Vision Prop Limited Edition Buzz Bait

Lure makes sounds that drive bass wild

Leave it to someone with great vision for designing artificial lures to put a “boat prop-style” blade on a buzz bait that consistently catches bass coast to coast.

This Vision Lures’ Vision Prop Limited Edition Buzz Bait is the latest in a line of innovative buzz baits made by David Trantham in Springfield, Mo. Trantham’s Honeybuzz buzz baits have been triggering strikes since the mid-2000s.

The Vision Prop Limited Edition Buzz Bait features the patented Honeybuzz design, patented hinged hook and patented revolutionary new boat prop-style blade — four chrome blades — that literally hums as it churns through the water. The combination of features is deadly, as a growing number of bass anglers are discovering across America.

Vision Lures is all about buzz baits and, arguably, no one does buzz baits better than Trantham. His buzz bait building began as a hobby and eventually turned into a highly successful business venture with all the buzz bait components made in the USA.

“There’s nothing like that explosive strike on top of the water, seeing your lure disappear and the tug and action that follows,” Trantham said recently from his home in the heart of the Show Me State. And, he agreed, it’s just as exciting when those “hawgs” slurp down a Honeybuzz product.

Now the 53-year-old bass fisherman and artificial lure manufacturer offers what he calls the loudest topwater lure on the market, one that rises quickly to the surface on the retrieve and skims across the surface slower and better than any other buzz bait. You can crawl it slowly or burn it to meet the conditions at the time.

Little wonder it is coveted among bass anglers. The sturdy body features a small weedguard on the shaft above the blade and has quality components. It is made in 5/16- and ½-ounce models.

Since its release solely on the company’s Web site in mid-fall last year, the response for the higher-priced product has been “exceptional,” Trantham said. Before then, he said, a select group of bass pros were the only fishermen able to get their hands on the buzz bait and, understandably, they guarded the secret for as long as possible.

“There’s nothing out there like it,” he said. “I guess what separates this lure is that with this lure you can get more than one sound. There’s the regular sound. Bend the blade down and you get a click, and with the rusted rivet you’ll get a squeak.”

It’s been a lot of work getting the lure to market.

“This has been in the working for years and years,” he said, noting the patent that covers the design was granted seven years ago.

“The hollow chamber inside the blade gives it that cowbell sound,” Trantham said. “I wanted a sound that wasn’t out there. A three-bladed prop just didn’t produce a sound the fish were interested in.”

He said people have told him they have been fishing with the new buzz bait and had other bass anglers converge on them to see what artificial lure was making that kind of noise. Now, that’s some sound being emitted from a buzz bait, folks.

An additional noise can be the clincher, as far as getting bass to strike it, according to the artificial lure manufacturer. Bend the wire a little and the tips of the blades hit the shaft, he said.

The ticking sound apparently drives bass wild. Big bass, especially, want to take it out with a vengeance, he said.

“I’ve been told (the clicking) sounds are similar to a crawdad fleeing along,” Trantham said. “That’s why I wanted the tone of the inner chamber.”

One of the biggest selling points is the ability of the buzz bait to move slowly atop the surface and climb over objects in an almost snagless fashion.

“Notice how slow you’ll be able to crawl it along the surface,” Trantham said, noting the lure has the wide-gap hook strategically connected to a swivel attached to the wire shaft that supports the four-propped blade.

“It tracks back straight and true, so when it hits structure you can crawl it right over a log, let it sit a few seconds and keep retrieving it,” he said, adding that his new buzz bait doesn’t lean at an angle that invites getting hung up on cover.

The hinged construction also makes it difficult for a bass to become unbuttoned, Trantham said.

“That not only increases the hook-up ratio, it makes it almost impossible for a fish to throw the hook,” he said.

For more information on the Vision Prop Limited Edition Buzz Bait, call 417-881-5873 or go to www.visionlure.com.