Need some clarity on plastics(s) color

[NavyVet1204]

I use natural colored plastics when the water is stained and brighter colors when clear correct? Texas/wacky/Shakey head rigs specifically*
 

I understand that this is a broad question due to the biting habits being different constantly, but I want to make sure That I am as equipped as I can be with knowledge going forward. I have caught fish on neon colors in both clear and stained waters as well as natural colors in the same regard. I feel that I am going off of what “looks fun” versus what an actual educated guess would support.

 

I haven’t had a lot of luck at all lately and I think my choice in colors may have something to do with it.

 

Thank you!

[Dirtyeggroll]

I go for the opposite. Natural when clear and bright (or dark; black and blue) when the water is stained to muddy.

 

The fish probably don’t care as much as we do.

[NavyVet1204]

3 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

I go for the opposite. Natural when clear and bright (or dark; black and blue) when the water is stained to muddy.

 

The fish probably don’t care as much as we do.

I can respect that. 

[LCG]

The general agreement is that for clear water use more of a natural color. For stained to muddy water to use either a brighter color or a darker color for contrast. YMMV. 

 

I fish both types of water and my main color choice is Junebug / black and blue and Watermelon Red. Those colors seem to be consistent for me. 

[plawren53202]

10 minutes ago, LCG said:

The general agreement is that for clear water use more of a natural color. For stained to muddy water to use either a brighter color or a darker color for contrast. YMMV. 

This is the general rule of thumb that I follow as well...BUT it is important to remember that this is only a general rule. I think of it as a starting point especially when I am fishing a new body of water. The good thing about soft plastics is that it is very easy and fast to swap on a different color and then let the fish tell you if they like it or not.

 

Couple of cases in point. The body of water I fish most often is my subdivision HOA pond. The water is generally fairly clear to only slightly stained. I have had a lot of luck with a couple of more natural colors, "Bream"/"Moon Juice" which is a pumpkin green and blue--and I've found that they like more subtle versions of these than the bolder blue of an Okeechobee Blue--and in a Super Fluke, the Bluegill Flash pattern which is again more natural. But, sometimes they prefer Morning Dawn in the ZMan/TRD products, which is the furthest thing from a natural color. I only happened on that through trial and error, and most of the time the fish will very clearly let me know which one they want.

 

Case in point #2, at the MLF at Sturgeon Bay last week, where the water is super clear, many of the top finishers were using Berkley PB Flat Worms in natural-ish colors, but one of the top 10 finishers (I forget which one) was using that same bait in black. Definitely not a color that would be my first choice according to the "general rule" for that super clear water, but he obviously let the fish tell him they liked it.

[ww2farmer]

Don't over think it.

 

Buy Green Pumpkin (either plain, or with your favorite colored flakes), Black and Blue, and June Bug in your preferred baits and you'll be set for 99.9% of all water conditions, and catch tons of fish. A can of chartreuse Spike-it dye is helpful if your in a bluegill/perch forage based lake, and some white plastics if your in shad forage based waters.

 

Green pumpkin works great in clear water in any sunlight conditions, and in lightly stained water in bright sun. Junebug is a great stained or dark water color when it's sunny, and Black and blue works great in  semi-clear to very stained water when it's overcast.

 

[NavyVet1204]

I’ve been seeing in your guys responses as well as reading online about the June bug, green pumpkin and black/blue flakes suggestions and I will make it a point to use these colors on my next trip. 
 

I am a loud and proud bait monkey victim so I have several dozens of soft plastics ready to go lol thank you guys so much!

[JediAmoeba]

Use the color you like best.  No seriously.  If you like a color, it will imbue confidence in your casts and retrieves...confidence = fish!

[NavyVet1204]

1 minute ago, JediAmoeba said:

Use the color you like best.  No seriously.  If you like a color, it will imbue confidence in your casts and retrieves...confidence = fish!

I am very partial to watermelon red colored lures with all kinds of flakes and I hope I can get my PB soon on it or something similar.

[RoLo]

 

Color is the variable most obvious to the angler, but the most critical variables are inconspicuous.

Not so obvious to the angler is his lure's pinpoint location, depth, speed & action.

Differently put, I can't fathom a well-presented lure of 'any' color destroying the appetite of a hungry fish.

 

Roger

[Mobasser]

Like many of us, I've always wondered why one color will produce on one day, and not do well the next day. I've experimented over the years, and narrowed it down to 3 or 4 colors that I use. These have been picked because they've worked consistently for me. And, because of this, I have more confidence in them, and I think confidence is more important than color overall.

[813basstard]

32 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Use the color you like best.  No seriously.  If you like a color, it will imbue confidence in your casts and retrieves...confidence = fish!

Yeah I like that..don’t forget the sun (when straight up and bright) can lighten the water up. So what was working in the morning may change by 11am. If your not getting bit, don’t be afraid to change. What’s the worst that can happen? Not getting bit? Your already there, nothing to lose 

[Mbirdsley]

So far this year I could throw my entire Plastic tackle collection away except black/blue flake, green pumpkin ( any darker green color), and summer craw.  I’ve been using black/blue flake in stained to dirty water and green pumpkin in gin clear water and summer craw in any other color water. Summer craw has been on fire for me this summer. 

[Spankey]

7 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I am very partial to watermelon red colored lures with all kinds of flakes and I hope I can get my PB soon on it or something similar.

