Megabass Jamaica Boa Buzzbait Product Review

Lure Review

Preparing for the Coming Season and Rekindling the Buzz : Megabass's Jamaica Boa

Date:	1/4/25
Tackle Type:	Lures
Manufacturer:	Megabass
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 8.08 - GREAT

Introduction: Yes, we know it isn't buzzbait season... yet. But the wet cold days of winter have us pining for warmer Spring weather and those topwater blowups. There was a time, that whenever the first warm up hit, I would hit the California Delta armed with nothing more than a spinnerbait and a buzzbait. It was simpler time, fewer boats, fewer choices in tackle and gear. Just launch the boat and start slinging. Fast forward to today and somehow, I stopped throwing the buzzbait. I figured it was high time to correct this detour in advance of the coming season, and steer back to some of my tried and true techniques, but of course, that'd require some new baits. I can't just dust off the old ones, that's not the TackleTour way. So I did what any self respecting tackle enthusiast would do and turned to one of the more premium tackle manufacturers out there to rekindle that buzz. Let's take a look at Megabass's Jamaica Boa Buzzbait.

Megabass Jamaica Boa Buzzbait Specifications
Type	Single Prop Buzzbait
Depth	Topwater
Skirt Material	Silicone + Hiramen
Specified Weight	1/2oz
Actual Weight	25g / 0.9oz
Colors/Patterns	8
MSRP	$15.99

Been sitting on this one for a while. Time to finally open the package

Impressions: Megabass's Jamaica Boa is a half ounce buzzbait built on a 1.36mm diameter wire. The most distinguishing feature of this bait, as with most buzzbaits, is the head. But because this is a Megabass bait, that head design is taken to an entirely new level, diving all in on the bait's name to mimic that of a snake, complete with the vertical pupil eyes, and of course, intricate Megabass-esque paint schemes.

Introducing Megabass's Jamaica Boa buzzbait

The slightly more subtle but perhaps more important features of this bait include: 1) the fact the propeller is ported (his creates a bubble trail to enhance a fish's ability to track the bait) : 2) a metal bearing along the shaft fixed in location right at the point where the prop can come in contact with it during retrieve to create an intermittent knocking sound :3) the inclusion of what Megabass calls a Hiramen skirt acting as a trailer to elongate the bait and give it a more lifelike profile. It doesn't take much, but subtle features like this are what set simple baits like this apart from one another.

This is a bait rated at 3/4oz with an actual weight of 25g - almost a full ounce

Real World Tests: Megabass debuted this take on the popular buzzbait somewhere around 2020. I've actually had a Jamaica Boa for about that long but couldn't find the right situation to throw it. Then I look up and realize, it's been five years, so I decided to get more intentional about using it. This all coincided with my re-dedication to fishing the California Delta more often by finally upgrading my trolling motor to one with a spot lock while also upgrading all my associated electronics. All this so I could throw a buzzbait again?

The blade is ported to help create a bubble trail

So, with a new trolling motor, new electronics, new-ish buzzbait in hand, I of course, needed a new stick. The easy thing to do would be to select one of my many Megabass sticks to use as the launch pad for the Jamaica Boa, but that'd be too easy. No, this mission required something different. So I did what any other unreasonable tackle enthusiast would do and ordered some Point Blank PB761XXHMF blanks from VooDoo Rods to build as flipping/pitching platforms for the California Delta. Meaning I built them with a shorter, twelve inch rear handle as opposed to the long, sixteen inch handles I use for my swimbait builds.

This bearing is fixed on the wire to provide a point of contact for the blade to occasionally run into creating more noise

I matched one of these builds up with my Ark Fishing Gravity 8 freshly spooled with some Varivas Avani SMP PE Hiramasa x8 Braid, tied a Jamaica Boa to the end of the line and was ready to go. First mission was to fish this bait without a trailer and see what that Hiramen skirt was about.

Skirts are hand tied

The addition of this Hiramen skirt material makes it convenient to fish the Jamaica Boa without a trailer

Ease of Actuation : One of the telltale signs of a good buzzbait, for me, is how quickly it surfaces after splashdown and the Jamaica Boa passed that test. It wasn't instant, but I wouldn't expect a buzzbait weighing almost a full ounce to come up instantly. More importantly is once you do get it to the surface, it's not difficult to keep it there even at relatively slower speeds - especially if you keep the rod tip up. But of course, "slow" is relative and depends greatly on your position on the boat. If at a position where you were moving perpendicular or away from the bait, you're better able to slow your retrieve and keep the bait moving on top. If you're at the bow and casting forward, that retrieve needs to be more quick because the boat is moving toward the bait.

A buzzbaits arch nemesis, the dreaded hair algae

Quality of Movement : The Jamaica Boa leaves a very good bubble trail in its wake leaving me in constant wonder how a fish doesn't annihilate the bait on every cast. On the slow paced retrieves, it's somewhat quiet for a buzzbait. It squeaks away, and on the faster paced retrieves, I could hear the blade coming into contact with that bearing adding a knocking element to the commotion, but it lacks the squawk of other buzzbaits I've fished in years past. Similar to some of the old school buzzbaits, perhaps it just needs to be broken in.

