Green Pumpkin Nemesis

[MO_TightLines]

Aright guys, I’m making this my first post after my introduction. 

So I am mainly a soft plastics guy and keep it pretty simple. I always feel it helpful to let everyone know the types of water we fish to be better informed. I live in the heart of the Ozarks so I fish both lakes and rivers. Lake of the Ozarks, Stockton, Pomme De Terre, Table Rock etc...

Rivers such as The Gasconade, The Meramec, The Current, Jacks Fork & The Buffalo, etc...

So with that brief understanding of my home waters; here’s my dilemma. I’ve never really had success with straight up Green Pumpkin. After a couple hours of tossing it, I always find myself switching to Watermelon Red and generally start catching fish. I think I may be the only guy on earth who doesn’t have success with GP. I refuse to abandon it as I know it must be a staple.

So my question to you all and the wealth of knowledge here is this; is their a GP Variant that may work, (moreso for my confidence probably).

Thank You all in advance.

[Jig Man]

I fish most of the lakes that you do.  I use a lot of elaztech baits.  Green Pumpkin is one of my regulars but I don't dwell on it.  Green Pumpkin/Red works pretty well.  I carry every color that Zman makes in the worm and TRD.  I go with the color that is getting the most bites.

[rosshilk]

Blue craw has green pumpkin with light blue. It’s an absolute killer. Strike king menace in blue craw is my personal favorite. Blue craw is overall probably my most productive color.

[Russ E]

Green pumpkin is a fickle color for me. Sometimes the fish won't leave it alone. other times it will not draw a strike.

If it works the water is usually clear. I have had the best luck with baits that have black fleck. 

 

[RB 77]

You might want to try the "Magic Craw" color. Its basically GreenPumpkin/ W or WO  BlackFlake color with a iridescent finish to it. Super fishy color...

[heavyduty]

GP with gold flake, GP with purple flake, GP with black flake are all three staples for me while smallmouth fishing. Blue craw mentioned above is also a good GP color for me.  Your nemesis is GP, mine is watermelon....

[TnRiver46]

It’s all about angler confidence most of the time. It somehow translates to better presentation. One day when the bite is good , like catching a bunch of buck bass running the banks in spring, experiment with different colors . It’s easier to learn about how they react to different colors on a day when you have a large sample size. For some reason I fish baits a lot more effectively when I have already caught fish with them in the past. It makes me keep them in the strike zone longer because I know it has worked before. Sometimes it works against you but oh well . I have caught fish Of all kinds in any water color with green pumpkin tubes. I have confidence that if there are fish and crawdads in the water, some of the fish will hit a green pumpkin soft plastic. Now on the contrary if I didn’t have that confidence , it would be much trickier to get that first bite. Like when I fish a spinnerbait.......

[MO_TightLines]

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

It’s all about angler confidence most of the time. It somehow translates to better presentation. One day when the bite is good , like catching a bunch of buck bass running the banks in spring, experiment with different colors . It’s easier to learn about how they react to different colors on a day when you have a large sample size. For some reason I fish baits a lot more effectively when I have already caught fish with them in the past. It makes me keep them in the strike zone longer because I know it has worked before. Sometimes it works against you but oh well . I have caught fish Of all kinds in any water color with green pumpkin tubes. I have confidence that if there are fish and crawdads in the water, some of the fish will hit a green pumpkin soft plastic. Now on the contrary if I didn’t have that confidence , it would be much trickier to get that first bite. Like when I fish a spinnerbait.......

I very much agree with this TnRiver46. I think I’m probably to quick to fall back on my crutch(confidence) colors. I think when I’m really into the bass and the bite is good, I should probably have something in GP tied on.

[MIbassyaker]

3 hours ago, MO_TightLines said:

Aright guys, I’m making this my first post after my introduction. 

So I am mainly a soft plastics guy and keep it pretty simple. I always feel it helpful to let everyone know the types of water we fish to be better informed. I live in the heart of the Ozarks so I fish both lakes and rivers. Lake of the Ozarks, Stockton, Pomme De Terre, Table Rock etc...

Rivers such as The Gasconade, The Meramec, The Current, Jacks Fork & The Buffalo, etc...

So with that brief understanding of my home waters; here’s my dilemma. I’ve never really had success with straight up Green Pumpkin. After a couple hours of tossing it, I always find myself switching to Watermelon Red and generally start catching fish. I think I may be the only guy on earth who doesn’t have success with GP. I refuse to abandon it as I know it must be a staple.

So my question to you all and the wealth of knowledge here is this; is their a GP Variant that may work, (moreso for my confidence probably).

Thank You all in advance.

 

I am exactly the opposite. GP works everywhere for me all the time. Watermelon red? Can't buy a bite.

 

Is it the watermelon? Nope -- Watermelon seed, watermelon candy are also great. No problems there.

 

Is it the red? Nope. I can get bit just fine on other reds: Red shad, Delta red, red bug: again, no problem.

 

So what is it?

 

I conclude it's me. I'm the one who doesn't like watermelon red. For whatever reason -- maybe just chance, accident of history -- my opinion of it was formed from a handful of initial failures. And once the attitude took root, it began infecting me every time I tied the color on, affecting my patience, my concentration, my confidence, my willingness to persist before changing colors....from that point on, every 5 minutes trying watermelon red without a strike has only made it feel like yet more evidence watermelon red is ineffective, and I was right to dislike it all along.

 

So I don't buy or fish watermelon red anymore. And I don't worry much about it. I catch bass on other colors instead.

[Sam]

Check out the two catalogs and note all of the various colors available from Zoom at the link below.

 

I like Green Pumpkin Black Flake.

