Buzzing Spring Bass by Steve Price Senior Writer for Bassmaster Magazine.
This excerpt taken from the April 2021 issue Of Bassmaster Magazine.
Go ahead and pick up that buzzbait a little earlier than you are supposed to. According to Elite Series pro Wes Logan, this can help you pick up the biggest bass in the lake. “I know buzzbaits have a reputation for autumn fishing, but I start using them in the spring when the water temperature reaches 50 degrees, and I keep one tied on until late autumn when the water drops below 50 degrees again. A lot of anglers overlook them in the spring, but it’s a lure that really does have some advantages over other spring baits.”
Buzzing Spring Bass when the water temperature reaches 50 degrees.
Perhaps the major advantage a buzzbait offers is it’s effectiveness around shallow, often isolated cover, like stumps, laydowns, clumps of vegetation or shoreline weed, even riprap. These are places bass might be holding or possibly spawning. They don’t move shallow in the spring to feed, but that doesn’t mean they won’t hit a noisy, churning creature that even bumps into that cover.
The Elite Series pro concentrates his buzzbait fishing in shallow bays and pockets of the main lake, wherever he can find protected water. He goes to the sunny side and looks for isolated cover, anything that would hold a bass on the bank. The best areas are flat or even gently sloping; fast-falling banks are not going to be very productive this time of year for a buzzbait.
“It depends on the area, but basically you can’t fish too shallow, which is another advantage a buzzbait offers,” continues Logan. “All of us would rather fish shallow water than deep water. Most of the time, my boat will be in just 4 to 6 feet of water, and I’ll be casting into about 2 feet. I’m not actually trying to catch a bass on the bed, but a buzzbait can show me one I didn’t know was there, especially in dingy water.
