Soft plastic colors

[RRocket]

After musing further, another color I did well with, particularly on SM, was Green Pumpkin Chartreuse.

 

I throw a poop bait as a primary presentation, and it's a toss up between Golden and Pumpkin Cheesecake with the nod going to Pumpkin Cheesecake. In the hand and water, Golden looks spectacular with more and/or bigger flake than in the pictures. Great colors both of them! Third place goes to Blue Melon.

 

On the Free Rig front, I put in lots of work with the Raid Japan Hira Tailor. More than any other bait in recent memory, photos don't do these justice so it's almost not worth posting the stock photos. The colors are spectacular and seem to change in the light due to the slit edges not being painted. Somehow diffuses the light? I've added my own photos here. I fished 2 colors. Minagill, which is brownish, with purple flake and a lighter belly. And Dark Cinnamon Shad. Purple belly with Bluish top. But photos don't do justice! You can even see in my photos for the belly is REALLY purple, but when looked at from the side...white. And the colors on top also seem to change with the light...lots of glitter and sparkles throughout. These are easily the most amazing colors I used this year.

 

Sorry for long post...fishing season mostly done here.

[Swamp Girl]

@RRocket: You are so attuned to color. And you remember all the names of the colors. I'm always amazed that you guys remember all the names of the lures and their color names too.

[RRocket]

6 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@RRocket: You are so attuned to color. And you remember all the names of the colors. I'm always amazed that you guys remember all the names of the lures and their color names too.

You give me far to much credit! Most of the colors I use match the actual color (Golden, Green Pumpkin Chartreuse, Blue Melon, etc) so it's easy to remember. I also need to remember what colors when ordering online! LOL 😆

 

I did have to check online for the name of one color for the Hira Tailor before posting as in my mind I refer to the 2 colors as "Bluegill" and "Goby".

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, RRocket said:

You give me far to much credit! Most of the colors I use match the actual color (Golden, Green Pumpkin Chartreuse, Blue Melon, etc) so it's easy to remember. I also need to remember what colors when ordering online! LOL 😆

 

I did have to check online for the name of one color for the Hira Tailor before posting as in my mind I refer to the 2 colors as "Bluegill" and "Goby".

 

 

 

Hey, I kid you not. I know five colors: loon (Whopper Plopper), and green pumpkin, Junebug, PB&J, and watermelon in soft plastics. After that, I'm saying orange, white, etc. 

[Mobasser]

I've had good luck with purple shades for many years. My lake has small bluegill as the main forage, so, that's why I think purple has worked well.                             But, we're seeing these colors through our eyes. We can't interpret how bass see these colors. Sometimes, an off the wall color you've never used can work well too. It can pay to keep a couple of oddball colors on hand.

[Jigfishn10]

One of the colors that’s worked very well for me is a dark red, almost like red wine. Not sure why it work considering that red is the first color that disappears in the water column. My guess is that the color is a lighter shade of black. So I keep fishing it until the fish read the final chapter in the manual  

[Bankbeater]

When the water clarity is good and there is limited cloud cover I will be fishing with either purple, green pumpkin, watermelon seed, or chartreuse.  

 

Black/blue, black/red, purple, and green pumpkin for darker days or when the water is more on the dirtier side.

[MyKeyBe]

I prefer purplish soft plastics therefore the fish I catch prefer purplish soft plastics and if they don't, I'll never know. 😆

 

That's not entirely true, I have and use a lot of different colors but day in and day out I do lean purplish.

[scaleface]

I havent been keeping score but I think purple wins.

[woolleyfooley]

On 11/26/2024 at 12:41 PM, Rockhopper said:

black/blue flake above all else

It’s funny, I’ve never been able to find confidence in black/blue flake baits. Missile baits super bug on the other hand is my favorite. It’s green pumpkin with black and blue flakes on one side and black with blue flakes on the other side. 
 

As far as other colors, I really like green pumpkin for creature baits/worms, plum and junebug for worms as well and shad colors for soft jerkbaits. I also like green pumpkin back white stomach for soft jerkbaits.

