By Pete Wolf

Last year while fishing the Brandywine River in Pennsylvania I decided to remove the skirt from one of my buzzbaits. I had been fishing a buzzbait with a 3 inch Big Hammer trailer for several years. While hiking up the river and staring at my buzzbait I thought to myself, "why am I covering up this natural looking rubber fish with this un-natural looking chartreuse and white skirt?" I also remembered how many times I've seen schools of baitfish swimming just below the surface. What could be better than a lure that makes a bunch of noise to get the fish's attention, then when they look up they see a baitfish swimming just below the surface?

So I took the skirt off, re-rigged the Big Hammer to look as good as possible and proceeded to catch my largest smallmouth bass at 20 inches along with an 18 and a 16 incher. It was the last day of my vacation and didn't have the opportunity to test it further.

This year I put the "Buzz Hammer" to the test. I designated one trip down the Brandywine to fishing the "Buzz Hammer" and comparing it to a regular skirted buzzbait. I had an amazing day with 43 smallmouth bass with 18 of them between 12 and 19 inches. I threw the "Buzz Hammer" most of the time because I couldn't help myself but when I did force myself to throw a regular skirted buzzbait I didn't get nearly the same amount of strikes and didn't hook a single fish. I am now convinced that a 3 inch Big Hammer swimbait underneath a buzzbait blade is a better lure than a standard skirted buzzbait.

I prefer using 3/8 or 1/2 oz. buzzbaits whether I am fishing for largemouth or smallmouth bass. Don't worry about the bait being too big. I have caught plenty of 8 - 12 inch bass on it. You have to remember when looking at a buzzbait that the only thing the fish really sees is the portion of the bait from the jig head back, or the tasty little baitfish swimming just under the surface. The blade is only there for noise and water disturbance. I feel the larger bait puts off more disturbance and glides through the water better.

Rigging - Option 1:

The trick is to find a buzzbait with a small enough hook so that it is not too difficult to rig the swimbait straight and there is enough tail left loose to provide action. The best bait I have found so far is the Lazer Eye Buzzmaster from Bass Pro Shops. The 3/8 oz. version has a 3/0 hook which works okay. The 1/2 oz. has a 4/0 which is a little big but still managable. The problem with the Lazer Eye Buzzmaster is that they come with a cheap blade and the 3/8 oz. comes with a small blade. I use the size 3 Aluminum Delta Blades from Stamina Quality Components. Take the skirt off the buzzbait, change the blade, and rig the swimbait as straight as possible and you're ready to go.

Rigging - Option 2:

Cut off the lead part of the jig head that the skirt was on - leaving a relatively smooth cut just after the head of the bait (Figures 1 and 2). Next drill a small hole just above where the hook comes out of the head that is large enough for the "hook end" of the Hitchhiker to go into (Figure 3). Wrap the Hitchhiker around the shank of the hook and insert the "hook end" of the Hitchhiker into the hole. Next melt solder into the hole and secure the Hitchhiker to the base of the jig head (Figure 4).

Now attach the Big Hammer swimbait. Thread the swimbait onto the hook and twist onto the Hitchhiker trailer keeper.

Check out the colors and sizes available for the Big Hammer Premium Swimbaits.