Choosing color for topwaters

[plawren53202]

Just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on how they pick colors for topwaters. I get that color is probably less important for topwaters than other baits. But while I feel fairly confident in picking starting colors for nearly all other baits (from there, letting the fish tell what color to use of course), I have heard wildly differing strategies for picking topwater colors and don't have a clear handle on it. 

 

So, what factors do you consider--water clarity, time of day/light level, type of bait, other factors? I'm thinking in particular about topwater baits with a "body," particularly a Whopper Plopper but also a walking bait or a popper. 

[OnthePotomac]

I have never been sure if color made a big difference, or if it was the action that really counted.  Frogs maybe a different story.

[Mobasser]

I've had the very best luck with walking baits with a white belly. Top color doesn't seem to matter much. On Stockton in Missouri, a clear Spook used to be really popular. I'm not sure if it's still that way. I like light belly baits in poppers also. At dusk, or night fishing, darker colors or black have always been good too.

[Cgolf]

I have a ton of topwaters, in a lot of different colors and they rarely work for me. 

59 minutes ago, plawren53202 said:

what factors do you consider--water clarity, time of day/light level, type of bait, other factors

That is what I am missing. Doesn't stop me from throwing them, but it seems the above is the most important factor. 

 

My best day with a plopper style bait, yellow perch, was mid day not a lot of wind and bright sun in 5 fow, go figure. I have a lot to learn.

[galyonj]

I pretty much use white or black for all my topwater lures. Maybe a little chartreuse if I'm feeling fancy, but that doesn't seem to make a difference one way or the other. I want the lure to either glow in the sunlight or cast as stark a silhouette as possible.

 

I make similar decisions with just about every other lure I throw, to be honest – whether it's a hard jerkbait or a soft plastic. Primarily white, or primarily dark (think junebug or black with some flake), with maybe a little bit of chartreuse because it's good to accessorize. I've got a bag of bubblegum pink Stick-Os that I'm bound and determined to catch a fish on one day, but it hasn't happened yet.

[Paul Roberts]

Don't know how much it really matters. But... for nearly all lures I've gone with translucents and reflectives in high vis conditions, and opaques or fluorescents in low vis/aggressive conditions. With topwater's I like chrome, and translucents in high vis; And white or chartreuse bellies in low vis. I may also change size of lure.

[NHBull]

White, Sunny

Black, clowdy

Chrome when the other 2 dont work

If I had to pick one,,,,,,White or Bone

[JediAmoeba]

Well every frog we have in our area has a white or yellowish belly...that dictates my decision 

[DitchPanda]

I use white and black. Black in dark conditions...white otherwise.

[RHuff]

I like Tranlucent for sunny and white or black for cloudy

[plawren53202]

Thanks everyone for the responses...the white/black is kind of what I expected because it doesn't seem that a fish looking up at the bait and silhouetting it against the sky would be able to distinguish much other than that. 

 

The reason for my question was yesterday evening I was out at the pond. I'm a late comer to the Whopper Plopper party so the only color I had in a size appropriate for the fish in that pond (a 90) was white. When I first started throwing it there was still a little sun hitting spots on where I was fishing, but I kept using it as it got darker, until just before dark. It seemed to work well in both lighting conditions, which got me thinking about this question.

[ChrisD46]

White / Bone : Cloudy / Clear  / Sunny / Stained water

Black : Night / Cloudy / Stained water

Ghost or Clear  : Sunny / Clear water

Chrome : Sunny / Clear / Stained water 

 

[TBAG]

Yeah, bone or black are really the only two colors I have. 

[matbellon3]

I keep my topwater colors pretty simple something light, something dark, and something green 

[Heartland]

I like something with orange or red on the belly

 

[Teal]

12 hours ago, matbellon3 said:

I keep my topwater colors pretty simple something light, something dark, and something green 

 

26 minutes ago, Heartland said:

I like something with orange or red on the belly

 

Amen guys!  Light, dark, and green.. and I like ones with a little color on the belly.

[Smells like fish]

Forget what the bass like, I like em all!!

[Bankbeater]

White, bone, or black is what I like on the bottom of the bait. 

[RoLo]

 

 

Bass flat-out miss a surprising percentage of topwater baits,

and even their successful grabs may only have a marginal hold.

 

You probably know a fisherman who throws a Solid Toad all the time...except after ice-up   

Many of the best toad anglers out there, choose between 2 colors: White or Black (period)

They're not trying to imitate anything, instead, they're looking to maximize lure visibility,

to make it easier for bass to score a bullseye. 

 

Roger

[Heartland]

Dean Rojas told me in person that a walking frog much more closely imitates an injured and dying bluegill on the surface than a frog.... for what it's worth.

 

[ChrisD46]

I normally throw black on over cast (to try something different than Bone) or at night ... I should probably throw black more often in other conditions as well .

[Born 2 fish]

I mostly use a black buzzbait when that don’t work I throw a black buzzbait. Keep my frogs to black & white. I like bone plopper and chrome spook.

[Bluebasser86]

On 6/17/2020 at 10:27 AM, NHBull said:

White, Sunny

Black, clowdy

Chrome when the other 2 dont work

If I had to pick one,,,,,,White or Bone

I'd also add clear for super clear water and maybe a gill for around bluegill spawning beds, but a majority of my topwater hard baits are white/bone.

[Teal]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'd also add clear for super clear water and maybe a gill for around bluegill spawning beds, but a majority of my topwater hard baits are white/bone.

Monkey butt is one of my favorites in the plopper.. translucent with just enough color to be mistaken for pan fish or shad.   I like the blue hill patterns on the KVD Wake bait and the Storm Arashi Wake bait.  Even tho they have slightly different actions, I use these two in tandem if I need to, the Arashi has a lighter blue gil pattern and is subtle, the kvd version is darker.  I'm fond of both lures I carry them both in a few colors.  

[Cdn Angler]

White/Bone - Any Time

 

Ghost - clear water & sunny