For some reason when I woke up this morning, something triggered a memory of a fishing trip I made over thirty years ago. At the time, I had no boat, and was fishing from the bank only.            It was a windy early summer day. The wind was blowing hard enough to create six to eight inch waves, which pounded the rocky shoreline I was standing on.                                   I first tried a t rig, but I couldn't fish it correctly due to the high winds. The wind was blowing a huge bow in my line, and I ( at that time) couldn't tell if I was getting strikes or not.               Out of desperation more than anything, I tied on a black 1/2 oz Lunker Lure buzzbait and started making long cast all over the cove I was fishing.                 On the fourth or fifth cast, I received one of the most hard, jarring strikes I've ever gotten, and landed a two pound bass. Three more fish hit the buzzer, around the same size. All hit with the same ferocious strike, harder than I'd ever had at that time.                                                        Now days, I generally don't fish when the wind is blowing this hard. It was a strange thing at the time. While retrieving the buzzer, half the time I couldn't see it on the surface, and it was partially submerged in the waves. The bass still smashed it.                                                              This went counter to many things I'd read about buzzbaits, and topwater fishing in general, about needing calm water for surface baits to be productive.             Maybe I was lucky, and was casting directly over a school of bass, or maybe it was the wind itself, that put these fish on a reckless feeding spree? I'm still not sure. I filed this away for future trips. As a side note, a friend who was in a club with me at the time won a tournament on a lake near home, throwing a large buzzbait under 35 mile per hr winds. His buzzer was a Bill Norman triple blade model in white.  I don't think the color mattered.                        Have you ever experiened this, throwing a buzzbait in windy conditions?

 

 

 

Yup I've been successful throwing buzzbaits with some chop on the water, but not close to the winds you are describing. I don't think it'd be my first choice though since I found that I had to retrieve the buzzbait faster under these conditions and I don't prefer that. I would sooner toss a spinnerbait

I hate the wind and have never been able to use it as my friend. 
 

Try it again with that buzz bait and see if it brings back the luck you had that day.

 

Good fishing. 

Buzzbaits work in the waves . So do chuggers . 

Very early morning and almost dark is the only time I’ve ever caught anything on a buzz bait. The water was like glass too.

Middle  of the day …..nada, zilch, zippo. I’m going to try in the wind next time.

It's always windy here.  And I feel like a buzzbait is about the only topwater you can throw in the wind.  When the sun is low in the summer and the wind is up, I almost always am throwing a buzzbait, as they have been pretty reliable in those situations.  

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

about needing calm water for surface baits to be productive.

windy days are some of my most productive topwater days, it can be hard to retrieve certain lures, but big, heavy, poppy/churny/obnockshoish lures have done well for me, or even a heavy spinner/chatter near the surface has been good.

I have a hard time with a buzzbait hanging up in the wind and usually opt for something more casting friendly. 

 

I really think that you may be correct in that the buzzbait may have been porpoising in and out of the waves and drew that attention of the fish you caught.

 

I read an article by Zell Rowland and one of the techniques he talked about was casting a buzzbait and engaging the reel just as the buzzbait hit the water to keep it up. He would intermittently kill his retrieve letting the buzzbait drop below surface before getting it back on top of the water again.

 

Injured baitfish when it drops below the surface and in order to get that buzzbait on top, you need to reel rather quickly, like a fleeing baitfish. Ticks off both major predator/prey boxes.

4 hours ago, Mobasser said:

 Out of desperation more than anything

 

Some of my best trips started out that way!

 

One of my best buzzbait days was out on a shallow 2-3' deep flat some 200 yards of shore. The strike was only when the buzzbait broke the surface. 

My best day size wise ever with a buzz bait was in fall several years ago on a windy rainy day. My best 5 went somewhere in the ballpark of 26-27lbs which is a huge bag up here. Had a high 4 a couple 5s one pushing 6 and one over 6..it was unbelievable.

I’ve had some decent days with a buzzbait, mainly for largemouths. Something I want to give a try is to burn them in a bit of a chop for smallmouth this summer. I often do very well with big spinnerbaits burned just under the surface, but I’ll be darned if I ever remember to give a buzzbait a try. Maybe this year I’ll remember to use it one day. 

i laughed when i saw the thread title, because i thought it was going in an entirely different direction.  as a bank fisherman, i don't always have the option of deciding where i fish on a pond or creek.  that means sometimes i have to cast into the wind. using a casting reel in that scenario comes with it's own set of problems.  throwing a buzzbait into the wind with one can be comedic - to people who might be watching you.  parallel casting helps, and it's when i actually use the dc part of my curado. 

 

but on topic, i've used buzz baits on windy-ish days and had good success with them, but those conditions cause me to throw an actual spinnerbait first. however, 35 mph winds? count me out, i'm staying home.  overhead cranes shut down long before that. on really windy spring days if i am fishing, i'm throwing something more aerodynamic than a buzz or spinnerbait. usually, a square bill or a large jerkbait.  i have a good thumb, but even hank aaron didn't homer every time. 

I don't like buzzbaits unless there is some wind. I use a 3/4oz Crock O Gator in the wind.