Buzzers are Brilliant
says Chas Crosby

INTRODUCTION by Deputy Editor Brian Barwell
Now, I don't mind admitting it ...... I have been more than a tad confused over the years by what people actually mean by a "Buzzer" as far as lures are concerned, as opposed to buzzers used in fly-fishing (see right)

As far as lure-fishing Buzzers are concerned I think I first got confused when I bought a Barrie's Buzzer by mail-order and found that I'd bought a normal spinnerbait. So it's been a real eye-opener to have things explained properly here by Chas Crosby who obviously thinks that Buzzers are Brilliant.

WHAT IS A BUZZER ?
The best way to explain what a Buzzer actually is, is to start by showing you the three main types of spinner.

Firstly there is the classic style with the blade attached to a clevis which rotates around the mainshaft of the spinner, as per the Classic Mepps Aglia range

Secondly there is the Through-blade style of spinner where the shaft of the spinner actually passes-through the blade itself, without the use of a clevis.

There are several commercial examples of this type of Through-the-blade spinner, and my personal favourite is Worden's Vibric Rooster-tail.

Thirdly, there is the In-line spinner which uses a symmetrical blade attached to the shaft and around which it rotates; the most well-known example of an In-line spinner is the classic Mackerel Spinner.

As well as spinners, there are of course spinnerbaits, and other hybrid combination lures such as the spinner-spoon and spinner-plug, and I'll be talking more about them later-on.

Now, as far as which of these types of spinner is actually a Buzzer, I should explain that the term Buzzer really applies to the blade itself (not to the lure) because of the buzzing noise that the blade makes during the retrieve, especially if it's across the top of the water. This is the classic Buzz blade, which you can see is simply a development of the original Mackerel spinner blade but which tended to be on the small side, and didn't have much action, feel or buzz — these bigger, hammered Buzz-blades are much better!

BUZZ-BLADE LURES
So, now, hopefully, you can see that Buzz-blades can be used in a variety of ways to makes In-line spinners, Spinner BuzzBaits and Hybrid combination lures how versatile is that?!

I'm going to kick-off with Buzz-blades as used in In-line spinners; I'm going to call these lures BUZZERS for the sake of clarity, and to avoid confusion. Later-on I'll be talking about the used of Buzz-blades in spinnerbaits and these are called BuzzBaits.

But back to bog-standard In-line spinners made with Buzz-blades ...... There are quite a few available commercially although these days it's easiest to buy them On-line from the USA.

Kilty in Ireland used to make a brilliant buzz-blade spinner called the TriLure but these are like rocking-horse manure to find these days. Here's an American equivalent .... and this reminds me of the advantages of hackled hooks .... I use them all the time.

Hackled trebles are fairly snag-free but you can easily go one-step further and use a single hook, as with some spinnerbaits, and, provided that it is still hackled, it's even more snagless, as they say.

So, there you have it in a nutshell — Buzzers are In-line spinners that use a mega-Mackerel-spinner-type Buzz-blade. You will find that these bigger-bladed spinners will have much more feel. Also, because of the extra weight, they will get down through the water faster, to the areas where predators lurk, ready to strike!

BUZZBAITS & OTHER HYBRID LURES
Moving on, to my mind, normal spinnerbaits look like this: they can have 1, 2 or more blades, usually of Willow and/or Colorado style blade i.e. not Buzz-blades.

When they are made using a Buzz-blade, like this, they are called Buzz-Baits .... OK ?!

As with normal spinnerbaits, there is a wide range of variations of buzzbaits including the really buzzy dual-buzzblade bait

And you can now see, I am sure, that buzz-blades also open-up a huge number of possibilities to make hybrid, combination lures to suit just~about every venue and depth.

For example, if you want to get right down into the depths and to combine the advantages of a spoon with a buzz-blade, you can put the two together (e.g. with a split-ring) to make a Buzz-Spoon.

Again, with a single hook, a weed-guard and a nice bunch of hackles, this Buzz-spoon is pretty much weedless.

If you want to fish at mid-depth, combining the advantages of a traditional plug with those of a buzz-blade, it's easy enough to make a Buzz-plug. In-fact, the floating versions of these buzz-plugs which have a simple propellor type in-line blade instead of a buzz-blade, are very successful top-water lures known as Prop-baits. Here's a mid-water Buzz-plug though .....

BUZZING MOSS BOSS
As I've just mentioned, Top-water Propbaits are very effective surface lures. If you haven't got a Luhr Jensen Woodchopper in your lure-box, you've been missing-out for sure.

Buzzers and buzz-baits can also easily be fished across the surface, and as such, are very effective surface lures too. That said, I like my surface lures to be weedless so that I don't get snagged very often, and so it seemed quite natural and obvious to combine my most favourite weedless surface lure, the Heddon SwampFox MossBoss, with a Buzz-blade, to make an ... eerrr .... Moss Buzz.

IN CONCLUSION
Well, I'm sure you've got the message OK now, and understand what buzz-blades and buzzers are, and how they can be used, and modified, to make hybrid combination lures such as buzzbaits, buzz-spoons and buzz-plugs. At this point I must acknowledge that many of my ideas have come-about after reading articles by lure legend John Worzencraft who's always banging-on about his hybrid combination lures .. Thanks, John. Now I'm not implying that John invented hydrid lures, only that there's no modern-day thinking lure-angler who's done more than John to develop hybrid combination lures. I even saw a photo of one that he'd made from a jointed plug, where he had very cleverly inserted a spinner between the two halves of the plug — crazy? Maybe .. but if you don't develop and try-out these ideas, you'll never know. The NIH* syndrome is sadly rife in the fishing world. My Buzz-blade hybrids may not be quite so clever, but sure as hell, they're every bit as effective. Why don't you try them? Fish them properly and you too will find that they are brilliant!

Brilliant Buzzing !
Chas Crosby

*NIH = Not invented here

Nick's Notes: Thanks for that, Chas ... nice article .. it's certainly got tongues a-buzzin' in our Tackle Team and I am sure with our Readers too. By the way, I should mention that there's a whole article by John Worzencraft himself, about Para-plugs & Hybrid Lures, in our Lures & Lure-Fishing Section .... check it out !

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