Lure colors and hues for green tinted treated water?

[TriStateBassin106]

18 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

A lot of places I fish get a big algae bloom in summer, and wind up with water like you are describing. For me, all green-stained low-visibility water cries out for some chartreuse - dark bottom baits with chartreuse highlights (like plastics with a chartreuse tail or claw), spinnerbaits with chart., white/chart, or blue/chart skirts usually produce well for me in this situation.

 

I would expect the bass to stay tight to cover or to the bottom, but possibly at any depth -- it depends on where the food is.  It sounds like the pond has a more gradual sloping side and a steeper side, is that what you're saying?  All else equal, the colder it gets, the better a steeper drop should fish  With vegetation gone, I wonder what dissolved oxygen levels are like -- is there a fountain? or an inlet?  

Lake on google images, i highlighted all the sections and the white line represents where I believe the shallow drop offs occur. Featureless for the most part with it being a little shallower than normal on the bottom left side. The entire right and bottom side is a drop off with occasional reeds and plants littering the bank. I've had luck fishing those but not the open water infront of them. 

18 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

A lot of places I fish get a big algae bloom in summer, and wind up with water like you are describing. For me, all green-stained low-visibility water cries out for some chartreuse - dark bottom baits with chartreuse highlights (like plastics with a chartreuse tail or claw), spinnerbaits with chart., white/chart, or blue/chart skirts usually produce well for me in this situation.

 

I would expect the bass to stay tight to cover or to the bottom, but possibly at any depth -- it depends on where the food is.  It sounds like the pond has a more gradual sloping side and a steeper side, is that what you're saying?  All else equal, the colder it gets, the better a steeper drop should fish  With vegetation gone, I wonder what dissolved oxygen levels are like -- is there a fountain? or an inlet?  

Forgot to mention there's 4 aerators. This lake had a fishkill in the past and was restocked in 2019. Lake turnover caused it I believe. 

[WRB]

I would call this a 3 acre pond.

The aeration system is there to produce dissolved oxygen and prevent a strong thermocline from developing.

Target the aeration systems with 4 it should be easy.

The upper right corner where your white line ends, the large boulder (?) looks interesting and the lower end has another hard small point that should be similar.

What is the water source?

Tom

 

[TriStateBassin106]

25 minutes ago, WRB said:

I would call this a 3 acre pond.

The aeration system is there to produce dissolved oxygen and prevent a strong thermocline from developing.

Target the aeration systems with 4 it should be easy.

The upper right corner where your white line ends, the large boulder (?) looks interesting and the lower end has another hard small point that should be similar.

What is the water source?

Tom

 

Those are overhanging trees that were planted on the bank google earth makes them look like rocks, the shoreline is mostly featureless but there's some reeds or Phragmites as they're called that are in the water and then it's open water once it drops off. Here are some pictures from the bank before the water was treated and a lot clearer you'll see the reeds in a ft of water and then drops off into open water, these are only on the deep side first picture is the shallow end right at the drop off and the second is the bottom right of the pond. 

[TriStateBassin106]

43 minutes ago, WRB said:

What is the water source?

 

The lake itself gets runoff from drainage pipes, it was made back in the 1980s I believe. The spot used to be a brick pit or something. 

[casts_by_fly]

If that picture is current, then you're pretty clean.  Even if the color is like the earlier ones, the fish are used to that color now.  So the real answer is 'they'll be where you find them'.  Its a small pond.  There's probably a bunch of silt across the bottom, but if you can find a hard spot or something different on the bottom they'll congregate there.  If there's a good bit of pressure I'd expect them to hold off the bank most of the time, but again- they'll be where you find them and you just have to keep working.

 

Color wise, if its clear like in the second picture then that's a green pumpkin or variation.  And that looks clear enough that I'd be in the no flake version and probably scaled down.  Great that the grass is gone- that opens up options.  if you can't find them with a texas rig I'd swap to a lipless crankbait and try to get a reaction bite.  At least then you might find one or two and give you a place to work over more.

[TriStateBassin106]

The water is much more greaner and murky now than it was back then in the early spring. It's the same green color but just 12inches or less now since there's an algea bloom from weed treatments. 

The water clarity since they begun treatment has been this  @casts_by_fly

[Hammer 4]

I fish a couple of ponds/lakes that have that exact greenish stain, and over the years I've had pretty good luck with purples of varying shades, but the one that seemed to work best was Grape.

I've also had fairly good luck with white and chartreuse spinnerbaits with double willow blades.

[casts_by_fly]

@TriStateBassin106- always hard to tell just from a picture.  That picture doesn't look too bad (relatively speaking) as I can see some aquatic vegetation still.  From this airchair it looks 1-2' but you're on the ground and see it live.  I'd still be more or less in the same color set to start though.  Something in the black realm and a green pumpkin, maybe chartreuse highlighted somewhere if its that dirty.  A chartreuse/black back lipless would be my choice for a moving bait.  

 

Here are two local lakes over the past 2 years.  This is what I consider pretty bad.  Both had visibility <6", though I caught a few here or there.  The lake I was fishing with my dad earlier this summer also had a bad bloom.  It was 12"-18" depending on the location in the lake and we made out okay with what I noted above.

 

 

 

[TriStateBassin106]

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

@TriStateBassin106- always hard to tell just from a picture.  That picture doesn't look too bad (relatively speaking) as I can see some aquatic vegetation still.  From this airchair it looks 1-2' but you're on the ground and see it live.  I'd still be more or less in the same color set to start though.  Something in the black realm and a green pumpkin, maybe chartreuse highlighted somewhere if its that dirty.  A chartreuse/black back lipless would be my choice for a moving bait.  

