what's a good light color?

[FatBoy]

The recent thread about bright day/light colors got me thinking about this again....

I carry only "dark" colors.  Some version of watermelon usually w/ red flake is my confidence color.  I also throw black/blue flake a lot and occassionally green pumpkin.  I don't own much of any plastic that's light except some white ice (?) super flukes.  The bait monkey says I need to round out my selection.  

What's a good/favorite light color for say senkos/fat ikas, dingers or trick worms?

[Senko4life]

For a senko go with a Yum Dinger that has green pumpkin on the back and a white underside.  It looks like a bass and does wonders for me when a light color is needed.  For a finnese type worm i like a natural looking pumpkin or sand color.

[T-rig]

Watermelon/ Cream Laminate

[TENNESSEE NEWSOME]

It would depend on the color of the water and how much light is actually penetrating the water surface, right??  

I'd generally go with everything mentioned above.  I like pumpkin seed for darker water and more natural colors in clearer water.  But...I'm learning the whole color scheme myself too!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

when I think "light", I think sand  or a light pumpkin whereas watermelon would be a darker color for me

[.dsaavedra.]

NATURAL SHAD ALL THE WAY!!!!! that is my confidence color. for some reason the watermelons never seem to produce for me. i think what it is is that they match the water color and are hard for the fishies to see.....anyone know why the watermelon colors never produce, whn i can switch to shad or red and catch lots of fish?

[mattm]

IMO, watermelons don't work for you b/c you think they never produce.  I throw almost exclusively watermelons and they produce better than any other color for me.  I fish a lot of ponds that have tons of grass and the watermelon blends in and it is still my go to color.  In fact in one pond when I hang some moss it come backs looking just like my watermelon black flake zero.  The moss has some kind of black seed in it that looks identical.  I have no doubt that if you felt the same way about watermelon as you do about red shad you would catch fish on it, and that if I felt the same way as you do about red shad I would catch fish on it .

[berkley]

cotton candy ;D its good since its shad color

[.dsaavedra.]

IMO, watermelons don't work for you b/c you think they never produce. I throw almost exclusively watermelons and they produce better than any other color for me. I fish a lot of ponds that have tons of grass and the watermelon blends in and it is still my go to color. In fact in one pond when I hang some moss it come backs looking just like my watermelon black flake zero. The moss has some kind of black seed in it that looks identical. I have no doubt that if you felt the same way about watermelon as you do about red shad you would catch fish on it, and that if I felt the same way as you do about red shad I would catch fish on it .

but see...i do fish watermelon...cuz i hear such good things about them. i know that thay produce, i just cant get them too!

[mattm]

Confidence ...i'm sure your throwing it and thinking the whole time I need to get to red shad they always bite that.  Probablly the first couple of times you threw watermelon you did it with a lot of confidence, but the fish weren't biting so it has a bad rep with you.  Maybe i'm wrong and its not a good color for your lakes, but it catches fish in mine under almost the same conditions.  You never know.

[.dsaavedra.]

ive got the confidence....maybe i just need to use them more. theres not many lures that i fish that i dont have confidence in. if i find my self fishing a lure w/o any confidence, i will quickly change, i can just tell that i think its pointless to fish that lure, and i will put on somethin i like.

[Raul]

Been fishing for over 3 decades, bass fishing for over 2 decades, at first I was like many of you guys, paid a lot of attention to bait color, as years went by I discovered through experience that bass care a lot less about color than they care about presentation. Yup, I do have a rainbow of colors available in my baits but that 's because I LIKE THEM, just can 't resist the temptation to have them prutty colors, you know what ? all of them catch fish.

In those more than 2 decades in very few ocassions bass have prefered one particular color over the other.

Let me give you an example:

Got a friend that swears for watermelon, most of his soft plastics are watermelon, me ? like I said have plenty colors from where to choose, we have gone fishing for many years and oh boy he does pay a lot of attention to color ( specially when he 's not catching fish ), I found a very good spot and the fish were there, he tied as usual a watermelon senko , t rigs it weightless and begins casting, I tie a sapphire ribbontail worm, split shot rig it and begin casting, I catch 4 fish in a matter of minutes while he keeps on casting, after me catching 4 fish he begins with the usual talk about color.... to make a point I change to the same type of worm now in black ruby ( he still has that watermelon senko tied ), same story, I catch another 4 fish ( by now he 's fishing the wrong way ), more talk about color ..... ok, so color is very important, let 's change it, now I rig a watermelon gold flake straight tail worm and catch another 3 fish. 11 fish vs 0.

Right location

Color the one you like the most

WRONG presentation on his side, right presentation on my side.

Any color is fine as long as you select the proper bait, present it right in the right place. Choose the colors YOU LIKE and be confident when fishing them.

[.dsaavedra.]

great post raul...tahts what i think fishins all about

[rdneckhntr]

Zoom Trick worm= sand(very light) and baby bass(medium...)  have been killer around here lately...

[FatBoy]

Raul:  I hear what you're saying.  You definitely have to be in the right place with the right presentation.  In that example you gave, that was clearly the difference between you catching fish and your friend not catching fish.  BUT, I'd also say that all those colors you used are "dark".  (So was your friend's watermelon.)  If you had switched to white or yellow or bubblegum, do you think you still would have caught those fish?  Aren't there certain days and conditions, like clear water and bright skies, when light colors are going to work better?  

These are meant to be honest questions.  I'd like to hear your opinion on this.  

[Raul]

Fatboy, my man, I wouldn 't post that kind of information if the chances of me being wrong were even slim here 's a good example of what I 'm saying, another buddy and me fished the same lake last week, same location, same presentation, different color:

Me, watermelon/pink grass minnow :

Cesar, white/chartreuse ribbontail worm:

Am I sure I would have caught those fish ? oh yeah, the fish were there, that lil one I 'm holding ( first pic ) ..... it was the second time I hooked it, had hooked it 15 min before.

[FatBoy]

Thanks, Raul.  

I guess I'm still not convinced that color makes NO difference whatsoever.  I understand that there may be no difference between, say, watermelon and green pumpkin.  But it just seems that there must be a difference between light and dark.  On any given day you can probably catch fish on either, but you may catch more fish with one versus the other.  

I have to admit, though, I'm not basing my opinions on years of experience (far from it).  The importance of color just seems so intuitive ( but then again, I'm not a bass, so my intuition shouldn't count for diddly squat).  

I guess I'm just thick headed and stubborn  .  Thanks for taking the time to explain your side of the issue.  

[Raul]

I didn 't say it made no difference whatsoever, it can make a difference but the times when that happens can be counted ( less likely to happen ). What I mean when I say that color doesn 't matter is to remove from your mind that color is THAT important, presentation and location are by far more important, focus on them and once you have obtained the result then begin experimenting with the color until you find the color that 's producing the most; after location & presentation, never before them.

Color is the perfect scape goat and an excellent excuse for the lack of competence, the wrong color in the right location with the right presentation is going to catch by far more fish than the right color in the wrong location with the wrong presentation.

Many anglers don 't know how to locate the fish, don 't know how to "read" structure and/or cover and from those which ones are holding the fish, which it comes as a consequence of not reading right. Also they don 't know how to present the bait properly, presentation covers the rigging, the retrieval and where or what are you casting at.

[FatBoy]

Thanks again, Raul.  Sounds like this might be a case of being in "violent agreement" with one another ;D