Changing flake color?

[txchaser]

I've had plenty of times where flash in a flake (or not having flash) has made a difference. Usually sunny for flash and cloudy for no, but sometimes the opposite.

 

When have you found the color of flashy flake to make a difference to the size or amount of fish you caught? One of my favorite baits just changed from blue to green, it probably makes no difference, but it got me to thinking about how many different flake colors I have in soft plastics, and wondering whether it matters or not. 

 

[Captain Phil]

I think this depends on local conditions.   Years ago when flake worms came out they were all the rage.  Anyone here remember Fleck worms?   In time flake became standard, so it's kind of hard to find a worm without it these days.  The most productive LM bass color for a plastic worm is solid black.  Funny how no one ever throws them.  I guess because they believe it's too simple?  I have seen times when the color of the flake made a difference.   Back when I was fishing tournaments, the secret color was Christmas or June Bug with red and green flakes. We bought Xmas Gambler craws 1,000 at a time. In dingy water, the flash of the flake helps the fish find the lure.

[Drawdown]

10 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

The most productive LM bass color for a plastic worm is solid black.  Funny how no one ever throws them.  I guess because they believe it's too simple?

I am at the “I believe; help my unbelief” stage of throwing black plastic worms.
I recently ordered some black Berkley finesse worm equivalents.

 

One time black worms were a skunk-buster for me. It was overcast, and I was out of ideas after my dad and I have been beating the bank and fishing around docks. So I nose-hooked a black magnum trick worm with a weighted wacky hook (it’s what I had on hand at the moment) and twitched it aggressively. Caught fish every cast like I had flipped a switch. Only problem was, I lost the worm after every hit. So I quickly ran out of magnum trick worms. ?

[LrgmouthShad]

So basically discussion is fleck versus no fleck? Yeah I heard Hackney say once that he likes fleck when it’s sunny and no fleck when it’s dark and that kinda made sense to me. I don’t go by that rule all the time though. Mostly I just try to figure out what the hot colors are on a lake. Right now, for me, that’s Gambler’s color Backatya, which is a black with blue swirl and tiny purple fleck

[Choporoz]

I will likely never know.  If they are not biting GP, I can't see myself saying, "They must be holding out for GP with red flake".  My adjustment is going to be a lot less subtle.

[TOXIC]

6 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Back when I was fishing tournaments, the secret color was Christmas or June Bug with red and green flakes. We bought Xmas Gambler craws 1,000 at a time

Funny you bring that up.  When I lived in Florida for a couple years and all of the locals found out I am pro staff for Yamamoto, they all started asking me to get them that color.  You would have thought I was running a drug house with all the vehicles pulling in at all times of the night to get baits.  Normal phone call was “Hey Tox, I’ve got a tournament tomorrow and can’t find any Christmas tree, can you hook a brother up?” Lol. Green Pumpkin Black Fleck (297) has been Yamamoto’s #1 seller for years but I’d venture a guess it’s not in Florida.  In all of my years fishing Yamamoto plastics I have found certain bodies of water where a certain fleck works better.  Normally if I’m going to stray from the norm, I will choose a red fleck.  Just seems to be a trigger color.  

[Team9nine]

14 hours ago, txchaser said:

When have you found the color of flashy flake to make a difference to the size or amount of fish you caught?

Never - but like most other bass anglers, I have my favorites and idiosyncrasies on things like color (shades, patterns, flakes, amount, “looks”, etc.), but those are MY hangups, not the fishes ?

[Tennessee Boy]

Yeah I tend to think that flake is another feature designed for fishermen not fish.  If you wear one color cap in the morning and a different color cap in the afternoon,  you will probably catch more fish with one than the other.   That doesn’t prove the color of your cap mattered.  The same can be said about the color of flake in your bait.

[txchaser]

11 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

So basically discussion is fleck versus no fleck? Yeah I heard Hackney say once that he likes fleck when it’s sunny and no fleck when it’s dark and that kinda made sense to me. I don’t go by that rule all the time though. Mostly I just try to figure out what the hot colors are on a lake. Right now, for me, that’s Gambler’s color Backatya, which is a black with blue swirl and tiny purple fleck

It's more about when they want fleck/flake, how much does the color of the flake matter and what should I be looking for to think about different color flake? I fish a lot of different water so rarely the opportunity to get dialed in to 'blue flake is great but if it is green or gold they won't eat it' ... 