 

http://virginiaguidebaitco.com/

 

 

[Mobasser]

I made a thread about this also. I've quit throwing green pumpkin too. Because so many guys do well and love this color, I gave it a good shot. The only thing close that I use is watermelon/ red flake. Really don't even use it that much. I'll still use my grapes, blues, purple etc any day.

[CroakHunter]

My pb came on a 12" plastic worm, green pumpkin color, other than that ive caught one other 3lber on it. Is it because those were the only 2 fish in the lake that would eat a green pumpkin worm? I doubt it. I Just dont throw it as much as my usual black, watermelon candy, or junebug. Maybe try starting with your confidence colors and catch a fish or 2 to determine there is active fish in the area then put in a green pumpkin and see if you can get some bites. 

[roadwarrior]

YOUR favorite color will work just fine.

 

[813basstard]

So YOU want to catch them on GP, but the fish don’t want it (in your words)

Fish what you want and don’t catch them or fish what they want and catch them. 

This should be a simple answer 

[Choporoz]

I don't think I've yet fished a situation where I thought there was any difference between gp and watermelon.  I have convinced myself that some flakes (in either) help a little....but even then, I think it rarely, if ever, matters what color the flakes are.....just something to break up the solid silhouette, I guess

[Bankbeater]

I seem to have better luck with green pumpkin in lakes and ponds that have a lot of vegetation growing in them. 

[Log Catcher]

I use a lot of Zoom soft plastics. If the water is in decent shape I have better luck with green pumpkin when it is cloudy and watermelon seed when it is sunny. I can't get a fish to look at watermelon red.

[Arobb2012]

I have better luck with green pumpkin if it has purple and green flakes in it. Some manufacturers call it gp magic or gp goby. 

[Deleted account]

18 hours ago, MO_TightLines said:

Aright guys, I’m making this my first post after my introduction. 

So I am mainly a soft plastics guy and keep it pretty simple. I always feel it helpful to let everyone know the types of water we fish to be better informed. I live in the heart of the Ozarks so I fish both lakes and rivers. Lake of the Ozarks, Stockton, Pomme De Terre, Table Rock etc...

Rivers such as The Gasconade, The Meramec, The Current, Jacks Fork & The Buffalo, etc...

So with that brief understanding of my home waters; here’s my dilemma. I’ve never really had success with straight up Green Pumpkin. After a couple hours of tossing it, I always find myself switching to Watermelon Red and generally start catching fish. I think I may be the only guy on earth who doesn’t have success with GP. I refuse to abandon it as I know it must be a staple.

So my question to you all and the wealth of knowledge here is this; is their a GP Variant that may work, (moreso for my confidence probably).

Thank You all in advance.

This is what you do. Take out all the GP plastics out of the bag and put the Watermelon Red ones in there. Problem solved.

[MIbassyaker]

3 hours ago, Arobb2012 said:

I have better luck with green pumpkin if it has purple and green flakes in it. Some manufacturers call it gp magic or gp goby. 

a lot of companies make a GP magic that is a sort of holographic silver flake that may reflect multiple colors depending on how the light hits it (Zoom is a good example).  "Candy" usually has both green and purple, sometimes other colors in there too. I like 'em both.

 

For some reason, green flakes in my lake waters (usually pretty clear, or with light to moderate algae stain) seem to outperform any other flake color.  Is it really the fish, or is it just me?  I can't tell. But as long as I can't tell, may as well go with it.

 

In fact, my favorite color in the world is a light/medium pumpkin with green flake that many companies don't sell. Best example of a bait I can find with regularity in this color is the Berkley Chigger Craw. I wish I could get every plastic bait in that color.  Sometimes I find a "rootbeer" or amber green that is close, but a little darker and redder than I prefer.

[KDW96]

17 hours ago, Sam said:

Check out the two catalogs and note all of the various colors available from Zoom at the link below.

 

I like Green Pumpkin Black Flake.

 

http://virginiaguidebaitco.com/

 

Where would a guy be able to see the actual colors,other than color number? Zoom or ?

 

[The Bassman]

42 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

 

 

In fact, my favorite color in the world is a light/medium pumpkin with green flake that many companies don't sell. Best example of a bait I can find with regularity in this color is the Berkley Chigger Craw. I wish I could get every plastic bait in that color.  Sometimes I find a "rootbeer" or amber green that is close, but a little darker and redder than I prefer.

Maybe this is what you're looking for. Regular pumpkin (not green)?

[HeyCoach]

I haven’t had any success with a lot of colors, so I know it’s me and not the color. 

[WRB]

Welcome to BR, good starting post!

Green pumpkin isn't a color that everyone makes the same, varies greatly between soft plastic companies. Like most colors everyone has their favorites and green pumpkin tops a lot of anglers favorite along with black-blue.

Oddly neither green pumpkin or black-blue is popular out west outside of the Delta where both are popular. 

I use green pumpkin from 2 companies; Yamamoto #330 and Berkley's Chigger Craw green pumpkin w/black flake for jig trailers. The lakes I fish have clear water similar to Table Rock, so they should work there. You have a decent population of green sunfish and bluegill that green pumpkin tends to replicate. I prefer the 3" Chigger craw and 4" Hula grubs for jig trailers, up size to 4" and 5" during pre spawn.

Good luck,

Tom

[MIbassyaker]

32 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Maybe this is what you're looking for. Regular pumpkin (not green)?

 

Yup -- regular pumpkin, not green, but with green flake. GYCB's version is another one of those that's darker and more reddish than I like, but I use it in the 4"senko like you have here, also the hula grub, and 5" single-tail grub. 

 

I use these (relatively) redder pumpkins in brown/tannic stained water, which I find in my local river systems. The green flake I like for (somewhat clearer) algae-stained waters that I find often in my local natural lakes. 

 

Are my preferences rational? I honestly have no idea. They simply exist.