Buzzin' -- Use a Grub Like a Buzz Bait!

When Gary called to say we need to get out on the lake I tried to beg off. As usual I was late for a deadline. He suggested I forget the deadline (OK Boss) and he'd pick me up in thirty minutes. He suggested I bring an Action III and IV Grub Rod (7') and spool up a couple of high speed reels with 16-pound Sugoi line. After a fast trip through the line windin' room the 7:1 PT33's were as spooled and ready to go as I was. These types of calls from Gary mean one of two things. Either a hot bite is in progress, or more frequently, Yamamoto has been inventing again, and we've got something new to try.

I found out a long time ago (the boss taught me) that there is always something new to learn about fishing a grub, not to mention any one of the myriad of new product ideas that Gary is continually coming up with. Basically, Gary dreams up a new product, sends the tech drawing to the mold maker, and the plant sends us a sack of prototype baits to test. That's when the phone rings and we go out to work on (play with) the new toy.

On this particular outing we were going to try out the 19 series and the new 20 series single-tail big grub. It was late summer and the Lake Powell smallmouth and largemouth were moving up in the flooded tumbleweed piles in the afternoon to feed on the snake-sized bluegill. It was a good bite and I was anxious to see what the outcome would be. "We're going to use the grub like a buzzbait," Gary explained. "They really tore this thing up yesterday."

He proceeded to pin a chartreuse grub (19-10-169) on a 4/0 Sugoi hook (59-10-40). He rigged it Tex-posed with the hook point nestling parallel to the grub body and then just skin-hooked the point. The hook was tied directly to the 16-pound test Sugoi Fluorocarbon Line.

Gary cast the grub to the shoreline and immediately engaged the reel and began a steady retrieve with the rod tip held high. The grub was on plane! And more surprising was the fact that it slid smoothly along, the tail was swimming vigorously and making an amazing amount of noise, something akin to a cat purring. I was so intent on watching and listening to the bait that I was startled when a chunky smallmouth bass blew up on the bait. Gary couldn't suppress a giggle as he fought the two pounder quickly to the boat and released it. "I told you they love this thing."

In the remaining couple of hours before sundown, we managed to boat four or five limits of bass and a couple of stripers, all on the buzzing grub. I discovered quickly that buzzing the grub smoothly took a little practice, and wasn't altogether as easy as Gary had made it look. With a 7:1 retrieve rate it takes a little control, so as to not to over speed the grub. The goal is to move the bait just fast enough to keep it on top. That minimum plane speed seems to generate the most noise from the tail, as well as keeping the bait in the prime zone for the longest period of time.

After watching Gary catch that first fiesty two pounder, I hurriedly rigged a chartreuse 19 on my III Action Grub Rod and made a cast. After getting the hang of the speed control I noticed that despite my best efforts, Gary's bait sounded different than mine. I tried to vary the speed but I couldn't duplicate that sound. There was a reason for my interest as Gary had three fish to my one.

Well, I'm stubborn and Gary knows it but he wasn't about to offer any help until I asked for it. When I finally gave in and begged for help, he just grinned as he explained that I had my grub rigged incorrectly. He showed me that he rigged it with the tail riding down in the water to put more pressure on it, creating the additional sound. With that change made I was on the program, both soundwise and fishwise. Subsequent to that trip we have experimented with rigging tail up or tail down to fine tune the presentation to what the fish want on a given day. This is a fairly subtle change, but it can make a notable difference.

When we switched from the 19 series to the new 20 (20-10-169), we switched over to the IV Action Rod and 5/0 Sugoi hooks (59-10-50). the additional weight of the 20 casts easily on the stiffer action. Now this set-up is a real winner. The additional length of the grub body affords additional planing surface disturbance. We experimented by running a 19 over a prime looking spot first and if we failed to get bit we threw the 20 back to the same spot. In several instances the slower presentation of the 20 generated a bite where the 19 had failed. While this is by no means conclusive testing, it demonstrated to us again that it can be very subtle changes that make critical differences. One thing is for sure, the 20 is easier to work and therefore quicker to learn to buzz than the 19. While either one can be absolute dynamite, I suggest you start with the 20 series. For you light liners out there, don't despair. The five inch, single tail, 18 series also buzzes well on a spinning outift rigged with a #1 or 1/0 Sugoi hook. It's a little trickier due to the smaller grub body which offers less planing surface, but it really works.

