How to Fish a Buzz Tail Shad

The following information and tips are being provided by Tanner Davis

The retrieve
It is a top water lure. Real it just fast enough to keep it on top of the water. It should sound and look like a lizard running on the water. If you only glanced at it you should believe it is a lizard running on the water.

When to set the hook
I always wait till I feel the weight of the bass on the line. Missed strikes are somewhat frequent. The bass will also frequently come back for it on the same retrieve as they think they missed it and don’t notice anything to far out of the ordinary. If you set the hook on a missed strike now the bass sees the lizard suddenly disappear or fly off. That is abnormal and can upset the bass. So I never trust my eyes or ears. I always weight for the rod to tell me and set the hook the moment the rod tells me.

Missed strike
He missed it and you continued the retrieve back to the boat or at least out of the strike zone. Cast back and run the same line again. As long as he didn’t taste the hook or notice anything unusual, you already know he is hungry. If he strikes and misses it again keep repeating as many times as he cares to strike at it, or stop asap after the strike and let it sink. If there is no second strike then I usually give him a few minutes to cool off then repeat the cast and stop right were the strike happened and let it sink.

No splash
Something else these bass haven’t seen fisherman throw at them is a lizard running from shore to the boat. Cast on to shore and drag the buzz tail in to the water so it looks like a lizard that jumped of shore and hit the water running. Anything you can cast onto that prevents the splash helps cause this affect. Dock, shrubbery, thick grass, etc. There are some days when this makes all the difference.

Thick weeds
This thing loves thick weeds. I will real through 20 yards of matted grass so thick that my lure never touches the water just to drag it across a 3 ft opening. This thing is weed less through everything except the dreaded V in a lily pad. Do not be scared of the lily pad fields, but watch for the dreaded V. For all other weeds if it gets a little tangled you can dance it through by shaking/ wiggling your rod as you lift up and towards yourself.