Mister Twister's BUZZ Bug

Clent Davis of Montevallo, Alabama, won the FLW’s Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita, Arkansas, on Aug. 10, 11, and 12. During this event, he used a radically customized Mister Twister’s BUZZ Bug affixed to a Nichols Lures’ Clent's Toadstool jig to catch one of the 15 black bass that he took to the tournament scale.

His Mister Twister combo is one of the many variations of a standard finesse rig that Midwest finesse anglers have employed since the late Chuck Woods of Kansas City, Missouri, created the Beetle in the 1950s. For several years, Davis has created his version of this rig by affixing either a BUZZ Bug or a Mister Twister’s Poc’it Fry onto a Nichols Lure’s Clent’s Toadstool jig, which is a mushroom-style jig.

In a previous gear guide, we described the features of the Poc’it Fry, and this gear guide is focused upon the BUZZ Bug, which was introduced to the angling world in 2016.

It is a four-inch creature bait. And because Midwest finesse anglers are perpetually in search of an effective finesse-size creature bait, Davis’ revelations about using it at the Forrest Wood Cup stirred a considerable amount of interest about the BUZZ Bug among a goodly number of Midwest finesse devotees.

In our quest to write and publish this gear guide, the communications coordinator at Sheldons’ Inc. of Antigo, which is the parent company of Mister Twister and Mepps, helped us immensely. He provided us with a BUZZ Bug to measure and thoroughly describe.

Here is what we have learned about the BUZZ Bug.

Its epidermis is smooth.

From the tip of its tail or posterior section to the tip of its head or anterior section, it is 2 1/4 inches long.

The posterior or tail section is cylinder shaped, and the tip of the tail is domed shaped. It is a half of an inch long and a half of an inch wide with a circumference of about 1 3/8 inches.

The torso, which is situated between the head and tail sections, consists of three segments. Its dorsal area is convexed; its ventral or belly is flat. It is an inch long. It is seven-sixteenths of an inch wide with a circumference of about 1 5/8 inches. There are three appendages radiating from each side of the torso. They are abstract renditions of a crayfish’s walking legs. Four of the six legs possess a joint or bend, and the other two are straight. All of them are adorned with a marquise-shaped boot. The legs at the joint of the posterior section and the first segment of the torso are 1 1/16 inches long. The legs at the joint of the first and second segments are 1 1/4 inches long. The legs that extend from the middle part of the third segment are three-quarters of an inch long.

Its head is seven-eighths of an inch long and half of an inch wide. The head’s dorsal area is convexed; the ventral area is flat. It is embellished with two minute eyes. A long, flat, and sickle-shaped appendage extends from each side of its head, and in the vernacular of most anglers, these appendages are called claws. They are 1 5/8 inches long, and their width varies from three-sixteenths of an inch wide, a quarter of an inch wide, and five-sixteenths of an inch wide.

It is not impregnated with salt and scent. It is exceptionally buoyant and flexible.

It is available in the following colors: Black/Blue, Black/Blue Flake, Black Neon, California 420, Cranapple, Green Pumpkin, Green-Pumpkin Blue, Green Pumpkin/Blue Craw, Junebug, Junebug Red, JuJu, Okeechobee Craw, Rayburn Bug, Red River Special, Sapphire Blue, South Africa Special, Watermelon Candy, Watermelon Red, and White.

A package of 10 costs $5.14.

Midwest finesse anglers will affix it to a mushroom-style jig with an exposed hook. Some of them will shorten it a tad by amputating most of the posterior area or tail, making it a 3 1/2-inch creature bait. Some of these anglers will mimic Clent Davis' tactics by making it a 2 1/4-inch stickbait, which he accomplishes by amputating the claws that extend from the side of its head. Davis does not remove the six appendages or walking legs that adorn the torso. He affixes it to a Nichols Lures’ Clent's Toadstool jig with an exposed hook.

Whether it is a Davis-style stickbait or creature bait, Midwest finesse anglers can present it to their largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, or spotted bass quarries by employing all six of the standard Midwest finesse retrieves.

Endnotes

(1) Here is a link to Mister Twister’s website: https://www.mistertwister.com.

(2) Here is a link to the YouTube that features how and why Clent Davis uses a customized Mister Twister soft-plastic finesse bait on a Nichols Lure’s Clent’s Toadstool jig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_RX6wG0Qp4.

(3) Here is a link to the Midwest Finesse column that describes the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves that anglers will use with the BUZZ Bug and Poc'it Fry rigs: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/.

(4) Here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column about Mister Twister’s Twistermite: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/mister-twisterstwistermite/. It was published on May 5, 2018.

(5) Here is a link to a Midwest Finesse column about Mister Twister’s Generation 2 Platinum Curly Tail and its Tri-Alive Nightcrawler: http://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/mister-twister-and-midwest-finesse/328461.

(6) Here is a Midwest Finesse column about Mister Twister’s Poc’t Fry: http://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/Mister%20Twister's%20Poc'it%20Fry/329873.

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