A Floating Buzzbait You Can Stop and Work in Cover

Swimming Action

1. A Buzzbait You Don’t Have to Keep Moving? A Floating Buzzbait You Can Stop and Work in Cover

At first glance, the Cover Waker looks a lot like a buzzbait. But the way it is designed to be fished is very different from a traditional buzzbait. A standard buzzbait has to keep moving across the surface to stay up and generate action. The Cover Waker, on the other hand, floats at rest, allowing you to work it with repeated jerks and pauses right over a key piece of cover.

This unique design actually has roots in American lure history. IMAKATSU openly states that the Cover Waker was created by “respecting and updating a legendary old-school American lure.” In other words, it takes the old concept of a floating buzzbait and rebuilds it specifically for modern heavy-cover fishing.

But this is not simply a modern reproduction of an old lure. IMAKATSU takes the ability to float and uses it for more than just stopping the bait. The large floating prop also helps the lure work through heavy cover, while the under-head design allows a soft-plastic trailer to hang beneath the surface. The result is a completely different style of bait: one that can be worked deep into cover, kept in the strike zone, and finally trigger a bite with the soft plastic moving just below the surface.

The basic retrieve is simple: two jerks and a pause. Cast it into the target, let it sit, work it a few times, and pause it again. Instead of making a single pass like a conventional buzzbait, the Cover Waker can repeatedly work high-percentage spots such as bushes, grass, and floating debris until a bass finally commits.

Although it may look like a buzzbait, the way you fish it is much closer to a frog or a topwater plug. The Cover Waker takes the old-school concept of a “floating buzzbait” and reengineers it specifically for stopping, working, and getting bites in heavy cover.

2. The Floating Prop Doubles as a Guard: Built Specifically for Heavy Cover

One of the key elements that adapts the old floating-prop concept to modern cover fishing is the oversized floating prop mounted at the front of the Cover Waker.

The prop does more than simply keep the lure floating. It also acts as a guard, contacting bushes, grass, and other obstacles before the hook does.

That allows the Cover Waker to reach places where traditional wire baits or treble-hooked topwaters would be difficult or risky to throw. You can work it through bushes, thick grass, floating mats, and debris, drop it from the top of cover into small openings, or keep it in a tiny pocket and work the same spot over and over.

The hook also hangs below the lure and remains exposed underwater. Frogs are excellent tools for heavy cover, but the hook still has to penetrate through or around a hollow body. With the Cover Waker, the hook is already exposed beneath the surface when the bass strikes.

The biggest evolution of the Cover Waker is therefore not simply that it floats. It takes the old idea of “a buzzbait that can stop” and adds several modern functions: the prop works as a cover guard, the lure can be worked repeatedly inside heavy cover, and the exposed underwater hook is ready to connect when a fish bites.

3. Get Their Attention on Top, Then Make Them Eat the Trailer Below

Another feature that separates the Cover Waker from a simple floating buzzbait is its two-level presentation, created by the surface prop and the under-head trailer system.

When you jerk the bait, the oversized prop spins across the surface, throwing water and producing a metallic sound. At the same time, the soft-plastic trailer directly beneath it swings and darts from side to side.

The concept is simple: use the prop on the surface to get the bass’s attention, then give the fish a soft-plastic target just below the surface to actually eat. This becomes especially effective in thick cover, where a bass may not get a clear look at the entire lure. The noise and surface disturbance can draw the fish up, while the trailer is waiting right in front of it as the final target.

Combining strong surface attraction with a soft-plastic presentation just below the surface is another major way IMAKATSU has updated the old-school floating wire-bait concept for modern bass fishing.

4. Fine-Tune the Presentation with Different Skirt and Trailer Combinations

The Cover Waker comes with a dedicated flare-and-vibration skirt, but IMAKATSU intentionally includes it separately instead of installing it on the lure at the factory. Adding the skirt increases the lure’s profile and creates additional flare and vibration underwater. You can also fish it without the skirt when you want the soft-plastic trailer itself to stand out more clearly.

Another interesting feature is how much the character of the lure can change depending on the trailer. Naoyuki Mihara, the IMAKATSU pro staff member who supervised the Cover Waker project, has shown the lure with a variety of soft plastics, including the Javallon, MJ Shad Tail, and Fula Shrimp.

If bass are feeding on baitfish, for example, the MJ Shad Tail or Javallon can create a more fish-like presentation. If they are keyed in on shrimp or other crustaceans, the Fula Shrimp gives the lure a completely different look.

MJ SHAD TAIL 5" [Brand New]

$17.99

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JAVALLON 140 [Brand New]

$22.99

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FULA SHRIMP 3" [Brand New]

$14.99

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That adjustability is a major part of the Cover Waker’s appeal. You are not relying only on the prop to trigger the strike—you can also choose exactly what type of prey you want hanging beneath it. By changing the skirt and trailer combination, the lure can be tuned from a larger, more aggressive presentation to a cleaner and more natural look.

5. When the Cover Is Lighter, Go with the More Natural Aventa Crawler Vazelle

IMAKATSU also makes the Aventa Crawler Vazelle, another topwater lure that excels at stopping and working in place. The Vazelle is not limited to high-speed retrieves; it can also be paused beside cover, twitched in place, or shaken on the surface, so there are situations where its role overlaps with the Cover Waker.

The main difference is how heavy the cover is.

In open water, around relatively light cover, or along the edges of branches and vegetation, the Vazelle is the more natural choice. Its realistic baitfish- and insect-inspired appearance allows you to cover water quickly, then stop and work the lure slowly once it reaches a likely strike zone.

The Cover Waker comes into its own when the cover gets thick. Bushes, dense vegetation, floating debris, and other areas that are difficult to fish with a conventional treble-hooked topwater are exactly where its floating prop and weed-resistant design become most valuable. You can push the lure deeper into cover, stop it there, and repeatedly work the same small opening.

Choose the Vazelle when you want a more natural presentation in open water or lighter cover. Choose the Cover Waker when the cover becomes thick enough that simply getting a topwater lure into the strike zone becomes a challenge. Both can stop and work in place, but using them according to cover density greatly expands the range of surface situations you can effectively fish.

Aventa Crawler VAZELLE [Brand New]

$29.99

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