Match the hatch... Or off the wall

[MickD]

I think bass react instinctively to cues which need not look very much like "the hatch,"  I've never seen a chartreuse "hatch," but chartreuse is one of the best colors in any type of water, sometimes just the tail of a swimbait, sometimes just a few strands in a skirt, but it is, I believe, a very good unatural color.  I've never seen a natural marine creature that looks much like a tube, but you know how they work.  The littlest details often make a big difference in success, but they are hard to predict, so changing often is a good strategy, and using colors that are visible in current water conditions can be important.  For example, a glass minnow may work great in clear water where too big a visual impact might spook the fish, but probably will not work in dirty water.  Unless it has a sound component that the fish may react to.

 

I think tubes and other things work because the combination of color, motion/action, and possibly shape strikes something in the instincts of the bass to make them bite/strike.  Sometimes it's easy to find that combination, other times more difficult.  I find that "matching the successful fishermen" is more important than matching the hatch. 

[Raul]

I have never seen a minnow rotate on a longitudinal axis like an in-line spinner or spinnerbait blade does, you may say the "flash" creates the illusion of the shiny sides the scales of fish create when struck by light but how about those painted blades ? they don´t produce any flash, I know they catch fish  since I´ve caught thousands of fish with lures with painted blades and we can go on and on writing on the subject of "matching", since I´m a non believer of matching I don´t bother myself with matching anything, I put more emphasis on other characteristics ( like size, water displacement, hydrodynamic signature, vibration, sound n such )

[janeandsteve60@yahoo.com]

Let's take this take color thing to the next level I have owned a color collector since they came out in the 80's. All I know is that I check the color from time to time if color changes put on a color similar to the chart and one to many times I start catch fish. I can see the   value of match the hatch or colors that catch fish in you region but some days you throw a bubble gum color and you can't keep  the  fish off the lure. I think color is important tool to help fisherman catch fish but you got factor every thing else season weather  type  of  water to fish.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, janeandsteve60@yahoo.com said:

Let's take this take color thing to the next level I have owned a color collector since they came out in the 80's. All I know is that I check the color from time to time if color changes put on a color similar to the chart and one to many times I start catch fish. I can see the   value of match the hatch or colors that catch fish in you region but some days you throw a bubble gum color and you can't keep  the  fish off the lure. I think color is important tool to help fisherman catch fish but you got factor every thing else season weather  type  of  water to fish.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

As for the OP - I'll say that since 95% of the waters I fish have at Least 10 ft of vis (and at times some have 20 ft +) my version of match the hatch revolves around a baits working / presentation depth, size, speed (or vibration) and lastly color. 

What has worked quite a bit for me is to use colors & patterns that actually camouflage the bait; sometimes only partially other times as much as possible.  Shades that match the bottom color whether it's a weed, sand or even clay (not much rock here).

When using a non-bottom contact moving bait in & around natural cover, often the same recipe is effective.  And don't forget that totally or even partially clear bodied bait, works in a similar manner as well.

A-Jay

[Justin Donaldson]

I have fished some lakes where color seemed not to matter too much, but I fish a few lakes where a certain color is just always the best, and I don't really know why, but that's just how it is...

[Jigfishn10]

I don't think that color is being dismissed, I still want my lure to be seen in the water column.

i fish clear (to me) waters and some days I'll find that a particular lure I'm using may have too much flash and I'll switch to a more subdued lure or vice versa and find success. 

Who knows what a bass sees, j don't know and I'm not qualified to make statements of how they do see. They do have eyes and I want to appeal to that sense. As Demny Brauer would say in his book: "It's one more thing to think about that can put the odds in your favor."

So in terms of making my bait match the surroundings? Yeah, I'll buy a price of that pie ... on some days ... but I'm not all in.

Location, depth, presentation and then dial in the color to the light and water conditions.

[janeandsteve60@yahoo.com]

Dr. Loren Hill spent years on studies on how fish see color in the water column it's broken into 3 sections muddy stained clear. That's   what the color collector is based on light traveling trough muddy stained or clear water at the top of the water column to the bottom  is how color is seen in different conditions. That is proven science.