Bait Colors

[Advoxxik]

Hello everyone,

 

Been reading for a couple days now. I think this website has stayed up on my computer for about 3 days without even closing it out.

 

Had a quick question, sorry if its a little too new. I searched the forum and I couldn't clearly find the answer to my question..

 

I see lots of people mentioning different colors for different scenarios regarding your baits.

Which colors are most appropriate for which situations?

 

I.e. murk water, clear water, blue colors and reds or yellows?

 

Thanks a ton!

[jigabooyah]

for me with murky/muddy water. I use a lot of dark colors for jigs and soft plastics.

Lots of Green Pumpkin or black for jigs and same for plastics.

For Crankbaits and spinnerbaits chartreuse/white and fire tiger.

Some anglers say Green pumpkin is not good in murky water but I have had a lot of success.

Not real experienced with clear water.

[Advoxxik]

Jigabooyah,

 

Thanks for the response. The water where I tend to fish varies a bit from day to day how clear it is, I'm sure what you've just told me will really come in handy on those murkier days.

[Catch and Grease]

for me with murky/muddy water. I use a lot of dark colors for jigs and soft plastics.

Lots of Green Pumpkin or black for jigs and same for plastics.

For Crankbaits and spinnerbaits chartreuse/white and fire tiger.

Some anglers say Green pumpkin is not good in murky water but I have had a lot of success.

Not real experienced with clear water.

I throw green pumpkin more than black in the lake I fish and its visibilty is 1-3 feet depending on conditions, I also like lots of bright baits over darks, but I do still throw black N blue craws after storms and stuff

[BuffaloBass716]

Murky Water : Dark colors, Black, blue, junebug

 

Stained Water: Green pumpkin, Browns, chartreuse colors

 

Clear Water: Green pumpkin (again), Watermelons, smoke

 

The waters around me are very clear most days so almost all my colors are variants of green pumpkins and watermelon colors with different fleck.   I still find myself looking at all the colors they have for different plastics on TW and I say to myself "I should try those colors next time..." haha, just try a few for each water condition and slowly try more if you want. 

[doyle8218]

I find black/blue works best for me no matter where I fish.

[Fish Murderer 71]

Water clarity is only half the equation...  Think more along the lines of "light penetration". we have water clarity and ambient light, sunny, cloudy, and night time.  The eye has three different light receptors, rods, cones, and ganglionic receptors.  Rods require less energy to activate the receptor thus low light vision. Your retina has its majority of rod cells on the outer rim which gives you peripheral vision , and the inner core is cone cells bridged together with ganglionic cells.  Thats why humans fumble around in the dark- we have more cone cells which require more energy for activation, but see color differentiation so well.  Well, bass are the exact opposite they have more rod cells in the core of their retina and see better in low light situations than color differentiation.  Motion is a subtle light change in a given area- rod cells easily activate the receptor, thus a little motion ( or light energy ) goes a long way when it comes to rod cell receptors.   Colors matter, don't get me wrong, but color is more about the fish being able to differentiate between real and fake.  To much light in a given area doesnt appear to be real, thats why we try to go natural ( or subtle colors) in clear water situations. and can use bright colors in murkey waters.  Dark colors and blacks interfere with background colors thus giving us "motion" and are so effective in almost any given situation.   Hope that this helps when you get hung up in the color selecting game.  When in doubt- Black and blue!

[Advoxxik]

I truly appreciate all the reply's, thanks guys this will definitely help me out next time!

[F14A-B]

Also do you know what the bass are eating in you're water? Crawfish? What color? / colors/ bluegills? What colors/ shades/ do you have golden shiners, shad which shad? Match the hatch and that's a real good deciding factor for me.... Yes you can deviate from that sound advice some but match the hatch and good luck!

[papajoe222]

Welcome to the board and I compliment you on spending some time reading before asking when you or someone else might consider 'a little too new.'

Basically there are two main factors to consider when choosing a color; the fish's ability to see your lure (water color and light penetration), and the natural color and shape of their prefered forage.  Think of it this way. A shad doesn't have the ability to change it's color, so if you're targeting bass strictly by appealing to their sight, they aren't going to be able to see a shad colored bait in muddy water.  This is one example of color or contrast being important. Shape is also important under low light, muddy water conditions, but often times a fish will search out forage that is easier to find than what they prefer.  This is why color becomes more important than what you're attempting to imitate under those conditions.

[TNBassin']

For clear water go with natural bait fish/forage colors. For stained water go with chartreuse/black back, citrus shad, reds.

[Djman72]

Everyone above me has covered the "basics" of choosing a color in most of the conditions you will encounter. My one piece of advise that's different from the "match the hatch" and "natural colors for clear water & dark colors for murky water" is don't be afraid to try out a odd, unnatural color.

 

One of my "go-to" soft plastic baits is the bruised banana zoom trick worm. Not a naturally occurring color by any means, but it flat out catches fish for me. Moral of the story, is you won't know if it works until you throw it out there!

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Bubblegum flukes work in any water,and i aint seen anything natural that color

[fishingreel]

In my area lots of stain to muddy waters Chartrusse is my color.........

 

George

[Advoxxik]

I've seen lots of recommendations for more natural/darker colors. But I see plenty of bright yellow/pink baits being sold. Is there a time and a place for baits like this?

 

I'm all about trying something for a while to see if it works, but if I may only visit a place once or a few times (say I'm driving a decent distance to fish) then I'd really like to increase my probably as much as possible by having a basic guideline set of rules.

 

Thanks again all!