5 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Normally if I’m going to stray from the norm, I will choose a red fleck.  Just seems to be a trigger color.  

100% in most texas water that's my starting flake color if I'm going to throw flake. GP/watermelon laminate with or w/o red flake, or GP/maroon laminate with or without flake are probably my best four. Smelt (a z-man baitfish looking color) has been really good around shad too. After that, there's a bunch of stuff I haul around but rarely fish; I'm fortunate enough to rarely be in muddy water.

 

What I'm not hearing from anyone is "well, flake color X only really matters when there's a certain color of baitfish or water color" as an example. Thanks everyone!

 

[TOXIC]

You all are going to think I’m crazy but I’ve thrown Senkos for so long, I have discovered different action characteristics, sink rates, skipping ability, etc., associated with certain colors and certain flakes.  I always chalked it up to the amount of flake or combination of flakes and how the color dyes and the amount of dye needed to make a color react with the plastic.

[WRB]

All you have to do Fish our local high pressured lakes to understand to importance and nuances of soft plastics with various flakes colors in catching bass and being skunked.

Tom

[Captain Phil]

17 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Funny you bring that up.  When I lived in Florida for a couple years and all of the locals found out I am pro staff for Yamamoto, they all started asking me to get them that color.  You would have thought I was running a drug house with all the vehicles pulling in at all times of the night to get baits.  Normal phone call was “Hey Tox, I’ve got a tournament tomorrow and can’t find any Christmas tree, can you hook a brother up?” Lol. Green Pumpkin Black Fleck (297) has been Yamamoto’s #1 seller for years but I’d venture a guess it’s not in Florida.  In all of my years fishing Yamamoto plastics I have found certain bodies of water where a certain fleck works better.  Normally if I’m going to stray from the norm, I will choose a red fleck.  Just seems to be a trigger color.  

 

I would guess the most popular soft plastic bait color in Florida is June Bug which is dark purple with green flake.  The second most popular color is watermelon with red flake.  My favorite color is Zoom June Bug Red.  If they won't hit that color, I go home. ?

[TOXIC]

On 7/8/2023 at 6:49 AM, Captain Phil said:

 

I would guess the most popular soft plastic bait color in Florida is June Bug which is dark purple with green flake.  The second most popular color is watermelon with red flake.  My favorite color is Zoom June Bug Red.  If they won't hit that color, I go home. ?

Don’t forget Christmas Tree.?

[fin]

On 7/7/2023 at 10:28 PM, WRB said:

All you have to do Fish our local high pressured lakes to understand to importance and nuances of soft plastics with various flakes colors in catching bass and being skunked.

Tom

Yeah, I'm a big believer in certain flake colors on my lake. I've tried other color flakes in the same color plastic when I couldn't get my preferred color, and I've still got a lot of those sitting in the closet collecting dust. My preferred colors get chewed up. Maybe not scientific, but I'm sold 100%. It's not a lot, maybe 5 color/flake combos. I mostly prefer solid colors, but there are some combos that are magic for me on my lake.

[T-Billy]

On 7/7/2023 at 6:57 AM, Captain Phil said:

The most productive LM bass color for a plastic worm is solid black.  Funny how no one ever throws them. 

It's the only color I make worms in. Sunny, cloudy, clear water, dirty water, doesn't matter. Black gets it done.

[Captain Phil]

19 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Don’t forget Christmas Tree.?

 

As you probably know, Zoom's June Bug Red is the same. It's June Bug with red and green flakes.  Gambler calls it Xmas.

[txchaser]

For those of you that do see a difference in dialing in flake color, what's your process to recognize you need to try something else, and how do you pick what to try next? I spend a good amount of time on new water so I don't often have the reps on a specific lake to get that dialed in. 

[WRB]

The problem is the bass change color preference and they will not tell us why! In the morning they eating green pumpkin red/ black flake and in the afternoon they only want cinnamon blue flake....why?

