Time Management - Color & Bait Choices

[senile1]

This thread isn't about our opinions on the importance of colors.  It is about time management with respect to lure usage on the water.  I'm curious how everyone allots time to try different colors and baits.  I know this isn't an exact science and is usually a mixture of logic and art for most of us.  

 

For example:  Sometimes an angler will say that he threw the kitchen sink at bass in every color and bait type one can imagine and he didn't catch fish.  I am curious how an angler finds the time to try a bunch of colors per bait when fishing and trying to locate fish on a day when the bite is tough.  How does one try a bunch of colors and, yet, fish each individual bait long enough to see if it is going to work its magic?  What are the parameters you use to make this determination?

 

For me, it works like this.  Again, this is when the bite is tough.

 

I rig 10 - 12 rods with baits that are typically used under the conditions I am fishing.  I also determine what locations would be logical to fish for the season and conditions.  Then, upon arrival at the water I have to find the fish, typically by checking the locations that were previously chosen, or by finding other likely locations for the fish based on what I see on the water.  Then I systematically fish the locations chosen.  On a 7 to 10 hour day when the bite is tough, I never get through all of my setups with different colors.  I will try 2 - 3 colors on some of of the rods on a really bad bite day, but mostly I just try a slightly different bait.  Typically, colors aren't that big of a deal to me and I try to limit the choices to around 3 based on water clarity and light intensity.  If I am giving each bait what I believe is enough time to see if it is going to work at each location, I don't have enough time in the day to go through a bunch of colors.  I will spend time hitting different spots, returning to likely spots to see if fish have moved onto them, and presenting my lures again at those revisited locations which makes it even more difficult to try a bunch of different colors and baits.  (If you carry 20 - 30 rods, or if you stay on one location all day, I can see how you might get through a few different colors and lures.)  

 

[J Francho]

I'm already having a tough day if I'm down to color choice. I generally only have a few colors of a certain bait. Cranks even less - usually only one color, MS American Shad.

[Team9nine]

It's all a game of probabilities. Most days, I don't worry much about color. I simply start with certain baits in intelligent/popular color patterns and then go fishing. If I start getting bit on a particular bait, then I might change up color to see if they'll hit another color better - but I just as likely might not. After all, changing to another color has the equal chance of being the wrong move instead of the right. I rarely waste time changing color if I'm not getting bit in the first place. More likely in those cases I'm simply throwing the wrong bait, not the wrong color in that bait.

 

If two of us are in the boat with the same type bait tied on, then we always make sure to have different colors tied on as a simple test. If you really want to have some fun, as well as see how important (or not important) color is, go fishing with just one bait style all day, but bring as many colors as possible and switch after every fish or two. The results might be enlightening. Every once in a while we'll stumble on a  particular color pattern that just seems to work, but it's mostly been dumb luck more than intelligent design on our part. Many, many more days that it hasn't seemed to matter.

 

-T9   

[WRB]

The first thing that I try to do is determine what depth the bass and prey are, then where those bass and prey are located before deciding on what lure or color to use. This is further complicated by what size bass I am trying to catch and under what conditions. If I am trying to catch big bass and fishing by myself my time management is different than fun fishing with a partner or tournament fishing.

I fish very few lures when trophy bass fishing; jig, swimbait, big worms in no more than 3 colors and spend more time at high percentage locations. Fun fishing I spend some time, about 2 hours, to target big bass, majority of time locating active bass with what I believe to be high percentage lures and colors for the seasonal period. Tournament fishing is similar to trophy fishing except using high percentage lures discovered during fun fishing outings, spending more time on locations I know the bass are active at. Time mamagement during a tournament is far more critical than either trophy or fun fishing, you need to have confidence in the lures, colors and locations to catch bass during a tournament.

I may go through about 3 to 6 different colors of soft plastics and about 3 different sizes using T-rig and finesse spinning slip shot or drop shot rigs for the smaller size soft plastic, when fun fishing.

1 or 2 spinning outfits.

2 jig rods, 6 power for jigs, 5 power for soft plastics.

1 heavy swimbait rod.

1 Heavy crank rod used for crankbaits and spinning baits.

1 smaller size crank rod used for both crankbaits and spoons, depending on the depth and seasonal period.

1 frog rod used for smaller swimbait and frogs depending on the seasonal period.

I don't pre rig any rods before deciding what to lure to use on the water, except tying a clip on the crank bait rods and running the line through the giudes and the other rods.

