I am new to buzz bait fishing. See a lot of guys fishing them with a toad trailer instead of a skirt. In your opinion, who makes the best buzz bait for that technique? Want one to change out trailers easily as well. Also do I start with 3/8oz. or 1/2 oz.? Have never really fished buzz baits but I would like to get started.

Any help would be appreciated. I read that some do not run true.

I started throwing a toad on the back of one a couple years ago now. I also like a swimbait at times. Both will add weight and make casting easier in wind. Yum toad or yum pulse swim bait are two I use a lot. Berkley pitboss is another I like. A 1/2 oz can be retrieved a bit faster, but I tend to lean on a 3/8 a bit more. I like the booyah clacking buzzbait. A drop of superglue holds the bait on well.

I like a 3/8 oz buzzbait. Over the years I've used several different models. The Cavitron is really popular with most folks. I've used swimbaits as a trailer in place of a skirt, with success. If you want to use a swimbait or frog/toad in place of a skirt, try to choose one that matches your bait size, and won't overpower the lure. Make sure the hook is super sharp. I've had the best luck by retrieving a buzzbait as slowly as I can, and still keep the blade turning on the surface.

I still like the skirts better, buzzbait is probably my favorite strike ever 

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I still like the skirts better, buzzbait is probably my favorite strike ever 

I agree my biggest 5 fish this year came on a black 1/2 oz buzzbait.

I fish them naked (no trailer) and they are easily in my top 3 producers on the water. I prefer the 1/2 ounce size mainly because they handle the choppy water better and days with chop on the water are the best time to fish them.

 

In calmer waters I'm more likely to fish the 3/8 ounce.

 

Strike King Sexy Shad buzzbait has been the best for me.

I like a 1/2 ounce with plastic swimbait trailer . The trailer adds drag so it can be fished slow and I am a better caster with the heavier lure .

I stopped using buzzbaits when the whopper plopper took off. When I did, I used them stock or with a grub or minnow.

Haven’t fish buzzbaits either. Just got a couple of the Dirty Jigs with no skirt. It took a lot of effort to get a toad over the keeper, never got it all the way on.

Any tips on getting this done?

 

Thanks

It took a long time for buzzbaits to click with me, but once they did, I've committed to using them every time I'm out in the early morning or late evening.  I use the whopper plopper too, but I fish in and around emergent vegetation too often to depend always on a bait with treble hooks....a single-hook buzzbait can still go where no whopper plopper can go.

 

I'm not really sold yet on the idea of a trailer instead of a skirt. Admittedly, i've only tried this a few times, but there were immediately some things I didn't like.

 

I thought a toad would add some lift, letting me retrieve slower. The opposite happened -- I found I had to retrieve faster to keep it from sinking. So I tried a Strike King Toad Buzz, thinking a buzzbait made specifically for a plastic trailer would be better. It did seem to run better, but I kept missing strikes, and I realized perhaps the wire design doesn't permit the toad to run low enough.

 

 

 

I think the toad or swim bait trailer is a situational deal.

 

Personally I’ve done way better with a skirt than a trailer. With that being said I primarily fish emerging eelgrass, hydrilla, coontail, or pads when I throw a buzzbait and I’m lobbing overhand casts covering as much water as possible.

 

Where I consistently see guys throwing the trailer is when they are putting the buzzbait under docks or overhanging trees. The toad or swim bait gives the lure a flat surface that will skip up under cover.

 

If you don’t intend to skip the buzzbait, I wouldn’t bother with a trailer.

1 hour ago, MIbassyaker said:

It did seem to run better, but I kept missing strikes, and I realized perhaps the wire design doesn't permit the toad to run low enough.

 

I pour my own and bend the pre-form wire so its set   lower in the water . It doesnt get the explosive hits like higher running baits but gets a very high hook up percentage . This is the best buzzbait I have used .Cast great , retrieves slow and solid hookups .

Many guys also fail to throw them mid day which I feel is one of my best times to throw one for BIG bites. You probably won't get a ton of bites mid day when it's 100 degrees out on one. But when you do get bit, it's worth the wait. 

 

On topic with throwing a plastic on one instead of a skirt. The only time I would do that is for skipping under docks or skipping back into thick laydown trees.  If you want to add a touch of action to your bait throw a grub on there or put a skirt on that has a longer mid section that alot of the spinnerbaits come with now 

1 hour ago, Hower08 said:

Many guys also fail to throw them mid day which I feel is one of my best times to throw one for BIG bites. You probably won't get a ton of bites mid day when it's 100 degrees out on one. But when you do get bit, it's worth the wait. 

 

On topic with throwing a plastic on one instead of a skirt. The only time I would do that is for skipping under docks or skipping back into thick laydown trees.  If you want to add a touch of action to your bait throw a grub on there or put a skirt on that has a longer mid section that alot of the spinnerbaits come with now 

Where are you throwing them mid day? Under cover or open areas?

Last year I was smoking them on buzzbaits in the middle of afternoon in summer hot days. There was some green/scum floating algae around the edges of rocks/jetties.

 

. 

4 hours ago, jbrew73 said:

Where are you throwing them mid day? Under cover or open areas?

Over weeds, shady sides of docks, rip rap, around flooded bushes, down trees. All the same areas you would typically think to fish one.

 

The buzzbait is a big bass lure.

It has bulk, but more importantly it creates a commotion right in the veggies, where cows live.

Only a Johnson Spoon produced larger bass for us, which keeps moving after a buzzbait bogs down

 

I've never found a need to add a toad or action trailer to a buzzbait.

First off, the clacker on a 1/2 oz Booyah Buzz creates significant audio without any help.

Also, I try to keep a buzzbait in surface vegetation, where any added resistance is unwelcome.

 

 

Roger

I like buzzbaits alot. I leave the skirt on and use a soft plastic swimbait as a trailer. Never thought about running onw skirtless, but I have with a chatterbait so might be good. 

On 7/7/2020 at 1:28 PM, 5/0 said:

Haven’t fish buzzbaits either. Just got a couple of the Dirty Jigs with no skirt. It took a lot of effort to get a toad over the keeper, never got it all the way on.

Any tips on getting this done?

 

Thanks

You can take a file and file the lead down some.

On 7/7/2020 at 2:28 PM, 5/0 said:

Haven’t fish buzzbaits either. Just got a couple of the Dirty Jigs with no skirt. It took a lot of effort to get a toad over the keeper, never got it all the way on.

Any tips on getting this done?

 

Thanks

Take a pair of side cuts and CAREFULLY cut the lead keeper off the wire. Cut around base of the head then make a sideways cut lengthwise on the now loose piece and it will come right off. This is what I do to the crappie jigs I tied when I can't find jigheads without bait keepers and it works just  perfect every time

*I like Cavitron with a skirt and the War Eagle brand with a Toad ... Both have their place and are still fun to throw . Get one of each in : Black , White for a total of 4 (two with skirts and two with toads) and have fun ! ... As for Toads on a buzz bait - I like the Zoom and the Yum versions the best. 

On 7/7/2020 at 4:13 PM, scaleface said:

I pour my own and bend the pre-form wire so its set   lower in the water . It doesnt get the explosive hits like higher running baits but gets a very high hook up percentage . This is the best buzzbait I have used .Cast great , retrieves slow and solid hookups .

 

Lookin' good!  That's the same kind of bend as the Cavitron, on which I miss very few strikes.

 

I prefer a variety of buzzbaits that produce different sounds.

 

My favorite is the D&M slow roller. There’s nothing like it

 

My least favorite is the cavitron.   Only because it has a poorly designed head that does not surface as well as others.  Still catches fish though