Crankbait, Jerk bait colors.

[king fisher]

When I was a kid, Rapala only made their baits in four colors.  Silver black back, Gold black back, Gold orange back, Silver Chart. back.

     I owned a few of their baits in silver black and gold black.  My friend had one in gold orange.  I was positive the silver, or gold colors were all I would ever own or need.  My friend swore by his gold and orange, but I always believed the only reason he bragged about his orange backed one, was because it was the only lure he had.

     Then one year Rapala went crazy and added Perch, Fire tiger, and Rainbow Trout to their line up.  I had to have the trout, and my friend bought a perch floater, to replace the gold and orange one he lost.  We both caught many bass and trout with our new colors, and I couldn't imagine any need for Rapala to ever add another color.

      Now I own dozens of colors of Rapala lures, and if I were to be honest with myself, I probably would catch just as many fish, if I only had the original four colors for all my Rapala crankbaits, and jerk baits. Silver and black to imitate shad, Gold and black to imitate many minnow species, and craw fish, Chart., and orange back, for muddy water, or days when they want bright colors.  I would go so far as to say, I wouldn't be handicapped if all of my other hard baits of any brand were those same colors.

    If I added the perch, and rainbow trout colors, I would be more than overloaded on colors, but a person has to splurge sometime.

    Does any one else feel they would catch just as many fish if they were restricted to only fishing the four original colors plus the perch and trout to make it an even half dozen? 

[Bird]

I have no explanation as to why but catch more fish on bone colored Jerkbaits then any other color.

Water I fish is gin clear and do best with cloud cover.

Also do respectable with silver and blue.

[Pat Brown]

The matte translucent finishes seem to get crushed the hardest with jerkbaits for me.  On the Berkley Stunna I believe they are called 'Stone Cold' and 'MF Tennessee Shad' and they both get crushed.

 

I fish super muddy/stained water and they still seem to be excellent colors even though the rule is translucent in clear water.

 

For crankbaits I usually go for a black back chartreuse sides/translucent shad/red craw/whitish shad/chrome shad and select those for the conditions mostly.

 

In NC I find the black and chartreuse works the best in general.

[MN Fisher]

45 minutes ago, king fisher said:

When I was a kid, Rapala only made their baits in four colors.  Silver black back, Gold black back, Gold orange back, Silver Chart. back.

My Silver/Black Back Original 11 and my Gold/Orange back Countdown 09 I've had for over 40 years now...couple of the very few lures I have remaining from back then.

[mrpao]

I throw shad raps alot in the winter.

I generally stick to four colors:

Shad for more clear water.

Helsinki shad for slight stain.

Hot steel for more stained 

Firetiger for most stained.

 

As for jerkbaits, I stick to shad or minnow colors since i mainly use them in more clear waters.

I dont feel i need a million different colors for each lure.

[Cbump]

I own two colors of cranks and two colors of jerkbaits. So yes. 

[galyonj]

23 minutes ago, Bird said:

I have no explanation as to why but catch more fish on bone colored Jerkbaits then any other color.

 

Bone is far and away my most productive top water AND jerkbait color. I just about don't keep any other colors around for walking baits, especially. 

 

My other high confidence jerkbait color is 6th Sense chartreuse pearl. 

[roadwarrior]

I think you will find that most fish are caught on the color you throw the most.

I'm not sure that color is as important to the fish as it is to you.

[Cbump]

A very good local fisherman asked me one time if Shad change to chartreuse when the water gets dirty. Lol. 
 

I kind of lied above. I have more than two specific colors but what I meant was:

crankbait - Shad color, craw color

jerkbait - white/pearl color, chrome/silver

 

i don’t know the specific color names but it’s always those variations. 

[heavyduty]

9 minutes ago, Cbump said:

A very good local fisherman asked me one time if Shad change to chartreuse when the water gets dirty. Lol. 
 

Excellent point!

[Jrob78]

Shad don't change to chartreuse but bluegill and sunfish definitely have chartreuse and bright orangey coloring. 

 

I try not to go too overboard with hardbait color patterns, notice I said try lol. I like to have a shad pattern, a bluegill pattern and then something bright for stained water.

 

What @Cbump said is true though, bass are able to find food in stained water and the prey doesn't automatically change to a bright color.  

[Mbirdsley]

In  all honestly if all I had were a chrome/silver crank, a black crank, and a dark green/green pumpkin crank. I’d be good to go and wouldn’t need anything else. 
 

 

however, I’m addicted to buying cranks and like having them. 

[king fisher]

32 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

What @Cbump said is true though, bass are able to find food in stained water and the prey doesn't automatically change to a bright color. 

