Color-C-Lector

[bigbill]

I have the older Color C Lector which chooses color only and the Combo C Lector which reads out the PH, water temp and selects the color to use at that time.

My question is does anyone use the newer high tech color c lector?

[J Francho]

I don't know of any science behind what that device says is the right color.  Looks like an expensive gimmick to me.

[Wayne P.]

 An expert bass fisherman and university professor's " science " was involved , Jimmy Houston and Bill Dance said it was THE thing. A whole series of lures and colors were produced to match it.

http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/2008/07/update-passing-of-dr-loren-hill.html

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/bass-fishing/2009/04/university-bass-fishing-and-color-c-lecter

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/bass-fishing/2009/04/university-bass-fishing-and-color-c-lecter

You could take a course that convinced you that you need it.

With all that expertise involved, it has to be a must-have device.

 

 

[Ohio Archer]

We had one back in the day.  Sunlight reacts the same way in all waters and clarity so the color portion was suspect.  But the pH and temp readings where interesting to see.  Drop the probe and look for the fastest change in temp.  I think they said to target fish near that point.  Could also point to areas that had a pH that was bad for fish.  Used it on Okeechobee a lot, especially during the stagnant summer months.

 

But that was 30 years ago...

[WRB]

Loren Hill Ph.D. invented the Color-C-Lector and adapted the ph meter to the unit, lots of research went into these units and they were popular in the 80's for awhile and responsible for multi color translucent soft plastics we use today. They both still work.

The modern sonar units are more effective to determine the depth where bass and baitfish are located. Ph became irrelevant in most reserviors with bass populations because the water is rarely so acidic bass and bait avoid those areas.

Tom

 

[J Francho]

28 minutes ago, WRB said:

Loren Hill Ph.D. invented the Color-C-Lector and adapted the ph meter to the unit, lots of research went into these units and they were popular in the 80's for awhile and responsible for multi color translucent soft plastics we use today.

I'm curious to how this manifested.  I can't see a correlation at all.

[WRB]

9 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'm curious to how this manifested.  I can't see a correlation at all.

About multi color soft plastics?

[J Francho]

Yes.

Quote

lots of research went into these units and they were popular in the 80's for awhile and responsible for multi color translucent soft plastics we use today

Explain.

[WRB]

There is a good article on this site called the "Lowly Worm" that has some history regarding Smitty's hand poured worms. When the original Color-C-Lector came out Smitty's offered multi color hand poured worms using the color combinations referenced in Loren Hills chart.  Smoke with lime green tail, smoke with orange tail, a wider variety of colored flakes like red, green, purple, blue along with the standard salt & pepper. Worms with darker and lighter  backs like brown or green (green weenie) and with various neon blood lines and lighter color bellies laminates. Prior to the Color-C-Lector hand pours were mostly translucent smoke or cinnamon with salt & pepper flakes with pearl and crawdad bellies. Bass anglers started catching fish on color combinations that were  never before availble. Several hand pours "garage" companies spring up and a few mass production injection molded worm companies followed. We forget where all this color variations got started and Loren Hill was the man, so we all have benefited.

The Ph meter came out when acid rain was a big problem from sulfuric acid caused by oil fineries before stack gas scrubbers were mandated. Never found a lake that wasn't near 7 ph. 

Tom

[J Francho]

Thanks Tom, I'll check out the article.  I'd contest that there is a direct link between the two.  Seems like it could be related, and simultaneously coincidental.  Hmm, pH.  Have a shot at Lake Ontario.  Sometimes it's over 8.  Appliances that use water sourced from the lake have a half life of 18 months, lol.

[WRB]

Drinking water is considered between a ph of 6.5-8.5, 7 being neutral.

Color-C-Lector isn't mentioned in the article, however I remember Smitty's labels promoting C-Lector colors and they were a hot item for awhile. When anglers found out what color combinations worked they settled onto those colors; smoke/purple, green/purple, smoke/orange, green/red, brown/blue and orange/purple etc.

Tom

[Sam]

If using the Color-C-Lector gives you confidence then by all means use it.