 

Here are two local lakes over the past 2 years.  This is what I consider pretty bad.  Both had visibility <6", though I caught a few here or there.  The lake I was fishing with my dad earlier this summer also had a bad bloom.  It was 12"-18" depending on the location in the lake and we made out okay with what I noted above.

 

 

 

Third picture is identical to my water clarity, like 99%, fish even look that that aswell. And yeah they haven't treated the lake in a month so there's some hydrilla beginning to grow back where it's shallow but only like right at the shoreline the rest of the lake is clear of it. I'm guessing that will probably die off since it's fall. With all the rain we had i'm sure the water is even more dirty now. 

[casts_by_fly]

9 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Third picture is identical to my water clarity, like 99%, fish even look that that aswell. And yeah they haven't treated the lake in a month so there's some hydrilla beginning to grow back where it's shallow but only like right at the shoreline the rest of the lake is clear of it. I'm guessing that will probably die off since it's fall. With all the rain we had i'm sure the water is even more dirty now. 

 

The second and third pictures were the same day/same lake (hence how its tough to tell from a picture).  If that's what you're fishing, then the green pumpkin chartreuse or black and blue would be my starting points like a said above.  If you have the right bait and presentation I'm confident they will work.  The grass growing back is actually helpful to you.  That will help collect the bass in the areas where its growing and give you some better starting points than a plain mud bowl.  I'd work plastics on the outer edges of it first and foremost.

[TriStateBassin106]

3 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

The second and third pictures were the same day/same lake (hence how its tough to tell from a picture).  If that's what you're fishing, then the green pumpkin chartreuse or black and blue would be my starting points like a said above.  If you have the right bait and presentation I'm confident they will work.  The grass growing back is actually helpful to you.  That will help collect the bass in the areas where its growing and give you some better starting points than a plain mud bowl.  I'd work plastics on the outer edges of it first and foremost.

During the spring I had luck with there with the white python megabass sv-3 spinnerbait but the water was much clearer, with fall being a good spinnerbait time and this water being dirty would a double willow like that still work or should I be getting a colorado style in bright colors? Same with jerkbaits and cranks 

[casts_by_fly]

You can only know by trying it. The lakes I get algae on aren’t spinnerbait lakes for me. I throw a chatter bait on those lakes to good effect though. 

[TriStateBassin106]

@casts_by_fly took some pics of the shoreline to see what i'm talking about better. It's shallow and then drops off right where those reeds end, the entire steep side is like this. What should I throw around it and what color lures to match with the dirty green water, first pic is the regrowing hydrilla in the shallows but you can still see the algae bloom in the water. 

@casts_by_fly 

[casts_by_fly]

On 9/30/2023 at 10:19 PM, TriStateBassin106 said:

@casts_by_fly took some pics of the shoreline to see what i'm talking about better. It's shallow and then drops off right where those reeds end, the entire steep side is like this. What should I throw around it and what color lures to match with the dirty green water, first pic is the regrowing hydrilla in the shallows but you can still see the algae bloom in the water. 

@casts_by_fly 

from the second picture I can get a sense of the total size. It’s small enough to run a Texas rig around the perimeter in not unreasonable time. In that case, I’d throw a small plastic around the edges and just keep covering water. A boar hogz, small beaver (3” type), or smaller worm on a lighter weigh it where I’d go. That’s still clear enough I’d still be throwing green pumpkin variations or maybe a black and blue. 

[Bankbeater]

I fish some ponds that look like that.  I've found that darker colors work better.  Black/blue, grape, black, and junebug.  If there is a lot of sunlight, and I'm fishing less than 3' deep I will go with green pumpkin.

[TriStateBassin106]

Some pictures of the same lake I posted about last but the water is much clearer with that same greenish tint. Any advice on lure colors with it being like this now? 

[Pat Brown]

Color basically doesn't matter.  I like the same colors for all water clarity but if it helps you with confidence, green pumpkin or watermelon seed are popular for cleaner water.

 

I catch fish in dirty water on watermelon and I catch fish in clear water on junebug.

 

Color doesn't matter as much as presentation and understanding what bass are doing.

 

In clearer water I like to make longer casts and I like faster falls and smaller profiles.  I like subtler action in clearer water and 9/10 times I'm going for a reaction strike when water is super clear.  Jerkbaits, heavy jigs, swimbait, Texas rigged soft plastics, top waters etc.

 

In clear water you won't get away with bad casts where the bait splashes down right on their faces.  You're going to benefit from working on silent entry when you are vertically presenting a bait in clear water but in general I do best with horizontal retrieves in clearer water which means casting past a target most of the time.

 

Color is one of the absolute last things I consider when tying a bait on and I catch a lot of large fish in clear water.

[LrgmouthShad]

Clear water with a green tint I like some green in my bait

Clear water with a blue tint I like some blue in my bait

Super clear water I like some purple in my bait (don’t make no sense to me)

[casts_by_fly]

15 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Some pictures of the same lake I posted about last but the water is much clearer with that same greenish tint. Any advice on lure colors with it being like this now? 

all things considered, that’s pretty clean.  Looks like more than 2’ of visibility. I would be in the green pumpkin and other ‘clear water’ colors in that water. 

 

[Bluebasser86]

The heavy green (pea soup), water is some of my favorite water to throw my blue bladed jigs in. We get a lot of that water color in the summertime.