Tom

[Tennessee Boy]

Here’s why I tend to be a color skeptic.   Let’s consider my last outing.   I caught 7 on a smoke color with mostly blue flake and I caught 2 on another very similar color with silver flake.   Many would say that outing is proof that color matters.  They were the same baits in different colors but I was using different weights.   I made no effort to fish them an equal amount of time.  So the difference could be attributed to the weight or the amount of time I fished each bait.  It could also be attributed to random luck.  7 to 2 is not very statistically significant.  I experiment a lot and it’s been my experience that when the fish are biting they hit everything.  When the bite is difficult,  you can’t get enough data (fish caught) to draw a reasonable conclusion about color.  Everybody has a story about how in 1978 when they caught a fish on practically every cast but they would only hit one color.  I’m skeptical of stories like this and I have a few of my own.
 

I do think color matters but nowhere near as much as most people think.  I have my confidence colors like everyone else.  It’s also very hard to prove that my confidence in them is justified.

[Captain Phil]

8 hours ago, txchaser said:

For those of you that do see a difference in dialing in flake color, what's your process to recognize you need to try something else, and how do you pick what to try next? I spend a good amount of time on new water so I don't often have the reps on a specific lake to get that dialed in. 

Good question.  In my case it's all about confidence.  If you have confidence in a color you will catch more fish on that color.  This builds more confidence in that color and the cycle continues.  When you get back to the ramp, someone who caught a bunch of fish will tell you they caught their fish on "Red Zombie with purple flakes and a white tail" worms.  If you had fished the same place in the same way, you would have caught the same fish on whatever your confidence color is.   I'm not at all sure bass care that much about color.  What matters is you believe they do.  You have to experiment to find your best color.  If I'm fishing in a place where I have no history, I start out by matching the water color.

[WRB]

You become a believer when the bass will only eat a specific worm and color. How do you know? Easy your partner is catching them and you can’t buy a bit until your partner hands you a few and instant bit. At this time you start repairing/welding the few you have. 

Can’t tell you how many times this has happened over the years. Yes, there are days it doesn’t matter but they far and where I bass fish.

Tom

[Tennessee Boy]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

You become a believer when the bass will only eat a specific worm and color. How do you know? Easy your partner is catching them and you can’t buy a bit until your partner hands you a few and instant bit.

How many fish does your partner need to catch before you know?

[WRB]

Hand pour finesse worms were created for SoCal lakes with finicky Florida strain LMB. If there wasn’t a need and demand for specialized soft plastics they wouldn’t exist.

How many bass before you realize it’s a specific worm and color, me catching zero and partner catching a limit. Tournaments are won or lost out west when the bass are on a specific color/flake soft plastic.

Lakes with Northern strain LMB nearly anything works, they are a very aggressive bass, Florida’s in our lakes are extremely color specific.

Tom

[fin]

10 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I experiment a lot and it’s been my experience that when the fish are biting they hit everything.  When the bite is difficult,  you can’t get enough data (fish caught) to draw a reasonable conclusion about color.  Everybody has a story about how in 1978 when they caught a fish on practically every cast but they would only hit one color.  I’m skeptical of stories like this and I have a few of my own.
 

I do think color matters but nowhere near as much as most people think.  I have my confidence colors like everyone else.  It’s also very hard to prove that my confidence in them is justified.

 

There’s a lot of truth in that. I’ve said in the past I don’t believe in “magic colors”, but I said just the opposite in my comment above. The thing is, those colors are only magic in certain lighting conditions and water clarity. When a bait blends so well it is almost invisible, but becomes visible when the flakes catch light and it flashes the right color, that’s a big trigger in my experience.

[RB 77]

As crazy as it may be, IMHO it does make a difference. Years and years ago I ran into a guy that had been running all over town looking for a specific flake color combination in a BBH. He swore it was the only combo that would get him in the money that weekend. At the time I thought he was crazy until one day many moons later I discovered it first hand. 

 

Had a bunch of fish stacked up on this submerged rock pile on this point. I was just knocking the snot out of them on this one color worm with a certain flake combo. Well, the fishing was so fantastic wouldnt ya know I eventually ran out of that worm. Tied another of the same worm on in the same color with a different flake combo and they wouldn't touch that thing for the life of me no matter what I tried. 

 

I then grabbed a chewed up worm that I had been whacking them on and wouldnt ya know insta bite! To conduct a little experiment I tied on a lizard with the same color and flake combo I had been ripping them on and sure enough, it got bit too! The plastic profile didn't matter so much, it was the flake combo they were keyed in on. It was hard to believe as I didnt think Bass saw in such detail like that and could of even been the different "shine" between the different flake, but the proof was in the pudding and I became a believer that day.