By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan
Bernie Schultz is not only a veteran Bassmaster Elite Series angler, but has also played an integral role in buzzbait design for Hildebrandt Lures.
What evolved from an utter necessity to dial in the clear water, weed-infested largemouth of his home waters of Florida evolved into an obsession based on designing the right tools for the job for his favorite tactic. While the bait shines in the morning, evening, and through the night, there are no set rules.
HeadBanger History
When he first set out to design a buzzbait for Hildebrandt, Schultz had already set his mind to using tin to create a buzzbait that would put off a lot of noise. The allure of tin was grounded in the high volume sound that could be produced consistently when the blade struck the head of the lure on a fast retrieve.
“I wanted a noisy buzzbait to draw fish out of thick vegetation from longer distances,” Schultz said. “The sonics were really loud, reminiscent of the cans behind a newlywed’s car.”
And so the HeadBanger was born.
Missing Piece of the Puzzle
After two years of research and development, Schultz’s newest design will be unveiled at ICAST this week. Designed to compliment the Gold Wing in-line buzzer and HeadBanger, Hildebrandt is set to introduce the SqueakEasy.
It’s specifically designed to be fished slower and more methodically around sparser cover, bare banks, and along riprap.
“They’ll hear the sound and feel the disturbance,” Schultz said.
Using Florida logic, he designed the bait for clear-water conditions around sparse cover situations that might pull fish that might not eat otherwise. He promises the color patterns and finishes will not disappoint and that they compliment the options of chrome, black-nickel, and gold-plated polished blades.
Peak Situations for Buzzbaits
“Any time bass are guarding the fry, buzz baits can be real effective, continuing throughout the summer as baitfish find their way to the surface,” Schultz said. “They may be relating to topped-out grass, or emerging grass, or flooded brush, or laydowns.”
While the presence of bait is not imperative, it’s always advantageous when they begin relating to the top part of the water column. Bass concealed in lily pads, thick hydrilla, milfoil, coon tail, and eelgrass located in deeper water will smash a buzzbait retrieved above.
If he’s trying to pull fish out of emerging grass or existing cover, Schultz may opt for a clacker that resonates more sounds and generates an impulse strike.
For heavy matted vegetation, an in-line buzzer is imperative.
“For hydrilla or milfoil starting to top out at the surface, you can’t get a bent frame or offset buzzer through,” he noted. “That’s where a Floyd’s Buzzer or Hildebrandt Goldwing float over the cover and come through it really well.”
It’s also a go-to bait at low tide in rivers when the grass is starting to mat.
The SqueakEasy buzzbait from Hildebrandt will be introduced at ICAST this week.
For thinner cover or when fish are not aggressive enough for an impulse-type bait, he’ll try a a squealer. Fishing it meticulously around the cover, he’ll use a shorter rod, trying to make contact with dock pilings, cypress knees or rocks on a riprap bank.
Any time it’s safe to fish during thunderstorms where the light levels change and the barometer drops, he finds bass just can’t resist, and that includes smallmouths in Canada, too.
While buzzbaits are a factor post-spawn through summer, fall is the deal as bass relate to forage. Yet, Schultz recalled Jim Morton winning a Bassmaster Oklahoma Invitational on Grand Lake in a snowstorm, noting Morton treated it like a rain shower as the fish were still shallow and the barometer swing was just like it was a summer shower.
“It shocked everybody,” Schultz remembered.
Tweaking the Bait
Schultz throws his buzzbaits predominantly on a 7-foot, medium-heavy Shimano Final Dimension casting rod paired with a Shimano Calais reel and 17- to 20-pound Sufix Superior co-polymer line that has the right combination of smoothness and stretch.
If the fish want the bait slower, he opts for a lower gear ratio so as to not overwork the lure. Sometimes they just want it crawling. Trailer hooks are non-negotiable, he said.