Tom

[Daniel My Brother]

I don't worry about color much at all.

If the water is pretty clear, I'm going to use natural colors. 

If the water is dirty, I'm going to use black, or maybe a little black and chartreuse.

 

That's pretty much all the time I spend on color. It certainly saves money on tackle, and I don't think it's costing me fish.

[senile1]

Daniel!!!!  It's good to hear from you.  How have you been?

 

I'm the same as the rest of you on color and as Jon stated, if I am worrying about color very much I'm probably having a pretty bad day.  I will tend toward using slower presentations such as jigs and soft plastics on a tough bite too and I use pretty much only three colors:  green pumpkin or something akin to it, black/blue, and PBJ.   

 

 

 

After all, changing to another color has the equal chance of being the wrong move instead of the right. I rarely waste time changing color if I'm not getting bit in the first place. More likely in those cases I'm simply throwing the wrong bait, not the wrong color in that bait.

 

Very well put.  I agree.

[bigbill]

I will patiently throw everything in my tackle boxes looking for a strike. I refuse to give up knowing something will work. On my second pass through one tackle box I change up the presentations. I'm not rushing. The thinner crankbaits with the chartruese color with the thin black triangles on it caught a bass. Right bait wrong color the other color cranks didn't work.

On a tough day chartruese is your friend.

Same spot different day the Amber red stik o worm worked great I caught three nice bass in the same spot. A few days later the red color nothing. I switched to the gambler ACE in electric blue and I'm on the fish again.

This tells me we can have different water conditions in the water column. You can have a current on the bottom that can change the water conditions.

Colors matter. The current, the sunlite and shade from the trees can change the effect of the colors we use. Don't get hung up on what worked before change baits and colors till something works.

You maybe surprised at what color will catch bass on a tough day.

[Preytorien]

I posted this in another thread, but I think it would be applicable here too.....

 

Fish have (as far as we know) 3 major senses they utilize when finding prey

 

1. Sight

2. Smell/Taste (whatever you want to call it - its different than ours)

3. Lateral Line

 

Those senses aren't listed in any order in accordance to importance or most-used, but they certainly can be moved up and down in priority to determine what bait or color we throw.

 

If you've got gin-clear water your bait selection needs to ring true to the "match the hatch" concept, and probably be a bit more subtle since the fish will rely heavily on its sight to distinguish and hone in on prey

 

If you're faced with chocolate milk dirty water then you're not going to have to rely quite so heavily on sight. This is where they lean on their lateral line as their locating method. That's why the heavy thumping baits shine in those conditions.

 

I feel that smell is probably always a sort of secondary sense for them. "Knowing Bass" by Dr. Jones spends a good deal of time on what scents seem to trigger bass, but ultimately ends up determining that smell is not usually the deciding factor in how or even IF smell played a major part in the hunt. 

 

So what I do is I approach a body of water and check it out. See the visibility, chop, cover, etc. and make your lure decision (including color) based on the process of lure color and profile priority. 

 

It might be more simple than I've put it, or heck it could be more complicated. But it's done wonders for me to just take a couple minutes at first and really think about the conditions I'm dealing with before I throw my first lure. 

[WRB]

Whenever the topic of bass comes up 90% of the replies are going to be northern strain largemouth bass in lakes. NLMB are different bass than smallmouth, spotted or Florida strain LMB. The most agressive of the 4 bass major species is Spotted bass followed by Smallmouth, NLMB react to a wider variety of lures then the others mentioned and FLMB are far more selective feeders then the others.

When FLMB were first introduced in California lakes they very tough to catch on artifical lures, most were caught using live bait. NLMB the "traditional" bass anglers think about are easier to catch. It wasn't until custom hand poured worms became popular that FLMB were caught consistantly. FLMB are very sensitive to colors, more so then any other of the 4 bass mentioned.

So....when anglers say color doesn't matter, it's true for NLMB, not FLMB. Both Smallmouth and Spotted bass prefer brighter colors than LMB and different locations, they roam around a lot. Time management differs depending of the type of bass being targeted.

Tom

[senile1]

I want to reiterate that my main question to those of you who go through a lot of colors on a tough bite day is how do you fit in that many colors during a day of fishing, along with the number of baits you try?  This is a bit hypothetical but here's some examples.  Let's say that today you try a jig with trailer, a t-rigged worm, a deep running crankbait, a spinnerbait, and a drop shot.  

