Northwest Fishing Reports

I hit Walmart tonight to replenish my supply of buzzbaits ($1 each) and decided to trick them out a little. It reduces drag on the blade, adds a little bit of red flash to the lure, gives the blade something to "click" against, and prevents thin grass from winding around the blade prop.

You can get a bag of fluorescent red beads at Walmart for about $1.50 and they're located with the sinkers. 30 to a bag. I bought Walmart's Renegade brand for this.

Take your buzzbait and use a pair of small pliers to bend the prop straight below the blade. Slide the piece off that holds the blade on, slide the blade off, and then slide a red bead onto the prop. This prevents the blade from getting stuck on the first bend in the prop, which if you fish buzzbaits then you know what a pain it is to have a perfect cast ruined because your blade locked up on the prop.

Slide the blade back on and if you have room put another red bead below the blade and then bend the prop back to a 90 degree angle, pointing toward the hook. I usually don't bother replacing the barrel piece that fits below the blade since that's where most of the thin grass and scum seems to get caught. The beads don't grab the grass, so it's a great modification on the cheap (and I like cheap).

If you don't want to add red flash, use the clear beads. The color isn't really the main benefit - it's keeping your blade from locking on the prop and eliminating little snag points from the barrel.

Give it a try. Worst you can do is ruin a $1 buzzbait hehe... You'll LOVE the way your buzzbait looks (and so will the lunkers!).

Good tips. I buy booyah clackers for about $5, but that may help someone catch more fish.

Thats a good idea Aaron I'll do that to the one buzz bait I have and hope it makes a difference. If I would use it it might make a difference. How about removing the skrit and replace it with a small swim bait?

I've removed/lost skirts and you can put almost any kind of plastic on. 4" curly tails and 4" tubes work great. Even the paddletail grubs work.

Hey Trent, I'm probably going to hit the Lake in the Woods again this Sunday AM, bringing the wife so she can float around in the inflatable raft and get out of the house. If you don't have any plans, come on down.

Good idea!

good to see you customize. all baits should be customized one way or another.

the only flaw i see with the dollar baits, is their quality. mainly with the way they swim / run, and the hook. you cant really fix the hook, as its permanent, but you may be able to make it swim right.

good luck

T Dot wrote:good to see you customize. all baits should be customized one way or another.

the only flaw i see with the dollar baits, is their quality. mainly with the way they swim / run, and the hook. you cant really fix the hook, as its permanent, but you may be able to make it swim right.

I've never had a problem with them. I posted a report for a secret lake that Trent turned me onto and I caught over 20 using a $1 chartreuse buzz (biggest was 2oz shy of 5 pounds). If they were swimming good enough to catch that many, I can't complain hehe...

As for the hooks, I always hit them with the file just to sharpen them a bit more. Still, they're sharp enough to draw blood - poked myself in the finger tonight while adding the beads, made my wife laugh. I wiped it on her shirt when she wasn't looking, though.

I might go try them out at Dolloff tomorrow AM. Been meaning the check it out since it's so close to my house, looks like there's lots of pads and laydowns to swim a buzzbait over. I'll be sure to post a report, but the rain might slow things down a bit.

Great tip ... I had seen a similar modification done but they had kept the barrel piece behind the blade. I like your tip better especially to keep the weeds from catching any more than they have to. Thanks again for the tip.

yqjLP7PxSFU

that might be what hes talking about...

I rather put my $1 towards a good bait though...

Basstradamus ... that is exactly what I had seen. Couldn't for the life of me remember where it was.

Has anyone tried these buzzbaits? Helix Ninja Buzzbait-Blades look trippy, always wondered how good they work. Only seen them online.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageFBBB-FBHB.html

Basstradamus wrote:yqjLP7PxSFU

that might be what hes talking about...

Busted... too funny

PaulReilly wrote:

Basstradamus wrote:yqjLP7PxSFU

that might be what hes talking about...

Busted... too funny

Nope, not busted. First time I saw it. But glad to see that I wasn't crazy and I'm not the only person customizing a $1 bait to make it work better

Tried them out at Dolloff this morning. Caught one on a black buzz, missed another. Those were the only two hits I got topwater in about 90 minutes. Switched over to a firetiger Bomber and caught two little ones between 10 and 13 feet deep. So the buzzes worked, just wasn't getting much action topwater. I didn't realize the drop off at Dolloff was as steep as it is that close to the shoreline.

I have a bunch of these and found the Utube vid its a good fix and these things catch lots of fish. I dont mind loosing a buck instead of five or six....

AaronE wrote:I've removed/lost skirts and you can put almost any kind of plastic on. 4" curly tails and 4" tubes work great. Even the paddletail grubs work.

Hey Trent, I'm probably going to hit the Lake in the Woods again this Sunday AM, bringing the wife so she can float around in the inflatable raft and get out of the house. If you don't have any plans, come on down.

Will do .

AaronE wrote:I might go try them out at Dolloff tomorrow AM. Been meaning the check it out since it's so close to my house, looks like there's lots of pads and laydowns to swim a buzzbait over. I'll be sure to post a report, but the rain might slow things down a bit.

The bite should be ok with the low pressure.

Can I tag along on Sunday

RB wrote:Can I tag along on Sunday

Absolutely. I expect we'll be there about 5:30am, parked at the cutout at the trailhead.