Red / Red Variation Crank Baits In Winter ?

[ChrisD46]

Many Pros state they begin throwing red or red variation crank baits (mostly lipless or slender square bills) beginning Jan 1. The theory is in cold water , cold / stained water bass see red or a variation of red better than other colors . There are pure red , orange , gold OR a combination of these red , red / orange , gold / orange color crank baits which are all used in the cold-water months for bass . The only variable may be the amount of stain in the water from really stained almost muddy cold water to cold water being lightly stained ? I imagine having a red , orange and orange / gold lipless crank bait would be able to cover any cold-water condition - what goes into your determination which color red / red variation crank bait color you use in cold water conditions for bass ?

[WRB]

Wasn’t long ago the red was invisible to bass now it highly visible, got love how fickle bass anglers can be.

Tom

[Rockytop]

I like a Rayburn Red and Redish orange crawfish pattern Rat-L-Trap. I prefer the 1/4 ounce. I've got some similar colored square bills and other brands of lipless but I've got more confidence in the traps. I like the ones with no rattles when there's a lot of pressure on the lake but I think most red to reddish orange variations will work.

[Catt]

Spinnerbaits with a red head

Plastics with red glitter 

Rat-L-Traps gold, black back & orange belly. Same colors in a Rogue. Toledo Gold & Red Chrome traps.

Topwaters bone with  a orange belly 

[Huckfinn38]

Red and oranges

i hope they work as I have spent a fortune on them so far this year.  I think i have had one bite in 3 trips this year.

[Team9nine]

52 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

what goes into your determination which color red / red variation crank bait color you use in cold water conditions for bass ?

Whichever bait comes out first when I reach into the compartment of reddish baits  

 

…depth appropriate, of course ?

[Choporoz]

58 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

 The theory is in cold water , cold / stained water bass see red or a variation of red better than other colors . 

Maybe I haven't been paying attention....but I thought red in mid-late winter was because crayfish are generally redder then

[RHuff]

Some parts of the country when crawfish first emerge from their muddy haunts during late winter they appear more reddish until they molt a time or two. Afterwards in warmer water they turn greener with a hue of blue....  in late summer early fall they look brown....    I know that's how it goes in my area so I follow the red/gree/brown patterns according to water temp and season..  

 

There is one type of craw in the Louisiana area that stays red year round..... 

[Drawdown]

Seems February-early March is when everything red gets hammered around Chickamauga—that’s the word at the bait shop, anyway (year after year). I guess that’s the pre-pre-spawn.

 

I need to get out there and test it for myself.

[ChrisD46]

Theories on red cranks for cold winter water range from "craws are that color in winter" to "bass don't see so well in colder water" , so a red color crank mimics craws and helps poor vision winter bass find the lure. ... Water color and probably water temp also play a role .  Some combo of solid red , solid orange , red and orange and orange and gold should effectively cover the red colors for wintertime bass crank baits topic (lol) .

[Catt]

I throw em cause they work

[papajoe222]

What he said.

[DitchPanda]

My experience has been when red lipless baits are working gold black.back works better for me.

[WRB]

10 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Maybe I haven't been paying attention....but I thought red in mid-late winter was because crayfish are generally redder then

Crawdads get bright red in hot water?

I add 4 strands of red crystal flash to my hair jigs and seems to help.

Black/red is a go to in low light conditions...why? don’t know but it works.

Tom

[WRB]

Don’t be shocked if a red lipless or flatside wins 2023 Classic.

Tom

[GetFishorDieTryin]

There are lots of nice fish caught on red baits because so many people throw them during the best part of the year to catch a quality fish.  I dont really buy into the hype, but I think there is something to it.  As a kid my fishing buddy always used an all red roster tail (red blade red body red hackle), not because he read somewhere that red worked in the spring, but because it was his favorite color.  Its a roster tail, so it always caught fish.  What I noticed was year after year from late march into early may, that stupid roster tail wouldnt just catch more numbers, but would match and even exceed the quality of fish I was catching.  I was using crankbaits, spinnerbait, senkos and this was early 2000s.  At that time senkos weren't incredibly popular yet, they worked so well it was like cheating.  I know for sure because he even kept an excel spreadsheet on his computer, keeping track of who caught what and when.  Once may would come its effectiveness would taper off, size wise anyway and he would start throwing a senko.

[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!

[senile1]

22 hours ago, WRB said:

Wasn’t long ago the red was invisible to bass now it highly visible, got love how fickle bass anglers can be.

Tom

 

Yeah, wasn't the idea prevalent that it turned to gray very quickly with depth?  It seems I have been seeing research showing bass cones are more attuned to green and red now. 

 

11 hours ago, Catt said:

I throw em cause they work

 

Indeed.  

[Catt]

49 minutes ago, senile1 said:

Yeah, wasn't the idea prevalent that it turned to gray very quickly with depth?

 

Cajun Line® Cajun Red Cast® Line disappears in three feet of water.

[scaleface]

I have never caught much on red anything . The one exception is I have good luck with red cranks at night but I speculate they look black .

[KP Duty]

23 hours ago, WRB said:

Wasn’t long ago the red was invisible to bass now it highly visible, got love how fickle bass anglers can be.

Tom

The marketing of red line (cajun) was based on the fact red was the first primary color to disappear in the water column at a certain depth.  The problem is, it wasn't based on what bass see, but rather what we see.  Bass only differentiating between red and green colors was a scientific study done on bass.  I've always done well with red baits in the prespawn, but I attributed it to the crawfish that turn red around here.

[casts_by_fly]

- Red disappears at depth

- Red looks like grey at depth

- Crawfish look red when they come out of their burrows in the spring

- Bass coming up from the deep can see red as the best color

- etc.

 

I've heard all of these and more about red baits in the spring.  Some make no sense whatsoever, some are contradictory.  I don't even try to explain it, but for the first 2-3 months of the year I will have 1-3 red or red variation baits tied on for every trip.  My usual is some combination of red, black, brown, and green pumpkin depending on the bait (hard bait, jig, etc).  If the water is a little more tannic colored I might slide to a gold/orange/red type of combo.  If its really clear the red will just be a highlight, if its dirty i might even throw red/pink.  Either way, it just works.

[ChrisD46]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

Don’t be shocked if a red lipless or flatside wins 2023 Classic.

Tom

I'm not far from where the 2023 Classic will be held in TN. The Southeast has had a lot of rain this winter which is sure to stain the water ... Delta Craw , Rayburn Red , etc. should be in play for cranks as Tom stated .

[TnRiver46]

35 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

I'm not far from where the 2023 Classic will be held in TN. The Southeast has had a lot of rain this winter which is sure to stain the water ... Delta Craw , Rayburn Red , etc. should be in play for cranks as Tom stated .

When they had it here in 2019, red crank was a big player. Wheeler got several 3-5 lb smallies with a red crank and came in second. Also I think defoe’s lunker of the tournament was caught with a reddish lipless

[Darth-Baiter]

i didnt buy any, but that recent MegaBass Respect color where it is RED/WHITE is sick.