whats you top producing crankbait colors?

[RoLo]

Chartreuse/Blue back hands down

How bout that...and I thought it was only me ;D

Roger

[Stringjam]

Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.

If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

[WanderLust]

Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.

If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

Nice lure!

When I throw my firetiger stuff around here I always end up with a Northern.. 

Ghost minnow, bluegill, sexy shad and perch work well for me.

[gobig]

I pretty much have my crank baits down to four colors. Chartruse with a blue back, spring craw, red and black and sexy shad.

[RoLo]

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

As we all know, crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

[Vinny Chase]

Chartreuse/Blue back hands down

How bout that...and I thought it was only me ;D

Roger

Roger, Great minds think alike  8-)

[choupique]

baby bass

Louisiana shad

chrome blue back

chrome black back

[florida strain]

shad and perch color

[scattergun2570]

Silver/Black has always done well.

[SkilletSizeBass.]

Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.

If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

Stringjam, I haven't done real well in the lakes I fish on FT, but maybe its because I haven't gave it an honest effort. But, man, that is one bad looking FT color that is an awesome paint job!

[SkilletSizeBass.]

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

As we all know, crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

Roger, very good post. I guess just when we think we got the bass figured out, they throw us a curve, and thats maybe their defense against their predator(fishermen). :-/ Some of the watersheds I fish have real clear water, and I seem to do best on loud colored crankbaits such as the redfire Bomber, Imakatsu red craw, or Bandit spring craw, and the  main forage in the small lakes is bluegill and shad. ;D

[Missouribassman95]

I've always had the best luck with Firetiger.

[Vinny Chase]

id tell you but then id have to kill you

But I like to keep it simple. No matter what body of water I fish I always start with this

[Bankbeater]

brown crawfish

baby bass

pearl

chrome/blue back

[Ima Bass Ninja]

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

As we all know,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

Good post but not all crankbaits are to be fished mid water. Actually for me the best producing one is the one i posted earlier because i bounced it of the bottom. I find that the more i get a crankbait to deflect of something (usually the bottom surface) the better chances i have of something wanting to eat it.

[Wayne P.]

Rolo, yes you are missing something.

From the arborgastlures.com web site:

Mud-Bug

This is one of the all time favorite crawfish imitating crankbaits.   The Mud-Bugs quick diving wide wiggle creates a hard vibrating action and ensures its ability to run deep and bump the bottom. This unique action has made it a big fish favorite of serious anglers.   Its high floatability allows it to back out of heavy cover on a slack line eliminating potential hang-up situations.    One of the best times to fish a Mud-Bug is during the early Spring when the big bass are in a pre-spawn situation. Make sure that the lure comes in contact with the bottom and surrounding cover to ensure more strikes.   Heavy line is a must when fishing this lure through and around thick, heavy cover.

[Triton21]

Tenn. Shad is my best producing color.  I also like Parrot and Rayburn Red.

Kelley

[Revo_Carrot Stix]

Stained waters in Kansas = Firetiger or anything with chartreuse.

[Dwight Hottle]

This is one of my favorite colors. Kinda looks like a Mud-Bug does it not Wayne P.? Anyhow it worked for Mr David L Hayes.

[J Francho]

Nice!  Good for 11-15.  8-)

[Wayne P.]

Yes, Dwight it has the Mudbug diving lip but it is not bent like the Mudbug lip is. It may be a version of the Mudbug. The web site shows a white Mudbug in the larger size.

It just may the original Bomber before all the other versions like the Mudbug and Waterdog were marketed.

[Dwight Hottle]

Wayne it was a wooden bomber according to Mr Hayes written account.

[TennesseeShad]

Bandit Orange Craw

Bandit Solid Black

Strike King Gizzard Shad

[BassThumb]

Gold chrome, gold shiner, Tennessee shiner, rootbeer, brown/chart, etc. I think one of the main forage fish on my favorite local lakes are baby carp and redhorse sucker, so any crank, chatterbait, or spinnerbait that mimics them is a good place to start.

[piscicidal]

Citrus Shad, Sexy Shad