Buzzbait

Wire-armed bait with a propeller blade that churns a V-wake and gurgle across the surface on a straight, steady retrieve.

Also known as: Buzzbait · buzzer · topwater buzzbait · clacker buzzbait

The strike you can see. Nothing in bass fishing beats a blow-up on the surface.

• Walking, popping, buzzing, frogging: each has its water and its cadence
• Do not set on the splash — wait for the weight
• Low light, calm water, warm season; frogs own the mats
• Nylon is the one line that belongs here: it floats

A buzzbait is a safety-pin style wire bait with a metal blade on top of the head that spins and claws at the surface on a straight retrieve, throwing a loud gurgling wake. It is the loudest, most reaction-oriented bait in the topwater family and the one most tolerant of wind and low-visibility water, since fish find it by sound and vibration as much as sight.

It shines at dawn and dusk, in stained water, and around hard cover like riprap and seawalls and along grass edges where a steady moving bait can be swum just off the vegetation. It's also the best topwater choice in a moderate breeze, since chop doesn't disrupt its action the way it kills a walking bait's or popper's presentation. Because it requires almost no finesse to fish — cast it out and reel steadily — it's an efficient way to cover a bank fast early and late in the day.

It fails in calm, gin-clear, heavily pressured water where its brute-force approach spooks more fish than it draws, and it fails in cold water, where the retrieve speed required to keep it on top is too fast for sluggish fish. Hook-up ratios also run lower than other topwater since fish often swat at the blade rather than eat the skirt cleanly; slowing slightly and letting it sputter on a pause can improve conversion. Heavy gear is standard — 40-65lb braid and a heavy, fast-action rod — both to control a bait that wants to twist line and to horse fish away from the hard cover it's typically fished around.