The Magical Buzzbait

This 17-inch smallmouth bit on a buzzbait offering just before dark to help me avert a goose egg on the River Raisin in Monroe County, Mich., Tuesday.

ROA photo by Mac Arnold

By Mac Arnold
ROA Editor

As promised, I returned Tuesday to the honey hole on the River Raisin in Monroe County, Mich., where I had so much success smallmouth bass fishing recently with my friend Bill Brisebois.

It did not go as I imagined, or did it?

Over the years in past blog postings I've talked about being at a hot spot and trying to see if lightning would strike the same place twice, such as from a treestand where I've drilled a nice buck or an obscure hilltop where I blew a meeting with a monster tom.

The same instances can obviously be applied to fishing.

One of the earliest such examples would be when I was a boy fishing for perch at my grandmother's cottage on Bear Lake in Manistee County, Mich. I would have to merely row out about 100 yards, then head down five to seven cottages and set anchor in front of the yellow one. Jig a crawler or two and it was game on.

Most of the time, I should add.

And I believe the same is true of this recent spot on the River Raisin. It likely would have caught on fire had the temperatures not already been there for most of the day, hitting near the 90-degree mark.

With darkness fast approaching, I found myself facing a "skunked" outing to go along with a deadlined baitcaster due to an inexplicable bird's nest.

But I was still alive with another pole that was set up with a buzzbait. In the gray silence of dusk, there are few lures that contain the magic of the buzzbait -- something I learned from my West Virginia "ex-outlaws" and experienced myself over the years.

I decided on the way back to the boat launch that I would attempt a few casts at this new-found bass paradise. As I slipped slowly along the shore opposite the fallen logs and branches that are likely key to holding the fish in this bend of the river, I got out and slung the buzz straight across the shadowy ripples.

Halfway back as it bubbled and gurgled across the surface -- bam! A fish nailed the white and chartreuse lure complete with white Berkley Power Grub trailer. Unlike the earlier hits in the late afternoon-evening that didn't land fish, this baby was hooked and hooked good.

The picture says it all: relief.