler with the clacker is constantly catching while the angler with the non-clacker gets no strikes it's pretty safe to say the clacker is out producing the non-clacker.

Yes there are many many variables to consider but sometimes these variables are easy to interpret. Case in point a Boogerman Racket Buzz produces a unique sound from the blade making erratic contact with the head and at times will out produce a clacker buzz bait.

How many of y'all have ever bent the rivet to increase the squeal?

I use them based on intuition and they produce. Sometimes I use the ones without the clacker, they produce also. It seems to make no difference either way. The clacker models are easier to track in the dark, especially the plastic tri-blade.

The squeak is the deal. You can take a pair of pliers and crimp the rivet to increase the squeal.

Or you always have the old stand by technique; hang it out the window on the way to the lake.