Thread: Buffy Zilla

Took a long time client out today. He is never interested in keeping fish nor is he interested in fish that don't fight so for the most part we get out the jigging spoons and use my downscan on my Humminbird to locate huge buffalo on ledges.

After we caught nearly a hundred white bass by 10:00 he had enough of that and wanted something bigger. He has done this with me before and for some reason just loves this. Jigging for Buffies.

I put a big Bomber slab spoon ounce and an eighth and then go a foot above it and tie on a dressed treble. If one doesn't entice them then the other will. I then take off the stock hook and replace it with a huge two ought treble that you would catfish with. Sometimes when we pop it off bottom we snag them in the belly or where ever.

In less than two hours we landed eight and had at least fifteen on the line. They are hard fighters and today we got three that went close to twenty-five pounds. Then Buffy Zilla hit my line. I had my best Muskie rod and a Garcia 5500 spooled with thirty pound Big Game. I just held the rod in my gut for five minutes and watched this huge fish do what he wanted and we never got him within ten-feet of the surface. He ran like a big buffy but had the power of an even bigger catfish. We will never know because Buffy Zilla broke that two ought treble in half. I have never seen a hook that big and that strong break in half and straighten out like that. Oh well I know where he is living and I will go after him in the next few days.

I've landed 2 of those things while Crappie fishin' down here in 'Bama and have had others on that I couldn't get to the boat! I have to chase those darn things all over the river before I can land them!

The smallest one.

Ours are deeper bodied because they're a Smallmouth Buffalo I think.
The biggest one.

Both fish were landed on a #6 hook, the smallest one was on a light wire and the other on a stainless steel. Was using live Tuffie minnows for bait.