Got a semi-break in the weather Sunday afternoon and decided to hit the lake for a couple hours. I haven't been focusing much on bass lately, but thought with the cloud cover, light breeze and scattered drizzle, it would be a great opportunity to have some fun. Any time I'm catching fish is fun, but to me, putting the trolling motor down and covering tons of water while chunking a buzzbait is right at the top of the list. So that's what I did.
First, the tackle. A 7'4" MH Denali Mark Tyler Multipurpose rod, a great buzzbait and Chatterbait stick which also doubles as a good mid-depth cranking rod, paired with a high-speed Shimano baitcast reel and 16# Toray fluorocarbon line. Lots of people say don't throw topwaters with fluorocarbon line, but I don't see any problem using it with buzzbaits where the line is out of the water much of the time and the bait is in constant motion. The extra abrasion resistance you get with fluoro is a benefit, and I'm not so sure you don't get better hooksets than with mono - at least that's my working hypothesis right now.
The bait was an Accent Fishing "Game Changer" buzzbait in black - small blade. I added a large 4" Ouzu Goby trailer. A couple thoughts here. First, the metal line clip on the Game Changer does a great job of holding soft plastic trailers. Nothing worse than having your trailers constantly slipping down the hook shank on every cast, throwing off the balance of the bait. Some type of good keeper whichever brand you throw, is very important in my eyes from an efficiency standpoint. Having a great squeal right out of the package like this bait does is also a nice bonus. No more time spent tuning buzzers to get the setup dialed in - just like the custom bait I also throw.
Next, trailer or no trailer? I almost always opt for a trailer, and often a large one, especially with dark-colored buzzers. There are several reasons for this. One is added weight for better casting, especially roll casting into tight spots. Another is better profile. An overlooked benefit is added mass. This helps in two areas. It slows the bait down while keeping it from sinking too fast, both positives in my book when chunking buzzers. It also serves to get you better hookups. This is due to the fact that at least part of the time, bass are still using suction feeding to try and eat your buzzbait. With the added mass at the back end where the hook is, the bait is much more likely to end up in the basses mouth when compared to just a skirted bait. When throwing lighter shad colored buzzbaits, I'll often go with a smaller spinnerbait-type trailer due to better profile matching, but it still serves the same purposes.
So the final tally was about 20 bass in just a few hours including a limit of nice chunks over 15". I got a little wet in the effort, but I'll dry out as will the boat - and I had a blast watching a bunch of bass blow up on my buzzbaits - so it's all good.
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