Artificial Craw Colors vrs real crawfish colors

[N Florida Mike]

I have had decent success with soft plastic craw baits. Our lake has some craws in it, the ones Ive seen are reddish and black mottled. My nieghbor down the lake found this one up in her yard. I thought the colors were very interesting. Think Im going to try and find some baits that look as close as possible to this. Of course, fish see things differently. 

I know crawfish are different colors , but why? Water coloration? Male or female? Have you seen much difference in “ matching the hatch “ vrs just using any old color in your success with craw baits? 

[Bluebasser86]

How many craws are black and blue? Yet it's one of the top producing jig colors. 

[N Florida Mike]

The one I pictured is the only one Ive ever seen that had those colors…

[Catt]

Color expression in crawfish is regulated largely by special pigment containing cells (chromatophores) located beneath the exoskeleton, and color is normally a function of two factors, developmental stage and the environment. Most crawfish species are generally greenish or brownish as immature animals and begin to take on the characteristic colors as the approach maturity. Color manifestations is intensified in sexually mature individuals. The aquatic environment and diet also influence color.

 

Individual specimens of crawfish vary in color from the normal population. Color variants are almost endless with respect to degree and/or pattern of expression.

 

Molting is the periodic shedding of the old exoskeleton (shell) and takes place with each increase in size which can be 4-6 times a year; once the crawfish reaches maturity the molting process stops Each individual crawfish will vary in color before, during, & after molting!

 

[Mobasser]

The craws in my local lakes are very dark brown, and some almost black. I have seen a couple with some blue in the craws, and dull orange also. Blk/blue craw baits and jigs have worked the best for a long time around my area.

[scaleface]

When I was a kid I seined a lot . Different waters had different craws . Lots of colors . Blue , purple , green . brown , with red , yellow , orange accents . Also seined a lot of darters . Orange throated darters were stunning .Turquoise , orange , blue , just as colorful as any store bought aquarium fish .  I had them in an aquarium but they would not   take to fish food . There are a lot of colorful creatures  under the water , so all those weird colored lures might not be so weird after all.  

[Sphynx]

Sometimes I wonder if the number of possible color options means the fish key primarily on the profile, rather than the color, "I eat these things often, and they are never the same color, but mostly the same shape, this shape means food" sort of deal.

[BayouSlide]

Maybe the equivalent of what's going on in a bass's mind, put in human words: "I'm hungry. It's moving, so it's food. I can catch it. If I don't like it, I'll spit it out." ?

[scaleface]

Too add to my post above . The clearer the water , the more colorful the critters .

[the reel ess]

44 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

The craws in my local lakes are very dark brown, and some almost black. I have seen a couple with some blue in the craws, and dull orange also. Blk/blue craw baits and jigs have worked the best for a long time around my area.

I prefer black and blue. But when I get a wild hair I go with blue and black. ? When I think about it, darker plastics like black or some shade of purple have always worked better for me anywhere in my region.

[Mobasser]

28 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I prefer black and blue. But when I get a wild hair I go with blue and black. ? When I think about it, darker plastics like black or some shade of purple have always worked better for me anywhere in my region.

Same for me. Purple, grape, and blue shades are what I always throw around here. Lots of guys have great luck with grn pumpkin, but it doesn't work for me. I fish a lot of junebug colors also. I'm convinced its a good color for craw baits, and to imitate small bluegill.

Sometimes you can throw some wild, off color weird shade that nobody likes, and do good also. Hard to explain why?

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Color expression in crawfish is regulated largely by special pigment containing cells (chromatophores) located beneath the exoskeleton, and color is normally a function of two factors, developmental stage and the environment. Most crawfish species are generally greenish or brownish as immature animals and begin to take on the characteristic colors as the approach maturity. Color manifestations is intensified in sexually mature individuals. The aquatic environment and diet also influence color.

 

Individual specimens of crawfish vary in color from the normal population. Color variants are almost endless with respect to degree and/or pattern of expression.

 

Molting is the periodic shedding of the old exoskeleton (shell) and takes place with each increase in size which can be 4-6 times a year; once the crawfish reaches maturity the molting process stops Each individual crawfish will vary in color before, during, & after molting!

 

This is good info Catt.

[Catt]

On jigs it's pretty much black-n-blue, black neon, Falcon Lake Craw, or blurp-purple (black-blue-purple).

 

Texas Rigged its wide open!

 

I've done good on sprayed grass, white, junebug blue claw, green pumpkin blue claw, & watermelon neon. 