An unconventional but effective bait keeper

Durability : The only real downside I encountered with the Jamaica Boa wasn't so much a durability issue but a hair algae problem. This is common with buzzbaits. I've yet to meet a one that can shed this stuff easily, so every few casts, depending on the conditions, I had to peel and pick this stuff off the front of the prop where it tends to gather and, of course, impede the props ability to rotate. Otherwise, the Jamaica Boa seems to retain its shape well and both skirt materials do not wear prematurely.

Few companies go through the effort to fulfill the name of their product like Megabass

Design & Ergonomics: Megabass offers the Jamaica Boa in eight different patterns featuring two different colors in the blade (black and silver). It is available in only the one size, 1/2oz, but there is an announcement on Megabass's Japanese website about a smaller, Jamaica Boa Jr. with a head weight of three eighths of an ounce (3/8oz) and based off of a since discontinued Orochi Buzz Rattle Viper, also a 3/8oz buzzbait. As of this writing, the Jamaica Boa Jr has not shown up on the Megabass America website, so it's not clear if this smaller profile will make it to North American shores or not.

The 3/8oz Jamaica Boa Jr was announced in Japan early in 2025 but as of this writing has yet to be announced in North America

This is Hasu - after a minnow-like baitfish from Japan's freshwater environments

Aside from that, one point of discussion that circulates often when bait aficionados discuss their favorite wired bait is how thick or thin that actual wire is. Despite the interest, few, if any bait manufacturers list the actual gauge of the wire used in constructing their baits. Even then, I've always found it annoying how gauge size is counter intuitive meaning the larger the number, the smaller the actual diameter of the wire. Despite knowing this, I continually get confused.

The crackle of their now classic White Python colorway

To remedy the situation, I decided just to take a simple measurement with my digital caliper and offer up this information in future articles along with data points of skirt attachment, how long that hook extends behind the back of the wire bait's head, the hook gap and bite - because, honestly, the size designations for hooks like this just isn't enough information for an over ambitious enthusiast like myself. Results of this effort can be found in the table below.

Megabass Jamaica Boa Buzzbait Breakdown
Model	Skirt Attach Method	Wire Dia (mm)	Hook Length (mm)	Hook Bite (mm)	Hook Gap (mm)
Megabass Jamaica Boa Buzzbait	Hand Tied	1.36	38.5	19	18.6

One feature I do look for in a buzzbait, and is absent from the Jamaica Boa is a bend in the wire to drop the head just a little bit further beneath the surface. The once legendary Cavitron Buzzbait is responsible for my preference for this little tweak as, through experience, I felt it really made it easier for the bass to inhale the bait therefore increasing hook up ratios. Of course, because these are wire baits, it's an easy enough tweak to make post-purchase so long as there's enough room to effect the bend. Warning, some will argue any bends to the wire will weaken it which is likely why more manufacturers don't offer this enhancement. I feel as long as you don't bend it back and forth to micro-adjust the bend, the bait should hold up.

Remnants of my beloved Cavitron buzzbait (the skirt was not hand tied) showing how the wire is bent to drop the bait's head lower in the water

Price & Applications: Megabass's Jamaica Boa retails for $15.99 per bait. Taking an average in price of over fifty similar baits (there are a ton of single blade buzzbait options out there!), I calculated a mean of $9.54 for single bladed buzzbaits. Considering this is a bait by Megabass, that certainly tracks although there were at least four single blade buzzbaits priced above the Jamaica Boa at the time of this writing.

Ratings:

Megabass Jamaica Boa Buzzbait Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Just a buzzbait, but a buzzbait by Megabass	9
Performance	Swims well at all speeds creating an enticing bubble trail for fish to track	9
Price	Megabass pricing for a Megabass bait	6
Features	Hand tied skirt, clack bearing on the wire, ported blade, planing head design	8.5
Design (Ergonomics)	There's not much you can do with a buzzbait to make it interesting, but Megabass always finds a way	8
Application	Buzzbaits in general have a singular purpose. The Jamaica Boa performs that singular purpose well.	8
Total Score		8.08
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Comes to the surface easily after the cast	- No bent wire to lower the head in the water column
+ Creates a nice bubble trail	- Could be noisier
+ Hiramen skirt material acts as a built in trailer	- There are a lot of more affordable options, but are they Megabass quality?
+ Hand tied skirt

Megabass's Jamaica Boa has the right features and enhancements to fuel the buzz keeping that enthusiast spirit alive and I'm once again looking forward to slinging it as soon as it warms up this Spring

Conclusion: There's a certain joy in fishing a bait where all you need to do is chuck and wind. No erratic cadence in your retrieve, no twitching the rod tip, no pauses, no pops, just sling it towards your target and start winding. That freedom allows me to really zero in on the accuracy and audacity of my casts, and the California Delta gives you plenty of targets to aim at. The Jamaica Boa reminded me of why I used to throw this type of bait so often, and it has the right features and enhancements to fuel the buzz keeping that enthusiast spirit alive.

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