Good choice. My soft plastics has finally kicked in. My preferred way to fish. Not sure why I have struggled until lately. Probably a mental block where crankbaits have be productive and I felt just stick to what is working. 
 

Straight watermelon, watermelon red fk,  watermelon purple fk, seem to work for me in pretty much clear to stained water. 
 

Watermelon red crankbaits is a good choice. It has worked for me. It’s a natural color in the crawfish world. 

[scaleface]

Just use some variant of purple like purple, black grape, june bug , tequila sunrise and you will be good to go in all water .

[mc6524]

I would add one other thought.  Bass see 4 times better than humans.  So, you drop your bait in the water slowly and get an idea how deep you can see it, multiply that by 4 and that’s the distance a bass can see it.  

[Spankey]

2 minutes ago, mc6524 said:

I would add one other thought.  Bass see 4 times better than humans.  So, you drop your bait in the water slowly and get an idea how deep you can see it, multiply that by 4 and that’s the distance a bass can see it.  

Very interesting. Great post. Thank you. 
 

But, do they see colors like a human? I hear not. A bass have never told me, at least not yet. 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Spankey said:

Very interesting. Great post. Thank you. 
 

But, do they see colors like a human? I hear not. A bass have never told me, at least not yet. 

 

Bass do see colors but their brain is the size of a pea, ours brain is a little more complex!

 

I don't look at color charts, I don't look at water clarity, & I don't look at sky conditions.

 

I walk down the aisle at my local tackle shop, I see a color that appeals to me, I buy it, & i throw it. 

 

Someone please find Merthiolate on a color chart?

 

Thanks to Zoom I've rekindled my love for Motoroil, dip the tail in chartreuse, & you have a classic like black-n-blue.

 

I still throw crankbaits in Tennessee Shad Orange Belly.

 

I throw Rat-L-Traps in Smoky Joe.

[Mobasser]

11 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Bass do see colors but their brain is the size of a pea, ours brain is a little more complex!

 

I don't look at color charts, I don't look at water clarity, & I don't look at sky conditions.

 

I walk down the aisle at my local tackle shop, I see a color that appeals to me, I buy it, & i throw it. 

 

Someone please find Merthiolate on a color chart?

 

Thanks to Zoom I've rekindled my love for Motoroil, dip the tail in chartreuse, & you have a classic like black-n-blue.

 

I still throw crankbaits in Tennessee Shad Orange Belly.

 

I throw Rat-L-Traps in Smoky Joe.

Catt, I buy my plastic baits much like you do. If it looks good to me, I'll try it. Last summer, I found an old bag of Phenom worms in motor oil. Turned out to be the best color on one of the lakes I fish. I'd all but forgotten about that color. Seems like with lots of guys, they're favourite color changes every few seasons. You can't hardly find motor oil worms here in North central Mo now, they're just not popular anymore. But, I'm going to order some Phenom worms from Mr. Twister, in standard motor oil. They work.

[NavyVet1204]

51 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Catt, I buy my plastic baits much like you do. If it looks good to me, I'll try it. Last summer, I found an old bag of Phenom worms in motor oil. Turned out to be the best color on one of the lakes I fish. I'd all but forgotten about that color. Seems like with lots of guys, they're favourite color changes every few seasons. You can't hardly find motor oil worms here in North central Mo now, they're just not popular anymore. But, I'm going to order some Phenom worms from Mr. Twister, in standard motor oil. They work.

Weird you bring up that color as I found and bought a pack of zoom motor oil worms with chartreuse tails not too long ago. Haven’t tried them yet.

[Catt]

While everyone has gotten on the Green Pumpkin wagon I still throw plan old Pumpkin Pepper or what was call Carolina Pumpkin.

 

I still throw Red Shad, Tequila Sunrise, & Fire-n-Ice.

[Mobasser]

I don't know why, but green pumpkin just hasn't been good for me. I've tried craws, finesse worms, and standard worms, with not much luck. I remember when electric blue first came out years ago. The shops in my area couldn't keep them in stock. Report after report came in of huge catches on this color, because lots of guys were throwing them. I think the green pumpkin fad is similiar. As long as thousands of guys are throwing this color, you'll hear about all the bass they catch too.

[greentrout]

My mileage ...

 

Bass react well to the color green ... I like Zoom Trick Worm Green Pumpkin ... Culprit's Red Shad has hit a few home runs for me, too .. in the marsh the color red is good to dynamite most of the time ..

 

good fishing ...

[Spankey]

48 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I don't know why, but green pumpkin just hasn't been good for me. I've tried craws, finesse worms, and standard worms, with not much luck. I remember when electric blue first came out years ago. The shops in my area couldn't keep them in stock. Report after report came in of huge catches on this color, because lots of guys were throwing them. I think the green pumpkin fad is similiar. As long as thousands of guys are throwing this color, you'll hear about all the bass they catch too.

I remember that years back also. I think it was going around how great that color was for gin clear water. Well gin clear water leaves my part of the world out. 
 

Oddly enough In the fall when the water is the clearest for me, blue version on crankbaits does work the best. I’m pretty much a Rapala freak. Silver w/ blue back, Bruised, and Ole Blue have worked good. I throw those DT’s in October with no reservations. They set the rest of the season.  Don’t draw too much of a bite with them. 

[greentrout]