[N Florida Mike]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Too add to my post above . The clearer the water , the more colorful the critters .

My lake is fairly clear. Ive only used watermelon red and green pumpkin craws. And it seems like either they are all over craws that day or not biting them at all .

[Spankey]

2 hours ago, Sphynx said:

Sometimes I wonder if the number of possible color options means the fish key primarily on the profile, rather than the color, "I eat these things often, and they are never the same color, but mostly the same shape, this shape means food" sort of deal.

I don’t eat them but agree about the profile. I’ve thrown various colors in the same spot with the same fish catching results. I can’t say color doesn’t matter because it might. Many different species of crawfish. Easy enough to find out that is local to you by fish commission. So many soft plastic on the market, something has to get you close to what you have. 

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

My lake is fairly clear. Ive only used watermelon red and green pumpkin craws. And it seems like either they are all over craws that day or not biting them at all .

I meant the clearer the water the more colorful the living creatures are .

[Bankc]

I go by water clarity.  The darker the water, the darker the bait.  Though honestly, I think they'll hit anything they can find if they're hungry.  My color choice is more for me than the fish.  

 

I just went fishing on my lunch break.  All I had on me was a Berkley Champ Craw with just a few legs and no pinchers left.  It's shape combined with it's color made it look like a goose dropping, of which there were plenty around.  I landed a 2-3lber in about 15 minutes of fish time.  Did the same thing yesterday, only it was around 1-2lbs.  

 

I think it's more important to get the location and action right, than the color.

[Spankey]

Grayish, off white (hard to find), green pumpkin, dark brown are all I really need but there are so many nice ones out there with some variation to them that I fish others as well. 
 

I’m not a big fan or user of much Zman stuff but they have a color called greasy prawn. Like a sand color. I’m pretty sure I could do real well on the river with it. Finesse worms in sand produce very well with the Smallies. Sand color is great for August and September when rains are minimal and water gets real clear. Local shop is big into Zman but he is reluctant to get them in for me. I realize I’m only one guy , Homie ain’t looking for anything for free, I’ll pay you up front for them. But all and all the shop doesn’t mean a lot to me, what they have or do not have is on them. I’ll order a few packs on my own. But that off white grayish is a decent color out my way. The old Guido Bugs had a perfect color match to that. Still have a few. 

[N Florida Mike]

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

I meant the clearer the water the more colorful the living creatures are .

Yeah, I took it that way. My reply was a little off topic…

[WRB]

Crayfish coloration as Catt’s excellent post described can vary widely. The number of different crayfish species numbers in the hundreds each can vary depending on it’s ecosystem.

Catch a live crawdad where you fish and put it in a clear glass jar. Look at the shell colors with a magnifying glass, you will see the color isn’t solid, it’s made up of a dot matrix of multiple colors. If a critter in natural can’t blend in with it’s surroundings it becomes prey to predators.

My suggestion is experiment with contrasting colors to determine what the bass where you fish prefer.

My most productive is Anywhere Anytime: Black/purple/reddish brown with a trailer any one of the colors.

 

Tom

[Catt]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Look at the shell colors with a magnifying glass, you will see the color isn’t solid, it’s made up of a dot matrix of multiple colors.

 

Zoom in on it ?

 

[Junk Fisherman]

In the last 2 weeks I have had smallmouth from Lake Michigan spit up crawfish around Chicago and then again in northern Michigan 300 miles north.  I was really surprised at how bright orange the crawfish were.  Got me thinking....

[Kenny Yi]

ive heard that in ultra clear water (20+ feet) some anglers will go to a straight black, that told me everything I needed to know about colors

[WRB]

Photosynthesis the process of green vegetation to grow under sunlight and produce oxygen. Green aquatic vegetation is the life source for Florida strain LMB in Florida.

Everything the bass needs during day light is under aquatic vegetation, prey, cooler water and higher DO levels.

Location during day time.

When the sun goes down photosynthesis stops! The Do levels drop unless it’s windy. The bass move out to the edges to hunt prey.

If I was in Florida dawn, dust and night during the summer targeting edges. During the day punch rigs.

Tom

 

[bigbassin']

On 7/22/2021 at 6:16 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

How many craws are black and blue? Yet it's one of the top producing jig colors. 

 

On 7/22/2021 at 6:36 AM, N Florida Mike said:

The one I pictured is the only one Ive ever seen that had those colors…

I’ve seen more wild blue craws than any other color pattern. Very dark green with blue or orange highlights being the only other color pattern I’ve seen.