I spend a lot of time thinking about “matching the hatch” with my hard bait and soft plastic color choices, but when it comes to buzzbaits I keep it remarkably simple. I’d wager that well over 90 percent of my many buzzbait casts each year feature a white or black skirt (or sometimes a toad) with a silver or gold blade. I experimented with other shades decades ago, but for some reason gave up on the heavy variety.

Maybe that’s a mistake. I certainly have some other color patterns and perhaps I’d catch more fish if I branched out a bit. When I make my next Tackle Warehouse order I might try one (or probably more) of the following: