Bank fisherman’s quick guide to colors

[Takemetothebank]

This is a question I see asked and get asked more than anything else included is a quick guide on how I select colors and the reasons why. I would love to hear your input as to why you choose colors for plastics. Maybe if I’m lucky we’ll all learn a little bit and maybe be able to hook into a couple more fish. 
 

 

in general I carry 3 types of colors translucence’s sulliuttes and transitions with these I generally consider water clarity to be my #2 consideration witch is mind blowing to most as they solely pick of water clarity however light is much more important imo. While in muddy water bass have semi restricted sight at night or in low light conditions they have extremely limited sight. My third criteria is depth as in most lakes if you fishing on the bottom in deeper water this fish will have limited visibility in everything but clear water.

 

selection process 

 

4-8 + feet of visibility natural colors like green pumpkin for cloudy or deeper water or watermelon red flake for sunny days if I’m fishing in the shade however I almost always throw pumpkin over watermelon red something I learned fly fishing for trout is that on cloudy days flash or fleck that reflects sun doesn’t look as realistic I do like translucent blues and grey for super super clear water like an electric shad trick worm 

 

2-6 ft of visibility.  Transition colors such as junebug, purple oranges,  like Texas craw  I also throw these in higher visibility if I’m fishing deeper water, these colors also produce well in clear water during low light conditions such as early morning and dusk 

 

0-3 or 4 ft silhouette colors that you cannot see through black, black and blue, white things that leave a shadow underneath the bait these are also my go to colors at night. 
 

for swim jig or chatterbait trailers I follow a similar pattern with a translucent shad color in clear water and a white in dirty water 

 

im curious to hear how u guys pick colors and if you think my system is flawed or maybe you don’t have a system and this may get you a few more bites who knows another tip to not have to have 4-6 bags of each type of plastic is to find you tos in clear water and go rod on dirty water and carry them in the colors for that situation for example full size brush hogs are a hammer in dirty water for big fish so I only

carry black and blue junebug and maybe a green pumpkin then I carry my clear water colors in the midsize 

[Deleted account]

So the boat colors won't work? Maybe bank fishing IS different........

[Takemetothebank]

59 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

So the boat colors won't  work? Maybe bank fishing IS different........

Honestly you could probably catch a bass on any color this is just how I go about picking out mine how do you select yours 

[Deleted account]

14 minutes ago, Takemetothebank said:

how do you select yours 

I get GP, watermelon, and similar colors on sale, and at fishing shows and flea markets and throw them all in the same bag with a little olive oil, helps to be color blind...

[LrgmouthShad]

Like your post

 

I think the most educational thing on colors that I’ve read on here had to do with all the different crawdad colors across the United States. Forget whose post that was otherwise I’d give credit. Made me wonder what crawdads look like in my area.

 

I defer to others on how they select colors. I just kinda throw stuff that vaguely makes sense in my brain and might change colors if it don’t work

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I think the most educational thing on colors that I’ve read on here had to do with all the different crawdad colors across the United States.

Might be wrong, but I think it was WRB that posted that. 

[Deleted account]

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

Might be wrong, but I think it was WRB that posted that. 

I know he said throw it with a Iovino rod...

[Mobasser]

Ive never gotten scientific about choosing colors. I was recommended purple forty years ago by an experienced fisherman. That color, along with grape, watermelon,  blues,and solid black have all worked well. Purple is still my #1 favourite.

[Takemetothebank]

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Ive never gotten scientific about choosing colors. I was recommended purple forty years ago by an experienced fisherman. That color, along with grape, watermelon,  blues,and solid black have all worked well. Purple is still my #1 favourite.

I like purple for deep water I think the exact color is less important the ones I have are just examples I think the most important is translucency A lot of what I learned from color is from fly fishing for native trout as they hunt only off sight and have a small window to lock onto a tiny mayfly larva and eat it color and flash becomes much more important. However with bass it becomes much more of a puzzle as sole sight imitations are not the only key kind of how brush hogs look like nothing a bass would eat but at night or in dirty water a full size brush hog consistently catches monster bass I would assume the action feels similar to a bluegill or maybe fleeing crayfish to the lateral line but sadly science does not care much about fishing. If anyone would like to do research on the pressure waves out off by the critters bass eat and find a way to make plastics put off the same vibrations. However off the top of my head as a biologist major I have no knowledge of how this would be measured

[DougHall_NY]

I carry three colors and granted I fish mostly clear to stained waters. I carry black with blue (confidence color), Watermelon with Red flake (throw it in grassy waters) and cinnamon with purple flake (sandy bottom).

[Takemetothebank]

2 hours ago, DougHall_NY said:

I carry three colors and granted I fish mostly clear to stained waters. I carry black with blue (confidence color), Watermelon with Red flake (throw it in grassy waters) and cinnamon with purple flake (sandy bottom).

Hmm this is interesting and I usually fish a clear rocky lake, I don’t have good luck with black and blue except at night or after a big storm 

2 hours ago, DougHall_NY said:

I carry three colors and granted I fish mostly clear to stained waters. I carry black with blue (confidence color), Watermelon with Red flake (throw it in grassy waters) and cinnamon with purple flake (sandy bottom).

Why do throw cinnamon purple in sand or wat red in grass 

[Sphynx]

Kinda depends man, I sort colors into two pretty broad categories with regards to soft plastics, natural/match the hatch, and bold/attractor colors. I'm pretty sure we way over think the color thing, lots of us act as though fish somehow can't see or find natural colors when the water goes to chocolate milk, but somehow or other I don't believe that the bait is going to be kind enough to turn on the neon colors to help them out, or that the bass simply stop feeding until the water clears up. I still maintain that getting a bait in the right place has far and away more to do with catching fish than what specific bait or color ends up in the right place.

[Basser2021]

14 hours ago, Takemetothebank said:

This is a question I see asked and get asked more than anything else included is a quick guide on how I select colors and the reasons why. I would love to hear your input as to why you choose colors for plastics. Maybe if I’m lucky we’ll all learn a little bit and maybe be able to hook into a couple more fish. 
 

 

in general I carry 3 types of colors translucence’s sulliuttes and transitions with these I generally consider water clarity to be my #2 consideration witch is mind blowing to most as they solely pick of water clarity however light is much more important imo. While in muddy water bass have semi restricted sight at night or in low light conditions they have extremely limited sight. My third criteria is depth as in most lakes if you fishing on the bottom in deeper water this fish will have limited visibility in everything but clear water.

 

selection process 

 

4-8 + feet of visibility natural colors like green pumpkin for cloudy or deeper water or watermelon red flake for sunny days if I’m fishing in the shade however I almost always throw pumpkin over watermelon red something I learned fly fishing for trout is that on cloudy days flash or fleck that reflects sun doesn’t look as realistic I do like translucent blues and grey for super super clear water like an electric shad trick worm 

 

2-6 ft of visibility.  Transition colors such as junebug, purple oranges,  like Texas craw  I also throw these in higher visibility if I’m fishing deeper water, these colors also produce well in clear water during low light conditions such as early morning and dusk 

 

0-3 or 4 ft silhouette colors that you cannot see through black, black and blue, white things that leave a shadow underneath the bait these are also my go to colors at night. 
 

for swim jig or chatterbait trailers I follow a similar pattern with a translucent shad color in clear water and a white in dirty water 

 

im curious to hear how u guys pick colors and if you think my system is flawed or maybe you don’t have a system and this may get you a few more bites who knows another tip to not have to have 4-6 bags of each type of plastic is to find you tos in clear water and go rod on dirty water and carry them in the colors for that situation for example full size brush hogs are a hammer in dirty water for big fish so I only

carry black and blue junebug and maybe a green pumpkin then I carry my clear water colors in the midsize 

There's nothing scientific about the colors I pick. I pick what gives me the most confidence

[Catt]

Everyone has their own personal repertoire of confusion. 

 

Someone asked Tom Mann why he made worms in so many different colors. He replied to catch the fisherman, a bass has never put a penny in my pocket!

 

Sometimes color makes a difference.

Sometimes color makes no difference at all.

Sometimes I have to constantly change colors to get bit.

[Captain Phil]

I have caught bass on every color worm made.    Some of the weirder colors were pink, Merthiolate, chartreuse, white and even worms with spots and stripes.   Root beer was popular for a time.  The hot worm in Okeechobee back in the seventies was black with a chartreuse tail.  I once finished eighth in a national tournament using that color.  Any color worm will catch bass at one time or another.

 

I believe worm colors should be chosen based on water clarity.  In clear water, I use translucent greens like watermelon.   In dark waters, I use dark worms like black or purple.  We don't have much deep water here in Florida, so I'm not sure if color matters.  The most unused great worm color is all black.  I believe if all you ever used were solid black worms, you would do fine.  I have met anglers who swear by red worms.  From my experience, red flake or fire tail worms can sometimes give you an edge when everyone is throwing the same thing. 

 

If you have confidence in a color, you will fish it more and you will catch more fish with that color.  

 

 

[DougHall_NY]

8 hours ago, Takemetothebank said:

Hmm this is interesting and I usually fish a clear rocky lake, I don’t have good luck with black and blue except at night or after a big storm 

Why do throw cinnamon purple in sand or wat red in grass 

I was given a cinnamon purple to try on a pond with a sandy bottom as it blends in. Tried it and it has been successful for me in those waters ever since. Watermelon/Red has always served me well for the same reason in grassy waters. 

[Catt]

5 hours ago, DougHall_NY said:

I was given a cinnamon purple to try

 

My #1 most productive worm ever was Gene Larew's 7 1/2" Salty Ringworm in Cinnamon Pepper Neon Junebug Laminate...Camouflage.

 

I've caught double digits from Brownsville TX to Inverness FL on that worm.  Was it the color or the fact that I threw it 90% of the time?

[DougHall_NY]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

My #1 most productive worm ever was Gene Laarew's 7 1/2" Salty Ringworm in Cinnamon Pepper Neon Junebug Laminate...Camouflage.

 

I've caught double digits from Brownsville TX to Inverness FL on that worm.  Was it the color or the fact that I threw it 90% of the time?

The latter, imo. The biggest factors are technique and confidence. Black with blue flake is the same thing for me @Catt Every once in a while, I've seen color matter. In one private body of water I fish, the color does seem to matter. That color, cinnamon purple.

[Catt]

4 minutes ago, DougHall_NY said:

Black with blue flake

 

Kinda like that color to 

 

 

[DougHall_NY]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

 

Kinda like that color to 

 

 

Nice fish!