Water clarity and lure color

[hitormiss]

I know this has been asked 1000 times but I keep forgettin' the answer. Is it light colored lures with clear water and dark with murky or just the opposite?

[carySE406]

Light or realistic lures in clear water and dark lures in murky water.

[senko_77]

Generally I just keep a few colors on me.  In clear to stained I fish watermelon/gold, and in stained to muddy I fish watermelon/red.  If the water is extremely muddy I fish red bug.  Other than that, I have found that fish respond WAY better in a few select lakes around me and I only found that out because I have fished there awhile.  I have one lake where castaic choice is the only color they will hit.  The lake where I caught my PB only bites black consistently.  The only other thing I will somtimes consider is cloud cover.  When its real cloudy on a clear lake I will dip my worms tail in chartreuse.

[Catt]

I don't let water color or any thing else dictate what color bait I use; I have 5 or 6 colors that are proven to catch so I throw them.

To many time people think they must follow strict rules in order to catch bass; why not let the bass tell you if they like dark colors in clear water or light colors in murky water.

The bass never get it wrong  

[cwen]

In dirtier water, I like blacks, purples, and reds. In clearer water, I stay with greens and light browns

[Munkin]

Clear water= Natural colors

Stained= Whatever you feel like using

Muddy= Solid black works best

When in doubt use Green Pumkin!!! I have caught fish in 30'+ visibility and less that 6" visibility on green pumkin so if you said I could only use one color soft plastic guess what color it would be?

Allen

[Siebert Outdoors]

When in doubt use Green Pumkin!!! I have caught fish in 30'+ visibility and less that 6" visibility on green pumkin so if you said I could only use one color soft plastic guess what color it would be?

Allen

Thats what I was thinking when I read the topic.

[hitormiss]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.

[T-rig]

Why bis it that some people say the exact opposite when it comes to crankbaits?

Stained muddy, water, bright colors (blue back chartreuse etc.) and for clear water dark colors.

Aren't the colors, colors , no matter what lure you use?

[boondocks]

I'm really big into the whole "fish what you have confidence in" thing. The longer you fish the more you have confidence in certain colors under certain conditions. One guy may have confidence in bright colors fishing dark water, the other dark colors in dark water and they will both catch fish. Then to put a twist in it, have them swap lures under the same conditions and neither will probably catch anything cause neither have confidence in what they are throwing. Confidence is a weird thing when it comes to fishing.

I throw bright and dark colors in stained water.

Almost always throw natural looking lures is clear water except on cloudy days. I have always had good luck useing firetiger on cloudy days. I try and let the fish dictate things the best I can but I always seem to end up fishing my confidence colors.

I am mainly refering to crankbaits.

With plastics I always fish dark.

[hi_steel_basser]

When in doubt use Green Pumkin!!! I have caught fish in 30'+ visibility and less that 6" visibility on green pumkin so if you said I could only use one color soft plastic guess what color it would be?

Allen

Thats what I was thinking when I read the topic.

With sofft plastics, presntation is more important than color. That being said, read what I quoted. In cranks, throw shiny colors when the sun shines, natural whenthe water is clear, and bright or dark when its muddy. You are going for more of a reaction strike on faster moving lures. But I read somewhere that baitfish appear to be clearer under cloudy conditions and shinier when the sun shines, and this advise works for me. In dirty water, chartreuse is visible over any other color. Therefore, slow moving lures ought to have a touch of it, and reaction strike lures should have alot of it. That's two pennies from a one penny mind right there.