 

• If you try 6 different colors for each of those baits at 4 different locations you have 6 colors times 5 baits times 4 locations or 120 combinations to try.  If you try each of these for a minimum of 10 minutes to see if they work that adds up to 6 different combinations tried per hour.  One hundred twenty combinations to try divided by 6 combinations per hour equals a 20 hour fishing trip. 
• If you cut the number of colors to 3, then it becomes more reasonable.  (3 colors times 5 baits times 4 locations equals 60 combinations.  Sixty combinations at 6 per hour is a 10 hour day.  

I do realize that some colors and baits will be ruled out as you proceed through the day which would lead to a lower amount of time, but by the same token the different angles and different techniques you try with each bait will  also add time to the equation.  Maybe many of you use the baits for less than 10 minutes, but to me 10 minutes is a minimum.  I guarantee I use most bait combinations longer than that to see if they are going to work.  

 

On a bad day I lean more toward trying more baits because I think the action of the bait, with emphasis on the speed and depth, is most important to catching fish. The more types of baits I try, and the more I try different techniques and angles with the same baits, the less time I have to try different colors in each bait.  

 

I'm not saying that those of you who use a lot of colors are wrong and I'm not saying it doesn't work for you.  I just want to know how you manage your time to fit it all into a day of fishing.

[Felix77]

My little system is not new or original but it works for me.

I first tend to use a moving bait like a spinnerbait or finesse swimbait in my favorite color. White or some translucent white color.

No bites ... I slow down with a mojo rig or dragging bait. Green pumpkin.

If it's gin clear I go watermelon or watermelon red. Dirtier ... black/blue.

Any other colors I choose are merely for entertainment purposes only.

[bigbill]

Picking your favorite color will work and catch a few bass. But choosing the correct color could load the boat with bass.

I been fishing from shore at some pressured ponds and lakes and a few unfinished ones. Each year there is a hot bait that won't work the way it did llastyear like during this year. It's just not hot anymore.

FACT, Fishing from shore for decades at the same spots each year the fish learn our baits. I keep on reinventing myself by changing scents, colors and baits. I'm fooling the same bass over and over.

I was in a local mom/pop bait shop and I purchased a large orange off brand spook for $2. On the way home I thought I wasted $2. I was throwing it and caught five nice bass right away. A orange spook whod a thunk it?

It was an overcast, cloudy, light rainy day. My theory is in the low light use brighter colors. I put on a Joe's fly firetiger apache inline spinner 1/4oz bass size. I skipped casted the whole area for 19 bass.

While standing in one spot. This was midday, the full moon phase was on. I even had deer near me. I stopped at another spot on the way home and caught three 3lb bass, one lmb and two smallies. I had a few minutes to spare just a few casts. Same JF LURE it's chartruese with a glow mixed in.

I do not use a few colors when we have so many to choose from.

[EvanT123]

My little system is not new or original but it works for me.

I first tend to use a moving bait like a spinnerbait or finesse swimbait in my favorite color. White or some translucent white color.

No bites ... I slow down with a mojo rig or dragging bait. Green pumpkin.

If it's gin clear I go watermelon or watermelon red. Dirtier ... black/blue.

Any other colors I choose are merely for entertainment purposes only.

I fish much the same way. Reaction baits are usually white or if dirty water black. Dragging baits green or black. The fish are either there or not. I fish for about an hour after work don't have a lot of time to dither around.

And I'm fishing for river smallmouth.

[Paul Roberts]

I am more interested in methods and techniques than colors. I can't remember ever changing "colors" to see if that would turn the tide or add strikes. I've had too many favorite plugs with the color worn off that still caught fish. Whatever it is, that's not color.

 

If I'm not catching after adjusting the important stuff, I move before switching colors. Doesn't mean I don't have preferred colors/finishes. I guess I'd already made my color decisions at the store and don't need to revisit them on the water (beyond adjusting to immediate conditions). Don't think I've ever dedicated a rod to a color -although I suppose that spinnerbaits have come closest as I have come to use black under dark sky conditions and white under brighter skies, and would get the heeby-jeebies if I had a black buzzbait on under bright skies. Brrrrrrrrr... I can feel 'em now!

 

Acknowledging Tom's comments, I'm fishing northern largemouths and have almost no experience with Florida's.

