Green pumpkin vs watermelon

[roadwarrior]

I must be color blind...Watermelon looks green to me, green pumpkin brown.

 

[ChrisD46]

13 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Green pumpkin - hands down. Won't even buy watermelon anymore...but most all of my waters are stained to some degree, and it just seems like GP does better. I've got a couple watermelon colored baits, and I'll toss them from time to time, but I really think they do better in more transparent (clear) environments. Might just be in my head - who knows. Whatever gives you confidence...and that isn't watermelon for me 

*This is accurate I believe - the exception is Watermelon Red Flake in or around grass as something about the red flake contrast against grass is appealing to bass . If I fished in ultra clear Western lakes for example where you can see 25 feet down then Watermelon Black Flake would be in play . Otherwise , Green Pumpkin Blake Flake  just looks so natural and mimics a variety of things a bass will eat .

[moguy1973]

When I started fishing for bass heavily I heard the color "watermelon" and I would always think it was a red color with black flake, you know, because when you think of watermelon you think of the edible part of the melon, not the rind.  Then when I went to buy a bag of worms or craws in that color I didn't see it in the bags of red baits.  When I realized it was green and not red it didn't make much sense to me.  That said, I've never had much luck with watermelon colored baits, and I've had a ton of luck with green pumpkin with whatever color flake in them.

[Team9nine]

3 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

*This is accurate I believe - the exception is Watermelon Red Flake in or around grass as something about the red flake contrast against grass is appealing to bass . If I fished in ultra clear Western lakes for example where you can see 25 feet down then Watermelon Black Flake would be in play . Otherwise , Green Pumpkin Blake Flake  just looks so natural and mimics a variety of things a bass will eat .

 

I've tried watermelon red flake on my waters many times and never had it perform as well as my best colors for some reason, veggies or no. I can catch fish with it, but never good enough to make me want to go out and buy that color again - which is a shame, because it does look good on some baits ? 

[Boomstick]

Both are winning colors in clear waters where I fish. I've caught more fish on green pumpkin, but I throw green pumpkin more.

[ironbjorn]

Watermelon Red Flake has historically produced better for me everywhere I've fished and regardless of water clarity, but while I fish some dirty water occasionally, I never fish truly muddy water.

 

Black/Blue or Junebug is the absolute best for me everywhere, though, again regardless of water clarity.

[ChrisD46]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

 

I've tried watermelon red flake on my waters many times and never had it perform as well as my best colors for some reason, veggies or no. I can catch fish with it, but never good enough to make me want to go out and buy that color again - which is a shame, because it does look good on some baits ? 

*The sun must be different where you live which is the only reason WM Red Flake doesn't work around vegetation in your home waters (lol !)

[OkobojiEagle]

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

Green Pumpkin Blake Flake  just looks so natural and mimics a variety of things a bass will eat .

Amen

[Team9nine]

50 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

*The sun must be different where you live which is the only reason WM Red Flake doesn't work around vegetation in your home waters (lol !)

 

It’s an interesting deal. Your point about red flake contrasting with green is a good one most people overlook, and I’m half convinced it’s why red baits work so well in the spring on grass lakes. However, the science side of me has read enough papers to discount the importance of small color highlights on a bait in regard to bass feeding...so I err on the side of science and don’t sweat the small stuff, so to speak - right or wrong.

[Mr. Aquarium]

2 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

Watermelon Red Flake has historically produced better for me everywhere I've fished and regardless of water clarity, but while I fish some dirty water occasionally, I never fish truly muddy water.

 

Black/Blue or Junebug is the absolute best for me everywhere, though, again regardless of water clarity.

Yea I love black and blue or straight black. Especially for jigs

[N Florida Mike]

I catch a lot more with watermelon colors, but do fine with pumpkin, esp. wiith the yum color “ bama craw” which looks like half june bug and half pumpkin.

My home lake varies in visibility between  moderately stained in winter to fairly clear in summer. I think I see a slight trend that I catch more in the winter with pumpkin, and more the rest of the year with watermelon. When I use watermelon, I do well with watermelon seed on cloudier days, and better with watermelon red on sunnier days. I cant catch much with watermelon candy, so I quit buying them. Watermelon slice is very good for me too- it’s essentially red shad , except the top is dark green, not black. 

I have caught probably 10 times more fish with watermelon colors than pumpkin , and that is at many other spots besides my home lake.