They may be able to find their food, but they may also change the way they catch their prey.  In muddy water. They may have to strike quickly without taking the time to get a good look at their prey or a lure.  In clear water they may have the luxury of taking there time examining a lure or food before they attempt to catch it. FFS has shown how surprisingly often a bass will examine a lure and turn away. This may be why in clear water a more natural color lure may work better.  A bright colored lure may be easily be seen as a fake.  In muddy water a bass may have to make a quick decision, so a lure that they can easily see, is a lure they can easily catch.

      I'm not saying this is why chart. works in muddy water, and yes they do hit shad colored lures in dirty water so maybe it is only the fisherman that likes bright colored lures in the mud.  Only the bass knows.

   

[AlabamaSpothunter]

To me the movement firstly, secondly the noise or in some cases lack thereof, and lastly the bait profile size are vastly more important than color.

 

I'd rather a bait be in a rattling vs non rattling pair than a crawfish vs shad pattern pair.   I'd rather have a crank that randomly tracks one way than the most beautifully finished one.   Some of the most amazing days I've had in terms of dialing them in was when I perfectly matched the size bait they were keying in on.   

I always suspected and prioritized these qualities before starting down the big swimbait rabbit hole, but those big baits have taught me a lot on this topic.   I believe the movement of a bait triggers a Bass's feed response more than any other single quality.    

 

You can catch the biggest Bass in your body of water with a big Goldfish, something most likely the biggest Bass in your body of water has never seen before.    That Goldfish has the right size and movement to be food, the fact it's easy to see comes secondary to the Bass.   

 

I do believe color selection matters a bit more when it comes to dragging stuff slowly on the bottom.    Just my 2 cents, I collect when I come to catch giants in Mexico ?

[Jrob78]

15 minutes ago, king fisher said:

They may be able to find their food, but they may also change the way they catch their prey.  In muddy water. They may have to strike quickly without taking the time to get a good look at their prey or a lure.  In clear water they may have the luxury of taking there time examining a lure or food before they attempt to catch it. FFS has shown how surprisingly often a bass will examine a lure and turn away. This may be why in clear water a more natural color lure may work better.  A bright colored lure may be easily be seen as a fake.  In muddy water a bass may have to make a quick decision, so a lure that they can easily see, is a lure they can easily catch.

      I'm not saying this is why chart. works in muddy water, and yes they do hit shad colored lures in dirty water so maybe it is only the fisherman that likes bright colored lures in the mud.  Only the bass knows.

   

I do subscribe to the bright colors in dirty water theory and I agree that something they can see more easily, or at all, can expand the strike zone and give them a few extra ticks to bite it. 

 

I generally tend to follow traditional thinking as far as color, natural in clear water and bright or dark in dirty water and dark at night, much for the reasons you described. I also don't fish much clear water though.

[scaleface]

I like the Fat Raps a lot in the silver foil , gold foil and perch . 

[Way north bass guy]

I have several different colours in crankbaits, and a few more in jerkbaits, but nowadays I pretty much stick to three different colour types. Our lakes around here are pretty much all super clear, with 10-30’ visibility, so I stay pretty natural, either Shad/smelt colours, perch, or crayfish, depending on the lake and what I think they’re feeding on at the time. 

[Bankc]

I only use two colors.  Realistic and high contrast.  Sexy Shad is a good compromise between the two.  I don't focus too much on matching the baitfish.  I've gotten plenty of bites on trout or perch colored lures in lakes that have never seen a trout or perch.  And for high contrast, it's always something like chartreuse, white, bone, fire tiger, or something along those lines.  I've never tried black, though I imagine it would work.  

[Dwight Hottle]

Color doesn't really mater until it does. It depends on the day, light penetration into the water, water turbidity, body of water and time of the year based on changing or migratory bait availability.

[Texas Flood]

I usually gravitate towards chrome sexy shad and/or green gizzard. Having said that, I still have about a dozen or so different colors ready to go.

[KP Duty]

If I just had the few colors I need, it would eliminate winter reorganization and I'd be bored ?

[Munkin]

For me there are 3 jerkbait colors; Translucent, Reflective, and Opaque. I choose based on water clarity and sunlight conditions. Color and action deference's matter more to jerkbaits than any other hardbait. There are days when I try 10 or more different ones until I dial them in.

 

Cranks are crayfish, minnow, bone, and chartreuse colored. I can carry 10 crankbaits that will cover everything I need.

 

Allen

[Bankbeater]

The only two jerkbait colors that consistently work for me are some type of translucent color for sunny days and a clown color for the rest of the time.

For crankbaits, the colors I usually carry are shad, firetiger, and crawfish. 

 

 

[thunderblack]

I love throwing different color baits but have to agree with the statement that most colors are to catch fisherman. If I had to pick one for jerkbaits it would be silver. 

[Kelvin]

Bone, french pearl or eggshell white is the top producing color I've used.  Gold is second then silver and transparent blue.