Fall Bass Fishing | Shaye’s Fall Favorites – ¼ Ounce Buzzbait

In a previous article, I talked about one of favorite fall bass fishing baits, a lipless crankbait. Well, another favorite of mine this time of year is a ¼ ounce buzzbait. It’s a bait that I rarely throw any other time of the year but has a way of bringing a big one to the boat once the fall rolls around. 

As I mentioned before, my dad and I have traveled to Lake Wheeler in north Alabama with our club in October each year for decades. It’s always our first taste of cold weather, the first time we see the leaves begin to change colors and the first shot we get at fall fishing. 

The shad flood the shores and spill over into the backs of creeks and pockets, bass are aggressively right on their tails ready to feast. And we eagerly set out to interrupt the smorgasbord. 

As previously discussed, one of the best baits for catching lots of these bass is a lipless crankbait. But one of the best baits for catching the biggest fish in the bunch is a ¼ ounce buzzbait. 

In the fall, I can catch 5 fish on a ¼ ounce buzzbait to everyone I can catch with 1/2-ounce buzzbait. I believe this all comes back again to the overabundance of bait, matching the hatch and the fact that a big loud bait just isn’t necessary.

¼ Ounce Buzzbait: Why Not a Big Loud Bait?

Too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing. Because there is so much bait present in the fall, sometimes you have to work even harder to get a bite, especially from an older, battle-weary bass. But you want to still present something to it that’s fairly close in size to what he’s already grown so familiar to and you don’t want to throw something that so obviously different that he just turns his nose up at it. 

All this is why I believe a ¼ ounce buzzbait is so effective. 

You’re presenting something very similar in size to what the bass are eating but you’re doing so on the surface, giving off the appearance that the bait is struggling or fleeing from another predator.

Now, all of this is taking into consideration that I’m trying to break down the physiology of a bass. But who’s to say its right or wrong? No one really knows what goes on in a bass’s head. All I know is what I’ve seen. And I’ve seen my dad or myself win several of those club tournaments on Wheeler in the fall thanks to one 5-pound bite on a ¼ ounce buzzbait.

¼ Ounce Buzzbait: What to Target?

Wood, rock, and grass are all great structures when throwing a buzzbait in the fall, but the main thing you have to have is bait. 

I’ve fished miles of some of the best-looking water on the lake in the fall without bait and without a bite. And I’ve caught fish with a buzzbait in the middle of a barren shallow flat that was loaded with bait. Bait is key. But bait around any kind of structure is the best to target.