[Spankey]

5 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

I must be color blind...Watermelon looks green to me, green pumpkin brown.

 

Very fair and true observation. 

[evo2s197]

12 hours ago, Munkin said:

No one has mentioned Japanese green pumpkin. 

 

Allen 

Or Insect Green Pumpkin that Jackall makes, and how do you know if the bass want large or small flakes in their green pumpkin offering, probably best to choose lures with medium flake then your safe.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 2/22/2021 at 9:09 PM, MIbassyaker said:

 

Berkely is Pumpkin Green flake, Big Bite baits is "Pumpkin-Green Pepper", Mr. Twister is "Pumpkin Pepper Green".  Similar to Zoom, GYCB calls it "Rootbeer Black and Green", although they also have  "pumpkin black and green" that is too red for my taste. 

 

Kalins and Chompers have a good version too, but forget what its called.  Strike King Perfect Plastics has something similar in "Amistad Special", but you can only get it the Ocho and Game Hawg. In Rage Tail there's "Amber Green" which seems basically the same, but I've only seen it for the rage craw.

Zoom is one of the only companies I use often that calls it Rootbeer.  Its not as popular as Watermelon or GP, but its one of my favs.  As a kid I remember GP being like a goose poop green almost.  Now its just more brown, and the watermelon has more green in it.

[Fishin' Fool]

I'm a big fan of the green pumpkin watermelon laminate senko. I have alot of confidence with that bait tied on.

[MickD]

On 2/22/2021 at 7:19 PM, Team9nine said:

watermelon colored baits, and I'll toss them from time to time, but I really think they do better in more transparent (clear) environments.

I think you nailed the difference, which is consistent with the thinking that darker is better in stained water.  Watermelon works fine, especially with red flecks, in the usually clear water of Saginaw Bay.

[Spankey]

On my way home from work I stopped and picked up a couple of spools and BC handle I’d ordered. 
 

The Zoom display was right there and had me thinking about this thread. I fish both the GP and Watermelon. Both with the black and a red fleck seem to work well along with a GP and purple fleck. I could not resist to pick up both GP and Watermelon Magic. Both have a gold fleck to them. Nothing new for sure. I’m sure I’ve just passed on them for years. Thought maybe the sun hitting that gold fleck might catch the eye of Mr. Bass.

 

When I have my grandsons out with me none of us are throwing the same thing at any one time. Just another spin to colors that work well. 

[Munkin]

Zoom and Yamamoto are two different colors. Zoom is more green and Yamamoto is brown. 

 

Allen 

[Spankey]

I really don't fish a Strike King finesse Worm but see they label a worm as a TW Green Pumpkin. TW's is more of a Pumpkin Seed. That range of pumpkinseed, green pumpkin and watermelon I'm always ready to throw. Leaning toward watermelon in clearer water but I might not see real clear water going toward fall. I use it in stained water.

[txchaser]

On 2/24/2021 at 3:22 PM, Fishin' Fool said:

I'm a big fan of the green pumpkin watermelon laminate senko. I have alot of confidence with that bait tied on.

 

I read an interview with Gary Yamamoto where he said he got tired of obsessing over GP vs watermelon, and made this as a result. As a bonus, I think dark back light belly laminates more closely resemble a lot of prey anyway. 

 

And yamamoto makes GP/Watermelon laminate with red flake too. So now I just carry the laminate, both with and without red flake. All I need to know is do I want red flake or not (assuming I want something in this color range).

 

[NYWayfarer]

Green Pumpkin for me. 

 

Most soft baits I use that are green pumpkin have opaque bodies and maybe translucent appendages in the case of craws.

Watermelon soft plastics always seem to have translucent bodies to me. 

[detroit1]

I don't fish green pumpkin anymore, i can't recall catching anything on it. I do like watermelon- with black flake, but not red flake. The red flake is too bright/ unnatural (to me ) in the clear waters i fish. Funny thing about colors/fishing: what doesn't work for you may work for the guy in the back of your boat. Fisherpersons care more about color than the fish do.

[Crankin4Bass]

I like watermelon in the summer and green pumpkin in the fall. ?

[Columbia Craw]

It seems most company’s watermelon is more translucent so it is a better base to add metal flake accents.  Watermelon red flake can be really good at times.

[Biglittle8]

I use them both, I dip the tails in chartreuse or red sometimes. Clear water on the shallow side (3-5ft) is where they seem to be effective for me.