Soft plastic colors

[Swamp Girl]

In Tyler Brinks' article on lure colors, he wrote: "When it comes to soft plastic worms, creatures, and others, one color is a clear favorite for bass anglers everywhere: green pumpkin."

 

I own many soft plastics in green pumpkin and on one particular day in 2024, that color was so effective, but most days, I'm reaching for a soft plastic lure in white and chartreuse or white and orange, usually a swimbait. Maine's lakes are both clear and tannin-stained. I can often see the bottom six or more feet down, so my white plastics are also really easy to see.

 

I wish I could explain why my local bass prefer the bright and white soft plastics. I've just determined that they do with trial and error.

 

One day in 2024, I caught 24 bass on a bright blue lizard. I never tried that color again, but I should in 2025.

 

What color/colors do your local bass prefer?

 

[Tennessee Boy]

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

What color/colors do your local bass prefer?

I prefer Junebug.

 

A statistical analysis of my fishing journal is inconclusive in determining what my local bass prefer. 🙂

[LrgmouthShad]

If we’re talking worms…. plum apple, black grape, scuppernong, and green weenie are some good colors around here

 

Jigs there is a color pattern that Oldham makes that is absolutely killer around here. It’s called watermelon pepper chartreuse. I like it with a watermelon trailer. 

[Team9nine]

Not sure if I’ve figured it out, and I’m not one to play much with colors, but if I had some variation of junebug, green pumpkin, black and/or PB&J, other than a pink trick worm, I could fish with a peaceful mind the rest of my life 😎

 

That said, I did have one lake I fished that “seemed” like junebug/chartreuse was THE color. I’ve also found a lake where green pumpkin/orange appears to be a big deal during the cold water period, but otherwise…

[Fishlegs]

In my waters the fish prefer green pumpkin, watermelon, watermelon red, watermelon candy, cotton candy, honey candy, hard candy, candy craw, Falcon Lake craw, Bama craw, Okeechobee craw, crawdad, ghost shad, sexy shad, gizzard shad, electric shad, Tennessee shad, California 420, Bama bug, red bug, junebug, pumpkin, purple pumpkin, PB&J, huckleberry, plum apple, plum, bubble gum, black, black & blue, black & red, white, pearl, tinfoil, motor oil, merthiolate, disco violet, glimmer blue, chartreuse, moon juice, rootbeer pepper, bourbon blaze, tequila sunrise, sprayed grass, baby bass, sungill, baitfish, tilapia, and KVD magic...not necessarily in that order.

 

I talked to the bait monkey, and he approves this message. 🤣

 

Seriously, I classify my colors into four categories:

 

1. green

2. white/grey/yellow

3. red/orange

4. black/blue/purple

 

The conditions (sunny vs cloudy, water color, time of day, season, etc.) determine what variations of these colors I use. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't.

[Mike L]

Junebug

Red/Shad

Watermelon/Red

White

Purple

 

In that order

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Rockhopper]

black/blue flake above all else

[king fisher]

My soft plastic swimbaits are some shade of white, my plastic worms are Junebug, my creature baits are Greenpumpkin, and my craws are okeechobee craw.  That is what I buy, if the bass don't like it that is their problem.  On days the bass don't like those colors, I can go back to fishing crankbaits.

[Fishingmickey]

Swim baits - shad imitation - white, silver and both with a dark back.

Worm's - Strike King's Blue fleck, purple/plum, green pumpkin, pumpkin seed.

Jig's - PBJ, Green pumpkin, Black/blue

FM

ps - I do try bubble gum and merthiolate in the spring (back of coves, and high water/new water conditions) in both, worms and the rarely thrown Senko.

[Swamp Girl]

I have never tried PB&J, but with a couple you using it, I wanna use it too.

[Spankey]

2 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I have never tried PB&J, but with a couple you using it, I wanna use it too.

I broke that color out a bit more this season. Productive color. But in my opinion a PB&J worm is very similar to a natural night crawler. A jig in that color is not that much different than a phase of crawdads in my area. 
You should try it. You’ll get hits and bit on it. That brown/purple is out there in countless baits. Good luck with it. 

[Mobasser]

At my home lake, purple rules. I also like black, Junebug, and purple glitter, or variations of these, sometimes with a chartreuse or pink tail.                  But, at the end of the day, purple is still #1.

I'll also add watermelon, and watermelon/ red flake.

[casts_by_fly]

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

In Tyler Brinks' article on lure colors, he wrote: "When it comes to soft plastic worms, creatures, and others, one color is a clear favorite for bass anglers everywhere: green pumpkin."

 

I own many soft plastics in green pumpkin and on one particular day in 2024, that color was so effective, but most days, I'm reaching for a soft plastic lure in white and chartreuse or white and orange, usually a swimbait. Maine's lakes are both clear and tannin-stained. I can often see the bottom six or more feet down, so my white plastics are also really easy to see.

 

I wish I could explain why my local bass prefer the bright and white soft plastics. I've just determined that they do with trial and error.

 

One day in 2024, I caught 24 bass on a bright blue lizard. I never tried that color again, but I should in 2025.

 

What color/colors do your local bass prefer?

