Big Bite Baits's Tour Toad Buzzer relies on a soft plastic toad instead of a skirt

Big Bite Baits Tour Toad : We actually wrote this bait up back in 2020, but Big Bite Baits's Tour Toad remains a staple for the ease by which it comes to the surface and the slower than average pace you can retrieve it while there. It doesn't hurt that the blade comes in contact with the head during retrieve to add a knocking sound complimenting the Tour Toad's natural gurgle.

The bait's blade is centered, not offset

The bait keeper is very effective at holding onto the soft plastic toad

Of course, this buzzer can be fished with any manner of soft plastic toads and you can even use a paddletail swimbait or oversized plastic worm for that matter. It's a very good option for anglers who want to add an extra dimension to their favorite soft plastic baits with swimming appendages. The bait keeper is very secure and best of all, the Tour Toad Buzzer won't deplete your tackle budget.

Buckeye's Buzzerk Buzzbait is among the more affordable on this list

Buckeye Buzzerk : Speaking of not depleting you tackle budget, Buckeye's Buzzerk Buzzbait is among the more affordable in this group but also one of the few built around a name brand hook. In this case we're talking Mustad Ultra Point. This bait is insane with noise and commotion. Right out of the package, with zero tuning, the Buzzerk is just that - crazy noisy. If only it had a hand tied skirt, this bait would be well on its way to Editor's Choice.

As with most buzzers in this price range, the skirts are held on by a rubber band

The Buzzerk's bait keeper

Fortunately, everything else about the Buzzerk is solid from the gauge of its wire to the thickness of the blade to the gap and bite of its hook. It's available in eight sensible colors (we're highlighting the only crazy one) and a surprising four different sizes from one eighth of an ounce up to half (1/8oz - 1/2oz). We're not sure we've ever seen an 1/8oz buzzbait, but that's certainly one you could comfortably throw on a medium-heavy powered rod.

The Buzzerk's blade is also centered

Deps joins the party with their premium priced Mad Waver

Deps Mad Waver : From one of the more promising buzzbaits to one that is so far a little disappointing. Dep's Mad Waver Buzzbait looks every bit the premium buzzer that its price point would suggest until you take a peak under the silicone skirt to discover, despite being made in Japan, it has a banded skirt. It's only sold on one size, five eighths of an ounce (5/8oz) and features a shad shaped head that does not assist the bait in rising to the surface after splashdown. Yes, the Mad Waver is slow to rise, so if you want this buzzer to rise and shine, you need to begin your retrieve immediately following splashdown.

The MadWaver has a shad shaped head, but a bent wire to let that head ride just below the surface like the Cavitron

The flat Colorado shaped blade behind the Mad Waver's prop

At this price point and pedigree, we were expecting a hand tied skirt

Once you get it on the surface, you need to keep the pace quick to keep it there where it creates a good amount of splash and gurgle. There's a Colorado shaped (but flat, not cupped) blade at the back of the prop for added flash, and the wire leading from the tie to the head is bent dropping that head down in the water column to increase hook up ratios. This buzzer is best suited for situations where you need to cover water quickly in search of active fish. It has a lot of nice little features, but it's tough to overlook the lack of a tied skirt.

The baitkeeper is somewhat minimal

Evergreen's LB (for Loud Buzz) Buzzbait is another JDM entry. This bait has an offset blade

Evergreen LB Buzzbait : At the other end of JDM premium, as one might expect, Evergreen International has one of the more refined and polished looking buzzbaits in this blowout. The LB (short for loud buzz) Buzzbait features a planing head that's shaped similar to the hull of a wake boat. It is adorned with a hand tied skirt, generous sized hook and built with one of the thicker gauged wires of the baits on this list. There's only so much you can do to communicate "premium" in a buzzbait, but Evergreen manages that feat with ease.

The LB's planing head resembles the hull of a wake boat

Finally, a hand tied skirt

What's more, this bait is good to go right out of the package squeaking, squawking, and gurgling across the top of the water with no tuning necessary. It comes to the surface after splashdown at an average effort and stays there with a medium retrieve. We suggest pairing the LB Buzzbait with something like Keitech's Fat Swing Impact 3.8 as a trailer. The pairing is similar to enjoying your favorite glass of red with some juicy beef ribs.

And somewhat minimal bait keeper

We've shared an article on the Jamaica Boa mentioning Jr was available in Japan. Well, Jr. has now made its way over to North American Stores

Megabass Jamaica Boa Jr : Smaller cousin or sibling to the original Jamaica Boa (JB), Jr is a downsized version of the original offered at three eighths ounce (3/8oz) instead of half. Available in Japan since the early part of 2025, it looks like Jr. has made its way over to North American stores. While Cal acquired a stash during his visit to Japan during the early part of 2025's Summer, The Hook Up Tackle out of Arizona now has them in stock.

The only difference we can really discern from the standard Jamaica Boa is in the shape of the prop. Here, you can see, the heads are the same as the larger bait

Skirts are hand tied

Same baitkeeper strategy as the original

The primary difference, at least visually, between Jr and the standard JB is in the prop. Jr's is smaller yet maybe a touch more effective than the original knocking at greater frequency. Jr also comes to the surface a hair more easily than the original but that could just be from its lighter build. Otherwise, Jr's prop has the same, two ports creating a bubble trail during retrieve. It is a worthy addition to your enthusiast buzzbait arsenal and if fished without a trailer, relying solely upon the Hiramen tail fins, can easily be fished on a lighter powered rod like the Levante F5-72LV.

Seems that if the brass rivet were located more forward, the Jamaica Boa Jr would knock more consistently

Nories joins the party with the impressive looking Volcano Gripper featuring a very unique prop

Nories Volcano Gripper : One of the more interesting buzzbaits of the bunch has to be Nories's Volcano Gripper. Its unique prop inspires performance above and beyond the standard buzzer, but once out on the water, most everything is actually status quo. From the time it takes the bait to get to the surface, to the speed at which it stays on top. The Volcano Gripper performance lands it middle of the pack.

The baits' head is shaped like a shad, not planed

The skirt his hand tied

On the plus side, the bait does feature a hand tied skirt and a nicely executed finish on its shad shaped head. Oddly enough, there is no bait keeper along the hook shank for the Volcano Gripper. It's a well made bait, we were just expecting more given the thought and effort that went into the design and execution of the bait's prop.

Maybe you can consider this nub at the back of the skirt a keeper, but we'd say no

Over a decade ago, we looked at Picasso's double prop Din R Bell, but they also make a single prop version - note the dropped head

Picasso Din R Bell : We're no stranger to Picasso buzzbaits having reviewed their duo of double propped baits, the Buzzsaw and Din-R-Bell almost a decade ago. Turns out the Din R Bell is also available in a single prop variant in three different sizes and built around the same, name brand Mustad Ultra Point hook. This bait features a shad shaped head and a metal collar along the pre-bent wire to provide a knocking element during retrieve.

Same fun name in a single prop configuration

The knocking, metal sleeve along the Din R Bell's wire

Banded skirt on the Din R Bell

The single prop Din R Bell does require a little tuning out of the package. Ours didn't knock, but a little adjustment to the angle of the blade solved that issue resulting in a noise and commotion that inspires thoughts of "they're gonna kill this thing" as you retrieve the bait back to your position. The only real downsides to this bait are the lack of a tied skirt and the time it takes to come to the surface. A planing head would likely resolve the latter, but the shad head is kind of a Picasso signature look.

Very good bait keeper

The mostly shad shaped, but a little planing head of Spro's Squealer Buzzbait

SPRO Squealer : Speaking of signature looks, we'd recognize those eyes anywhere. Spro has really been expanding their repertoire in recent years. One would think wire baits would have been part of their original arsenal, nevertheless, the Squealer is a relatively new introduction bringing a "Made in Japan" pedigree without the accompanying, exorbitant price tag. Don't get me wrong, the Squealer is still over $10, but it's also well under $20 making it the least expensive bait on the list with the same country of origin pedigree.

The Squealer comes with a skirt that's hand tied

This extended extrusion of the bait's head serves as the Squealer's bait keeper

Featuring a unique, hammered prop, the Squealer benefits from a hand tied skirt and sort of hybrid shad/planing head. The result is a bait that enables among the slowest retrieves of the bunch giving off an enticing gurgle as it swims back to you. Spro packages a soft plastic trailer with the bait though interestingly enough there's not a very strategic hook keeper on the bait. This bait definitely deserves more time on the water once warmer weather hits.

The unique, hammered finish on the Squealer's prop gives the bait an extra bit of flash and maybe contributes to the bait's bubble trail too

As a compliment to the original Squealer, Spro also makes another version

SPRO Squealer Toad : A compliment to Spro's Squealer Buzzbait is their Squealer Toad Buzzbait. This bait features a pre-bent wire to drop the soft plastic toad a half inch or so under the surface of the water but also, the bait's lead weight, in its entirety, serves as the bait keeper. This design eliminates that OCD obstacle of having a bait with two heads because all there is on this bait is the Prop, wire, hook, and soft plastic toad. In fact, the hook extends all the way through the toad coming out between the two swimming legs.

The Squealer Toad Buzzbait is all soft plastic toad, and no exposed head

Only one head to deal with on this buzzbait

The hook for this bait runs the entire length of the soft plastic toad

The Squealer Toad's unique configuration (there's no head to the wire portion of the bait, only this concealed weight) we were unable to measure a "Hook Length" state for comparison

What's more, because that soft plastic toad is so prominent, it slows down the sink rate of the entire bait after splashdown making it among the quickest to come back to the surface once you begin your retrieve. Once you get it to the top, it stays there with a medium-slow cadence. Toping it all off, both the original Squealer and the Squealer Toad Buzzbaits are built around Gamakatsu hooks.

Spro's Squealer Toad Buzzbait is a surprising performer

Teckel's Maxsqueaker with its squid-like eye has just about all the bells and whistles you could want on a buzzbait

Teckel Maxqueaker : Last but not least on the list is a bait with just about all the bells and whistles you could hope for in a buzzbait. Teckel's Maxqueaker has a planing head with a knocker bead, a hand tied skirt, and an integrated bait keeper. The only thing really missing from this bait is a name brand hook. Having said that, the hook it does come with is plenty sticky with a nice, wide gap and bite.

Hand tied skirt

Bait keeper

With all those bells and whistles comes one slight bit of disappointment. If you're not paying attention when the bait touches down, even with that large, planing head, it takes some time to get the Maxqueaker back to the surface. However, once there, it stays on top with a relatively medium paced, steady retrieve where it squeaks, squawks, and knocks with conviction all the way back to your position.

Mid blade rivets or bolts to enhance the squeaky, squawk sound

The integrated knocker bead in the head of the Maxqueaker

Conclusion: Far from an exhaustive list of buzzbaits, but quick takes on a couple handful of baits we wanted to share. Do we have a top pick? Why do you think they've been sitting in our tackle boxes and boat lockers all this time? As any good Tackle Enthusiast knows, when you can't decide, fish them all! With Spring just around the corner, we'll see if we can't convert a few of these into lengthier looks, but more importantly, this clears space for the next handful or three of baits to show up for similar breakdowns. Have a favorite you'd like us to add to our next blowout, or one you've been eyeing in anticipation for more feed back? Join our Discussion Forum, find for the topic on this article within the TT Articles subforum, and drop the name of that bait in the replies. With a big enough response, we'll prioritize those baits and get to squeaking and buzzing those baits on the surface.