You may recall that nearly four years ago I shared a boat in Mexico with noted Japanese pro and Yamamoto Pro Staffer, Hiro Kawabe. He used this technique on those Baccarac bruisers and was very successful. He was using a spinning rod spooled with a prototype 30 pound test braided line that he called Spectra (no one had seen any of that stuff at the time). The white, twin-tail big grub (17-10-036) produced the most big fish that day, but Kawabe caught his share on the smaller offering. In heavily pressured conditions or on smaller fish, buzzing the 18 has definite merit.

While I would recommend buzzin' a 19 or 20 series anytime the fish are predisposed to hit a topwater, I think this bait and technique really comes into its own when the fish are relating to cover, particularly grass beds, moss, tumbleweeds, or the like. The fact that the bait is totally weedless (see related story on the Grub Guard) allows you to be fearless in your presentation. The thicker the cover, the better you can buzz the bait over flooded hydrilla in Texas or slop it over floating moss beds on the California Delta. And, unlike a frog-type bait, when you reel the buzzing grub into a pocket or hole in the cover you just "kill" it there and let it flutter down into the cover. If you don't get bit on the drop, twitching the bait and letting it settle again will usually do the trick.

When slopping the bait over floating moss beds your hook-up ratio will improve if you will "dead-stick" the bait the instant the bass blows up and creates an opening in the mat. If you feel the fish, take the time to reel up all slack and get into position for a good hook set. If a couple of twitches don't produce a hook up, quickly retrieve the bait, cast past the opening created by the bass, buzz the grub across the surface and stop or kill the bait when it first enters the opening.

Whether buzzing the grub over floating or flooded cover or vegetation, or simply in open water, remember to stay steady when the fish eats the bait. Trust the salt and fish attractant (you are using the attractant, aren't you?) they won't spit the bait. In fact, if you'll wait until the line tightens slightly, indicating that the fish has turned, you'll stick more fish in the boney plate on either side of the head and fewer in the roof of the mouth or in the thin membrane around the mouth.

Gary has convinced me that most fish are lost as a result of being thinly hooked in the roof of the mouth. Visualize a bass on the surface trying to throw a bait. In many cases they flare their gills, open their mouths fully and go vertical or lay back. In either event you've got a straight line pull to the bait hanging tenuously in the roof of their mouth or throat - bingo, dumped fish.

Prove this to yourself when practicing or fun fishing. Give the fish time to tighten the line before setting up and then you tell me whether or not you're hooking them in the boney side plate. The hook location is exactly what the Sugoi hook was designed to do. Use the Yamamoto Attractant to bolster your confidence that the fish will hold on to the bait and then take advantage of what the hook can do for you in terms of a higher ratio of hooked and landed fish.

Just as in the case of letting the grub settle into a hole in the moss, the buzzing grub set-up is the same as that used for subsurface "twitch" technique that we have had much success with on Mexico's Lake Baccarac. In that case we are targeting really big big fish that are cruising the shore looking for talapia that they can trap against the bank. We think the majority of these fish are cruising the shoreline in four to eight feet of water, concentrating on the bank. Casts are made to the water's edge or even the on the bank and then the bait is worked out from shore in long twitches or pulls, and expect most bites to occur when the bait is stopped.

The longer pulls seem to generate more bites and have the added advantage of generating less line twist. Once you've worked the bait out of the strike zone and you're ready to retrieve and make your next cast, reel quickly and raise your rod tip. This will put the big single tail grub on the surface where the tail works like a keel as it buzzes across the surface and works to keep line twist to a bare minimum. A steady submerged retrieve will generate the most twist.

It is possible, and desirable in some cases, to minimize the line twist by adding a Sampo swivel to the hook when fishing open water or brushy cover when buzzing or pulling the big grubs. However, in moss or grass, it is a real no-no. In that case you don't want anything to snag or collect the gunk.

Arm yourself with a sack of 20 series grubs and Sugoi hooks and give this technique a try. With balanced tackle and a high speed reel I think you'll catch on pretty quickly. Better yet, I think you'll find the fish don't need any lessons at all -- they catch on quickly, too.