 

 

My water is similar to your water.  Mostly clear to very clear.  Some tannin stains depending on the lake.  Bluegill are the usual forage for me.  Some lakes have shad/alewifes/crappie/perch.  I've found that green pumpkin (often with a chartreuse accent) will get it done most days.  Are some colors better on those days?  Maybe.  One day I started with GP and ran out.  Moved to black and blue and ran out.  Swapped to something else and caught some more.  I think the size/profile/fall rate was just what they wanted that day and the color wasnt a biggie.  I've not found a day where they would only hit a color that WASN'T GP, but I have had a couple where they would ONLY hit GP/chartreuse.  So for that reason I overindex on it across all of my softbait profiles.  I'll have variations- GR blue flake, red flake, GP over chartreuse laminate, GP/B&B laminate, etc.  And I still carry the other colors for those days where I just know they should be eating the soft bait I am throwing but they aren't.  In that case, I have some variation on black or dark (black, black blue, dark purple), some version of 'minnow' with a dark back and light belly, and some form or brown (PB&J, pumpkinseed, etc).

 

White for me is just for paddle tails.  I am going to get a pack of beavers for next year's spawn, but otherwise white is a baitfish imitation only.  

[FryDog62]

I prefer my jigs to be 2 colors - usually either Blue/purple and Green Pumpkin. Then, depending on water clarity and what the fish prefer - I put either a green or blue plastic trailer on.  So in the end I buy only one jig and 2 plastics. 

[scaleface]

Purples of all kinds. I also have a lot of success with bright green worms. They are hard to find but when I do find a pack the disappear fast. Something about the color of a Mountain Dew bottle.

[Swamp Girl]

28 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

White for me is just for paddle tails.  I am going to get a pack of beavers for next year's spawn, but otherwise white is a baitfish imitation only.  

 

The soft plastic I use 90% of the time are paddletails, so if they're imitating baitfish, that's probably why white works, but lawdy, I sure can see those white paddeltails from a long ways away and I expect the bass can too. 

 

3 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I also have a lot of success with bright green worms. They are hard to find but when I do find a pack the disappear fast. Something about the color of a Mountain Dew bottle.

 

Good to know.

[Spankey]

Like most of you guys my primary soft plastics colors are the same. Most likely with the same manufacturers like Zoom, RoboWorm and Yamamoto. The Zoom Finesse Worm is and has been a top worm for as long as I can remember. What I’ve alway like about them is the numerous variations of the base color (ex. Green Pumpkin). I would lean toward the basic Green Pumpkin as an all time favorite but have had good results when throwing it with blue, purple, gold and candy fleck to them. Same with solid black, they have a ton of variations. The ones I’ve tried have worked. 

14 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Purples of all kinds. I also have a lot of success with bright green worms. They are hard to find but when I do find a pack the disappear fast. Something about the color of a Mountain Dew bottle.

I will certainly agree with you. They are a tough find. The only thing I have left these days are some old Mr. Twister Bandits in a two tone green. If I see any out there I’ll attach to this for you. Has to be an off the wall on-liner who makes them. 

[casts_by_fly]

15 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

The soft plastic I use 90% of the time are paddletails, so if they're imitating baitfish, that's probably why white works, but lawdy, I sure can see those white paddeltails from a long ways away and I expect the bass can too. 

 

 

You know, I go back and forth on white.  it sticks out like a sore thumb in crystal clear water and I think that it's just too much.  And then it just catches fish so you put that thought out of mind.  Then I remember back growing up before I "knew better" and a whole lot of fish were caught on white 3" twisters on an 1/8oz head.  And white spinnerbaits too.  And white topwaters.  

[bowhunter63]

Green Pumpkin. Watermelon Red,Shad or Shiner color. Always a little touch of Spike it.

[WRB]

In SoCal colors are lake specific and generally Threadfin Shad smoke colors. 
Purple, browns and greens or combinations of all 3 make up colors that work in our clear water reservoirs with Florida LMB populations.

Reds and black are not as effective as the Shad and purple, browns and greens with FLMB however very good with lakes having Northern LMB and Smallmouths populations. Greens for Spotted bass.

Blues especially neon blue highlights in all the colors works good.

 

 

 

[RRocket]

Solid Green pumpkin continually one of my least productive colors...year in, year out. The fish here seem to prefer a contrasting color rather than solids here. Of note, water here is stained to dirty often, so I suspect the contrast helps a bit in this case over pure solids.

 

PB&J? I use a variation I fondly call "JDM PB&J"...Gorimiso Black.  Works very well indeed.

7 minutes ago, RRocket said:

 

 

[Columbia Craw]

176

[scbassin]

A Fliptail Black Grape

[TheSwearingAngler]

Redbug was my standout color this past season..

 

the only soft plastic I really throw is a 4 inch dinger

 

But I have about 10 other colors that also did well..

 

-motor oil red flake

-junebug

-black and blue

-mardi gras

-california craw

-Green pumpkin purple flake

-Carolina or green pumpkin with chartreuse tail

 

all come to mind.. my goal for 2025 is to throw more styles of plastic.. I want to work on pitching and flipping.

 

[MIbassyaker]

Green Pumpkin and Watermelon are great all-around colors here, especially around bluegill/sunfish forage.

 

But what's really great is any color with green flakes, which includes Junebug,  anything with "candy" in the name....and my personal favorite, Pumpkin with green flakes.  Here's a good version by Berkeley, which the Chigger Craw is available in: