The Silhouette Theory

[Sword of the Lord]

I have 2 90 Whopper Ploppers in Blue Blood and Bone, and 1 130 in Munky Butt. My buddy has 2 90's in Bone and Loon. He rarely uses the Loon even in conditions and times when the silhouette theory says it is preferable. Yet at night, with overcast, in late evening or early morning, the light colors still work and work well. He doesn't use the Loon much because even in the best conditions, Bone works better. So how much of this theory is relevant, viable and true?

I always use black and blue plastics when the theory of the better conditions for it says to, like at night. Never deviate because of what I've been told. It works fine, but now I wonder if almost any color will work fine because of what these WP's are teaching us.

[riverbasser]

Whopper poppers create a ton of surface disturbance. It could be invisible and a bass would still know where its at?

 

Your question is still valid but I think the whopper plopper is a bad lure to base this on

[Sword of the Lord]

39 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

Whopper poppers create a ton of surface disturbance. It could be invisible and a bass would still know where its at?

 

Your question is still valid but I think the whopper plopper is a bad lure to base this on

True in many ways, but shouldn't Loon work better because of contrast and noise? But it doesn't. It actually doesn't. It's not like I'm saying both work, I'm saying Bone works better even when Loon should.

[riverbasser]

Just to clarify loon is black and bone is white?  I don't have a definate answer but I have seen bass key in on a certain color more than size/action. This could be the case here. Maybe we are not giving bass enough credit in how well they can actually see

[Sword of the Lord]

21 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

Just to clarify loon is black and bone is white?  I don't have a definate answer but I have seen bass key in on a certain color more than size/action. This could be the case here. Maybe we are not giving bass enough credit in how well they can actually see

Correct. Hate to be that guy, but different colors for different conditions equals money. Gotta wonder.

But then one must also wonder, if they see better than thought, shouldn't unusual, unnatural colors and colors not matching the hatch and what they know, not work? Interesting thoughts for interesting creatures.

[riverbasser]

Although I understand your follow up. We are now getting into a whole other can of worms. There have been a few really good threads on color and bass vision over the years. Very interesting but none of them gave me any real insight into what color to use when since there are so many variables, along with things we just can't know

[WRB]

You gotta tie it on to catch bass with whatever lure you use. So why don't you tie on the loon WP and fish with your buddy to make a comparison. 

Tom

[Sword of the Lord]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

You gotta tie it on to catch bass with whatever lure you use. So why don't you tie on the loon WP and fish with your buddy to make a comparison. 

Tom

True. He's not much different though. Will hit the same places usually. Identifies spots. It's just a cast and retrieve bait.

[Team9nine]

Silhouette theory is bogus, but contrast isn't - they're not the same. In your example, lure color becomes irrelevant because the fish is stuck underneath the bait, and the only source of light (at night or under low light conditions)  is from above. As such, all baits which are opaque will silhouette and shadow the same.

 

Once a bait goes subsurface, and when you have stronger light from above, contrast comes into play, and so does bait color. In these instances, light often gets reflected/scattered off particulates in the water, and light can actually come from nearly any direction. Additionally, the bait relative to the fish and any background can be extremely varied. In these cases, bait color, and especially contrast can play a big part in getting bit.

[Koz]

I've caught dozens of fish on the Whopper Plopper in Bone. I've never even had a strike on the Loon.