Certain Bait Colors Get Bigger Bites Than Others

[Ozark_Basser]

I went bank fishing on the Little Buffalo National River today and I can't help but notice a trend with the size of fish I catch with certain color jigs. And this has happened more than once especially on this river.

I started out with a more or less green pumpkin and orange colored jig with a gp trailer and was getting bit about every cast I was making to a particular spot. I caught a few dinks and one that was about fourteen inches or so. A lot of the time I was getting bit but wasn't hooking up. I went through a ton of trailers. Well when I finally lost my jig I switched up the color to a more or less brown and purple jig with the same gp trailer. Boom. Three pound smallmouth from the exact same spot.

I kept fishing with the same jig and hardly got bit the rest of the trip. I can confidently say that brown and purple catches bigger fish on that creek, but I never seem to get as many bites with it compared to a crawdad colored jig.

Its weird, but has anyone else ever experienced this? If so, with which colors?

[deep]

Yes. All the time. Secret colors (no, that's not a joke).

 

You should read Murphy's book. Can't argue with results.

[ww2farmer]

Cool story.

[tatertester]

Everything is relative, including color.

[a1712]

Summer throwing a Watermelon Candy Berkley Shakeyworm w/a 1/16oz. Tungsten was putting the hurt on them. Easily out catching my Bud throwing a 5" Watermelonseed Senko. After a few hours, much to my partners surprise, I went to the bag and switched up to a PB&J Senko. Just wanted to see how that color would perform as a comparison. My bite slowed but every fish I caught after that was much bigger on average to anything I had caught that day. That's just one time, so don't know if it would hold any sway to your theory or not, but it was true that day.  Brian.

[Ozark_Basser]

Cool story.

After I read it myself I thought it was a bit...meh, but I do find it pretty interesting how this constantly occurs, especially with clear water creek smallmouth.

The hole I was fishing has some nice largemouth in it, but they never seem to be quite as predictable as the smallies. I guess it's because all of the wood cover (where i catch my better largemouth) gets moved around from time to time due to high waters yet the structure pretty much remains the same. Sometimes i get down there and see tons of wood cover and in a couple of months it will have all got pushed downriver. Smallies tend to stack up in this hole in the winter as well. I can pretty much guarantee where I'm going to get bit which seems to give this theory some viability, to me at least.

[scaleface]

In my experience it can make a huge difference at times.  

[smalljaw67]

I believe there are times when color can, and does make all the difference in fishing, it has happened to me on a lot of occasions. One thing that is a constant when it comes to color is smallmouth seem to react to color a lot more than largemouth do and if I knew why I'd be rich. The one thing I noticed in my waters that contain both large and smallmouth bass is that when the bite is on, I'll throw a black jig and craw combo and I'll catch largemouth and then I'll switch colors a few more times and still be getting largemouth until I get to a certain color and then the smallmouth start hitting. Myself along with 2 friends have been keeping logs of this type of activity and we found that when there is a good bite, largemouth will react to action but smallmouth seem to key on color, it may be just an odd coincidence but it happens every time we get on them during the prespawn and the fall bite, it is the only time in these waters when smallmouth and largemouth are overlapping in the same areas. For the most part, dark colors and natural colors will get the largemouth all the time but throw a jig with bright orange or chartreuse in it and the smallmouth start reacting more than their green cousins. Even with jerkbaits, a killer color from Lucky craft, shrimp brown, is a smallmouth killer in spring, the small dot of chartreuse at the tail seems to get them, I get more smallies on that color, in a day if I catch 10 fish, at least 8 will be smallmouth, sometimes I won't even get a largemouth until I switch color, I'm not sure if it happens in other waters but there are a few colors here that really make a difference in what you catch but remember, this is at specific times and not all the time, as they say, color matters when it matters.

[BadBassWV]

Like a wise man once said: "Color doesn't matter until it does"

[Bankbeater]

Sometimes it's color, sometimes it's wobble, sometimes it's the rattle. You just have to try everything.

[Catt]

Fishing where bigger bass are will get you farther than color!

[Sam]

What causes a bass to hit your bait?

 

Many believe the cause include:

1.  Size matching that of the current forage.

2.  Sounds and vibrations so they can find it.

3,  Profile

4.  Color.

 

With that said, I have seen color make a big difference when fishing with a buddy.

 

I was throwing green pumpkin with black flake and he was throwing Junebug and he was clobbering me.

 

So there are no set rules in bass fishing.  If you want to change colors please do so as long as you have confidence in the colors you select

[TorqueConverter]

One fish does not make a pattern but at least you have a new confidence color (PB&J) and that it what really matters. 

[SwimJiggin]

My friend and I alway have a 1-knocker in royal shad tied on one rod. We like the cotton candy Kalin grub too. Not sure why but purple produces. If I had to guess I would say that bluegill or bait fish have a purple iridescent that bass key in on. Everyone warns about lake history but sometimes what works in a certain body of water works. I guess the fish will tell you when it's time to change up.

[Josh Smith]

Yes. All the time. Secret colors (no, that's not a joke).

 

You should read Murphy's book. Can't argue with results.

 

Who's Murphy?

[deep]

Who's Murphy?

 

Bill Murphy (In Pursuit of Giant Bass).

[Josh Smith]

Thanks!  Will have to read this one, too!

 

Josh