I first started fishing with buzzbaits back in the late 1980's on the east coast in small lakes and ponds in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In the beginning of the buzzbait craze, nobody in these areas had ever fished a buzzbait in any of these waters. They were virtually untouched!

When I arrived at the lake with one of the few buzzbaits that were available, a single blade 3/8 ounce, from Bass Pro Shops, it was like fishing virgin water! On the first cast i landed a 6 pound largemouth that just exploded on the bait in broad daylight! That day I caught more than 15 trophy class largemouth bass on this bait until it was bent beyond use! I quickly went out and tried to find another for the next day and low and behold found one at a local tackle store. I headed out that night to another local lake, Killens Pond, in Dover, Delaware.

I fished open water, flats, pads, near an Island, it didn't matter! It was like a magic bait! I caught several bass that were in the 5 pound class with one going almost 8 pounds. (Not too bad considering the state record bass is just a shade over 10!.)

I repeated this for years until the word got out and this craze really caught on. Not that it didn't work anymore, but the heyday of the trophy bass almost every day and night was definitely over.

Since that time, I have fished a variety of waters all over the united states, from Delaware to California, and have taken big bass on buzzbaits, but now there are a few tricks that will help you land some of these bigger bass again in many of these same waters.

I found that the bass have seen most every style of buzzbait that you can think of at this point, work ed in most of the traditional areas in the traditional ways. The trick is to use different baits than most anglers are using in a different way and at a different time.

I start out at 10:00 p.m. and I leave when everyone else is arriving at the lake. I start by using a large buzzbait in black, with a black paddle tail type plastic trailer, with a trailer hook if it is possible, depending on the cover. When this bait doesn't produce in the traditional areas, I move away from the back creeks and channels, and go into the open flats where one of more green type of vegetation exist. I stay in about 1-2 feet of water and cut the area up like a piece of pie making literally hundreds of casts in a 360 degree circle working the bait in a steady motion, and alternating to small changes in cadence and giving it little hops when the steady ready doesn't produce what I want.

If this does not produce a decent bass over 5 pounds in about 45 minutes to an hour, I switch to a small, double buzz, and switch colors to black and red with no trailer. This is usually a 1/8 ounce or a 1/4 ounce bait. I use a spinning rod for this with a swivel to reduce line twist. I also use a braided line, in 40 pound test, like Power Pro on a glass or composite rod, and just hesitate a little bit longer before setting the hook.

When all these tactics fail, I go to a Deps buzzjet or a chatterbait, and work it as fast as possible on the surface in the same areas and by the dams.

There are several companies that offer top quality buzzbaits that will produce for you that are not available in a wide variety of stores so that most average anglers won't be using them. They are located at Trophy Bass Fishing Videos and tips website in the Tackle Store.

Try some of these baits and tips that they offer there and watch some of the over 300 instructional videos and I am sure that you will be saying, "Man!, That Buzzbait Still Works!"

Steve vonBrandt
Sponsored by: GYCB (Yamamoto),Okuma, TTI-Blakemore, and Ambush Lures.

Steve was the owner of a bass fishing Guide Service in Wilmington, Delaware, Anglers Radio in Delaware and New Jersey, and Delaware Tackle in Delaware. He is a tournament angler and freelance outdoor writer. He has over 40 years of fishing experience in the Northeast and California. He has fished lakes, ponds, and rivers from 1962 until the present. His new website offers over 350 bass fishing instructional videos and discount tackle at World Record Trophy Bass Fishing

http://delawaretrophybass.com