[WaskaCrank12]

This past summer, looking at my records/journal - I found that green pumpkin/green pumpkin variations, sun gill/shiner and to my surprise - mood ring/morning dawn (purple/pinkish combination) were the colors in soft plastics that caught the most fish for me - The mood ring/morning dawn color is not one that I would normally purchase yet there were several packs of baits in this color in a variety pack box of baits I purchased and they started catching fish for me - so I will look to expand the baits I purchase in the future to include this color - I have no idea why the fish seemed to go after this color of bait

[Munkin]

Overall green pumpkin is the best soft plastic color for me.

 

Allen 

[Catt]

I know Green Pumpkin is loved by most anglers but it's my least productive color. 

 

White is a color I throw a lot, white Ice  is probably my favorite. Bone (white) Orange Belly poppers.

 

Sapphire Blue jig trailer or lizards 

 

Gold, Black Back, Orange Belly Rat-L-Traps & Rogues

 

White, Chartreuse, & Blue  spinnerbait skirts

 

Black Neon 

 

Falcon Lake Craw on this jig

 

[Swamp Girl]

@Catt: I'm surprised that your successful colors are so similar to mine, given the distance between us and the differences in our literal water. I'm also doing best with white and orange (and chartreuse too) and blue lizards.

 

However, I do want to try more purple worms in 2025. I've done well with black worms, but mostly use green pumpkin worms when I do worm fish, which isn't often. I cover a LOT of water when I fish fast and worm fishing is slow fishing. I'll enter a bay with 100 great places to cast and only hit 25 of them. Then I'm off to the next bay.

[Catt]

@Swamp Girl 

In the beginning there was only red, green, blue, white, & black.

 

From there we went to infinity 

 

[Pat Brown]

I rarely throw green pumpkin stock but it's a GREAT color because with some spike it - I can make it work for any jig color/water clarity.

 

YMMV - but I think that's the appeal of GP overall.

 

It can sorta be anything if you use dyes.

 

Also - not the case with ribbon tail worms but with fat body worms (senko/mag speed worm etc) all my biggest fish come on green pumpkin and I throw other colors plenty with plenty of confidence.

 

I generally prefer the same colors as Catt though and usually use something that contrasts the water or jig rather than completely blends in like GP - especially for jig trailers which to me are a different animal from just throwing soft plastics.

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Happy when I'm casting.

 

I'm also happy when I'm casting too, Pat. I love the movement and watching my line extend and settle.

[Pat Brown]

Just now, Swamp Girl said:

 

I'm also happy when I'm casting too, Pat. I love the movement and watching my line extend and settle.

 

I'm fixing to make some casts before heading to the in laws for Thanksgiving 2 - Black Friday Dinner.

 

They live near the Yadkin River and I might ALSO make a pit stop to stretch my legs for a minute on the way there.....stretch my legs down the bank with a rod in my hand! 😂😂😂😎😎😎❤️❤️❤️

[whitwolf]

Black is close to the top. It just always has been. Red Shad, GP, a few others I suppose.

 

In the last year though, Purple Haze ( Green Pumpkin/Purple) has been in the top two.

[woolleyfooley]

6 hours ago, whitwolf said:

Black is close to the top. It just always has been. Red Shad, GP, a few others I suppose.

 

In the last year though, Purple Haze ( Green Pumpkin/Purple) has been in the top two.

Ohh I like that. Are those home made? If not what brand?

[whitwolf]

1 hour ago, woolleyfooley said:

Ohh I like that. Are those home made? If not what brand?

Deep Creek lures out of Dunn NC.

 

https://www.deepcreeklures.com/

[Choporoz]

Green pumpkin.  When I really want to change it up, GP with red and/or black flake.

[softwateronly]

My waters make me comfortable with all the natural hues, and I love to mix a lot of them in on my jig/trailer combos.  Solid white is what I'll never throw, feels like a highbeam flashlight turned on underwater.  If there's a shot of purple, green, pink, or blue on the back and the body leans toward clearish white; it's then one of my favorites. I doubt the fish care as much as I do. 

 

scott

[Swamp Girl]

14 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

feels like a highbeam flashlight turned on underwater

 

So true. I can see my white lures so easily when they're still far from the canoe. I haven't had much success with pure white, but white with gray, orange, and chartreuse are bass-catchers in my local water.

[LrgmouthShad]

I’m the same as Pat. I don’t like green pumpkin by itself but spike-it or used with a jig that has some other color to it 👍🏻

 

Green pumpkin purple, green pumpkin red, green pumpkin blue are all highly productive