[Senko lover]

Honestly, if I bought everything of mine brand new (most of what I have is bargain bins and used), I would just get Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue. They both work on my ponds, and for that matter, just about everywhere else I've gone.

[Felix77]

Honestly, if I bought everything of mine brand new (most of what I have is bargain bins and used), I would just get Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue. They both work on my ponds, and for that matter, just about everywhere else I've gone.

Yup ... those are basically the only two colors you need.  

[J Francho]

Hard to color coordinate all your outfits with just two colors!

[bradc36]

This thread isn't about our opinions on the importance of colors.  It is about time management with respect to lure usage on the water.  I'm curious how everyone allots time to try different colors and baits.  I know this isn't an exact science and is usually a mixture of logic and art for most of us.  

 

For example:  Sometimes an angler will say that he threw the kitchen sink at bass in every color and bait type one can imagine and he didn't catch fish.  I am curious how an angler finds the time to try a bunch of colors per bait when fishing and trying to locate fish on a day when the bite is tough.  How does one try a bunch of colors and, yet, fish each individual bait long enough to see if it is going to work its magic?  What are the parameters you use to make this determination?

 

For me, it works like this.  Again, this is when the bite is tough.

 

I rig 10 - 12 rods with baits that are typically used under the conditions I am fishing.  I also determine what locations would be logical to fish for the season and conditions.  Then, upon arrival at the water I have to find the fish, typically by checking the locations that were previously chosen, or by finding other likely locations for the fish based on what I see on the water.  Then I systematically fish the locations chosen.  On a 7 to 10 hour day when the bite is tough, I never get through all of my setups with different colors.  I will try 2 - 3 colors on some of of the rods on a really bad bite day, but mostly I just try a slightly different bait.  Typically, colors aren't that big of a deal to me and I try to limit the choices to around 3 based on water clarity and light intensity.  If I am giving each bait what I believe is enough time to see if it is going to work at each location, I don't have enough time in the day to go through a bunch of colors.  I will spend time hitting different spots, returning to likely spots to see if fish have moved onto them, and presenting my lures again at those revisited locations which makes it even more difficult to try a bunch of different colors and baits.  (If you carry 20 - 30 rods, or if you stay on one location all day, I can see how you might get through a few different colors and lures.)  

 

Because I fish 90% of my time on the water in the great lakes (Erie and Ontario), I have a pretty good idea about which colors will work for each technique I use, most of these being tried-and-true for many people in the area. That being said, I know from experience and time on the water every week what the fish are hitting. I generally rig up a dropshot (3-4 different colors), a spinnerbait (always white), a tube on two different rods to hit different depths (3-5 different colors), a crankbait (3 colors), a jerkbait (5 colors), a jig (1-2 colors), and a soft swimbait (white or some variation of white). Generally, if I'm on and marking fish and can't get them to bite, I will usually change colors once or twice in ~30 mins. After that I'll switch presentations. I've found the longer your line is in the water the better chances you have to catch fish. Color does make a difference but only to the extent that I may have a handful of colors that makes up 90% of my tackle. 

[Catt]

The human tendency is to respond to failure and frustration by over complication rather than simplification of technique and theory!

I select lures and colors based on past personal experience on the body of water I've selected to fish, along with any information gathered by talking to guys I know who were on that body of water within the last 3 days.

I carry only 5 rod/reels setup for top water, mid-depth, and bottom techniques; again based on past personal experience with that body of water.

It is rare for me to change colors more than once or twice on a given day. Instead I change raters of fall, retrieval speeds, and locations.

[RoLo]

Frankly, the only time I'm meticulous about color selection is when I'm purchasing a new lure.

I'll normally choose a color that I believe is highly visible under the widest range of lighting conditions.

In my opinion, once a bass sees my lure the importance of color falls thru the cracks (color isn't likely to effect appetite)

In any case, this mindset allows me to focus my attention on more meaningful lure properties

such as lure type, lure depth, lure speed, lure action & lure size.

 

Roger

[uncustered]

I've cut it back to eliminate some options to maximize efficiency.

Soft plastics, worms, creatures, purple pearl, or watermelon.

Swim baits- shad or chartreuse.

Cranks- shad, chartreuse, or a red (rapala demon)

Spinner baits, white, chartreuse or black.

I base selection on water color. If they can't see i . They probably won't hit it.

Since going through this simplification, my numbers and sizes have significantly increased this season.

Of course my confidence has also....