by Florida Sportsman Newswire
Volume 5, No. 17 of the Yamaha Fishing Series
During the hot summer months when Cliff Crochet fishes buzz baits, his favorite color is black and the only retrieve speeds he uses are fast and faster. He may be the only angler on the water using this unusual combination with the loud, surface-splashing lures, but the Yamaha Pro has been doing it successfully for years and isn’t going to change now.
“It’s all about confidence,” laughs Crochet, “especially the black color, but to me buzz baits are strictly reaction-strike baits that bass hit by impulse. Speed generates those reaction strikes, and when a bass hits, it isn’t looking at lure color at all.
“The first buzz baits I used when I was young had black skirts and black blades, which are normally colors you fish at night, but they were all I had, so I fished them during the day, too. When I caught bass with them, I just kept using them.”
Crochet doesn’t believe buzz baits attract feeding strikes, primarily because they’re large lures that create a lot of water disturbance. With their long profile, flaring skirt, and single rotating blade, they certainly don’t look like anything bass feed on regularly, either.
“That’s why I retrieve them fast,” continues the Yamaha Pro. “The rotating blade sends out enough noise that bass immediately hear it coming, and because the lure is speeding across the surface, bass just go after it. All I can tell you is that when I’m looking for a larger fish to help fill out a tournament day’s catch, I don’t hesitate to start racing a
buzz bait across the surface.”