Bass-Jons

Fishing the Silver Buddy

By Jim Carlson, seen here holding his 8lb 8 oz Hawg (Lake Prince)

(Burnt Mills) 

• Several club members and others have asked me what tackle setup I use and how I fish a Silver Buddy in early spring. I know there are many other ways to do it, and some of you who read this article are more knowledgeable about this technique then I am, but through trial and error, this is what works best for me. 

 Temperature and Location Bass Jon’s first tournament of the season was March 5th. and the air temperature was 47 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. We started fishing a main lake point in about 15' of water. There was a light wind blowing and the water temperature was 41 degrees. We started working our way around the point and started down the bank. The bank had a southeast exposure and was known to warmup early in the spring. There was a V shaped cut between two flats in front of us that dropped quickly to 15 feet. We had a sand bar to the left that sloped off to 15 feet and a large flat to our right that had standing trees and was mostly 2 to 4 feet deep.

• About this time the weather started to change. The air temperature started to drop towards the lower 30s and the sun was cut off by clouds.
• I made a long cast into the front of the V, three feet off the bank, I let the ½ ounce Silver Buddy fall on a tight line. The moment it hit the bottom I jerked it about 3 feet and let it glide back to the bottom as I lowered my rod tip and drew up the slack. On the next jerk " she was there " and the fight was on! Shortly into the fight she rolled over and to be truthful she looked to big to me to be a bass. Halfway into the fight she charged under the boat, at that point I put most of my rod tip under water and continued the fight. I knew I needed to be easy with her because of the small treble hooks on the Silver Buddy. At one point she surfaced on the other side of the boat. At that point, all I could do is keep my tip in the water and keep the pressure on to try and turn her . She finely came out from under the boat and I worked her to the surface and we netted her. We could not believe how big she was ( 8lbs. 8 oz.) and when we put her in the live well of my 165 Tracker she filled it up!
• We pick up 3 more on Silver Buddies that day, for a total weight of 16 lbs. 4 oz., and first place.
• Bass Jon’s second tournament of the year was on March 19, and the air temperature was in the 50s and cloudy. The water temperature was from 45 to 48 degrees.
• In practice I tried to look for a similar structure lay out to see if my technique would continue to work. I found an old road bed that had similar structure and depth changes with a southeast exposure. The road bed gradually sloped from 2 to 10 feet with 15' to 20' water near by. On the right edge of the road bed was a ditch with a depth of 15 feet. The left side did not have a ditch, but had several stumps stagged off to the side of the road out to about 50 feet from shore. To the left of the stumps there was an old creek bed that lead into a long narrow cove that was full of laydowns and stumps.
• We setup on the road bed and started fishing the ditch to the right of the road. In practice I caught a nice 5 pounder on a Silver Buddy in this exact spot and was looking for a repeat performance, but no luck. I hung up on some wood in the ditch early and had to go in and retrieve my Silver Buddy, which probably contributed to my lack of success.
• We started moving to our left and I made a long cast just left of the road bed stumps. I started moving my Silver Buddy along the bottom with 2 to 3 foot jerks. The bait stopped moving suddenly and my 2nd big fish of the year was on. I worked her to the boat and after a few charges she came to the top and we netted her. She weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. and took big fish. We added two others during the day, for a total weight of 10lbs. 8oz. and a first place finish.

Technique

• In early spring when the water temperature is in the 40 to 50 degree range I will throw a Silver Buddy most of the time. This is hard work, if you are doing it right and you need the correct tackle setup to help improve your odds for success.
• I use a chrome colored ½ oz. Silver Buddy most of the time with the original hooks. I will use a 3/8 or 3/4 oz. some of the time if the wind is up or I am fishing structure over 15' deep.
• I normally fish from shallow water to deeper water. I cast it towards the shore line or main lake humps and hop it back to the boat. I let it fall to the bottom on a tight line and jerk it with my rod tip 2 to 4 feet. I then let it fall to the bottom and reel up the slack line wile trying to keep a tight line. When it hits bottom I jerk it again and continue this rhythm all the way to the boat. I also jig it vertically several times under the boat before bring it up. It is a good idea to stop it once on the way up to trigger a strike from any followers.
• Occasionally I will feel the strike, but most of the time when I jerk the bait I will feel weight on the line. I rely on my rod and line combination, along with the jerk, to set the hook. I keep steady pressure on the fish and if it starts to move I continue the fight, if not I know I am hung up on some structure. You can then easily retrieve you Silver Buddy by moving over and behind the structure and it will normally pop right off. Check your hooks and your back in business.
• The Silver Buddy is a reaction bait so the bass just move to it. The striking distance for bass at this temperature is about 1 to 2 feet. Some of the fish you catch will be in a good position to swallow the bait and the hooks will setup in the mouth. Then you will also get what I call a “Look at it hookset”. This is when a bass starts to move to the bait as you jerk it and the hookset will be outside the mouth. The uncertainty of the location of the hookset makes it even more important to work the fish to the boat and not try to horse it in. Netting the fish can also be tricky with exposed hooks, you may only get one try.

Equipment

• I experimented with several combinations of rods, lines and reels to find one that would give me a good hook up, perform well in cold conditions and be balanced for all day fishing. I use Power Pro, it gives me great cold weather performance and there is no give during hookset. This is very important to me because I tend to make long casts . I use a P-line CXR fluorocarbon leader, about 6 feet, to minimize line visibility at the bait. The leader is under a lot of stress with this setup and the CXR holds up great. I tried some other fluorocarbon lines and they did not do well in cold water and mono was to spongy for me.
• I use a uni splice knot to attach the leader to the Power Pro. You can cut the tags clean on this knot which reduces drag through the reel and rod guides. It is the only knot I would recommend for this application. I also use the uni knot on the bait end. (See illustrations) The knot going through the rod guides during casting feels strange at first but you get use to it.
• I use a 7' medium action Bass Pro Woo Daves Extreme XPS rod with a Quantum AS 500 PT baitcast reel. I balance it off with a Bass Pro XPS handle weight kit, and tie on my Silver Buddy with a uni knot. The most important thing about this setup is the medium action. When you are using this line combination with the small treble hooks on the bait, you need the medium action to minimize the stress on the hookset during the fight.
• If you would like to see one of these setups, stop by and see me at one of our tournaments. I hope you can take something out of this article and improve your chances in the cold season.

Good Fishing!

Jim Carlson