[scaleface]

I never used one but have always wanted to  play with one . It may be a useful tool  . I had a light/temp  meter that I used all the time  and I learned a lot from it . I marked the probe in 1 and 5 foot intervals with colored electrical tape  and the light and temp would always have drastic changes in the thermocline . It helped me become a better angler .

["hamma"]

I still have some of the rebel "color-c-lector" lures. shad type cranks I picked up as they were bright lime green, and bright yellow,.. I figured would be good for muddied up waters after heavy rains, and they did just that ,...but i didnt get them for the unit in question. I wasnt going to spend the money on something I saw as a gimick back then. Beit verified to work or not, there's just too much clear water up here that demands natural colors (other than hvy rains)

[Ratherbfishing]

My buddy found a used one at a garage sale and gave it to me.   It was broken but no great loss since it wouldn't have helped much anyway.  And it would have just taken up even MORE space in my boat.

[J Francho]

On 9/23/2016 at 4:40 PM, WRB said:

Drinking water is considered between a ph of 6.5-8.5, 7 being neutral.

The difference in pH values is logarithmic.  The difference between one tenth, is ten fold.  It may not mean much to us drinking the water, but a swing of one half point will really stress fish.  In fact, some fish are very specific to what pH they can survive in.  Also, interesting to note, most aerobic bacteria diminishes as pH drops below 7.  Fun facts I picked up working in the aquarium industry and my fisheries mgt. schooling.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

The difference in pH values is logarithmic.  The difference between one tenth, is ten fold.  It may not mean much to us drinking the water, but a swing of one half point will really stress fish.  In fact, some fish are very specific to what pH they can survive in.  Also, interesting to note, most aerobic bacteria diminishes as pH drops below 7.  Fun facts I picked up working in the aquarium industry and my fisheries mgt. schooling.

Drinking water is also chlorinated, deadly to some fish. I had high hopes for the pH meter but our local lakes were always 7, but wouldn't want to drink it. Today I don't know what I did with it, must have given it away?

Tom

[J Francho]

I had a few hand-held meters for pH, Temp, dKH (hardness), redox potential....  The problem was, none were water proof, they were meant to be dipped into a sample.  Getting a sample from depth was problematic on the water, though for aquarium/pond analysis it was great.  They were also a bit finicky, and needed to be calibrated frequently.  The better pH pens had both calibration and slope adjustments.  Those were the good ole days when I had no problem dropping $150 on a toy.  These days, that cash goes to baits, heh.

[BillP]

I bought the Color-C-Lector with a few of the recommended lures. It did not improve my catch limits. I have not used it in probably 25 years

[Basseditor]

I was moving some stored crates and found my old one. I remember using it a lot on different lakes. At the time, it led me to try appropriate colors I still use today. One color stood out in several lakes that still is good. But now that I've moved to a different state, I haven't taken it out, but I still choose similar colors based on water clarity.

[JimmyBrown]

I have the lake system Color Clector and was wondering what are the letters are for on the colors? For instance muddy section has a peach color with the letter H on it. Or the red has the letter B on it. Or blue has the letter O on it. Can anyone help me understand it because I have no owner manual.

[Glenn]

Here's the manual for it: https://www.ispikeit.com/Images/Color-C-Lector-1.pdf

 

[JimmyBrown]

2 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Here's the manual for it: https://www.ispikeit.com/Images/Color-C-Lector-1.pdf

 

Glenn thank you so much. That was awesome 

[WRB]

I have the original Color-C-Lector, pay the $15 postage and it's yours!

Tom

[king fisher]

I never believed in the Color Selector, but did like some of the colors tackle companies came out with during the craze.  I had a 6A Bomber, that was purple with a black back that was my best crankbait in every lake I fished for a couple years.  Even caught a few king Salmon in Alaska with that lure.  Rebel had some good color Selector Colors too.  Orange with black back, and chartreuse with black back were simple but effective colors, for both bass and trout.  I never wanted a Color Selector unit, because It was cheaper to let the fish select the color.