Clear water jig color ?

[b.a.s.17]

In about a month my family is getting a cabin on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma. This will be my first time fishing this lake and the water is supposed to be pretty clear. I'm used to fishing very stained water so I'm not sure what colors to go with. I was thinking greens and light blues maybe some purple?? Anyway I was getting ready to order some Elk River jigs to restock for the fall and thought I'd get some opinions before I ordered.

[C DUDE]

I would go with more natural colors like your greens and browns, nothing flashy though, they maybe easily spooked. Also since its clear a full stranded jig may be a little bulky so I'd either trim it or look into finesse jigs. Just my point of view.

[WatterBoy]

Not sure what "pretty clear" is on your lake, but the water clarity on the lake I fish was 16' in the most recent survey (2007) done. I had never fished a jig in my life until 6 weeks ago. I started out with a 3/4 oz. Peanut Butter and Jelly colored jig with a green pumpkin trailer, which would fit in the "natural colors" and "nothing flashy" like C DUDE mentioned. I've been having great luck on the PB&J color, so it's one I plan to wear out until it stops working. I think you're on the right track with the colors you mentioned, but I'm obviously a complete novice at using jigs, so hopefully some others will chime in also.

[Bassboss]

Browns, greens, and my favorite clear water jig color PURPLE!

Caught more on purple jigs then any other jig color. Match it up with a #11 black pork frog and you've got magic!

It's also usually a good idea to try to match the bottom color. Jigs most often imitate a crawdad, and they're always trying to blend in with the bottom. Purple seems to be the exception though!

[b.a.s.17]

How much purple are you guys talking about? Like the purple craw color or the pb&j?

http://elkriverjigs.com/brushjigs.html

[Tavery5]

I would do like others have said and stick with the more natural looking colors, greens like watermelon pepper and green pumpkin pepper, browns and tans. I have also had good luck on the okeechobee craw color.

[bluebasser86]

PB&J and Missouri Craw are two of my favorites on Table Rock and you can watch them fall FOREVER in that clear water. Just stick to natural colors like everyone has said and you should be fine.

[b.a.s.17]

Missouri craw is one of my favorite colors in my stained lake too!

[Bender]

I agree with the natural colors. From the website you linked I'd go with Blue Neon (I think it is black with blue flake), Bream, or Purple Craw. I'd cut about half that skirt off though. I seem to have better luck with a 30-40 strand skirt and those look really heavy. For trailers this year I've been using Netbait Paca Chunks in different colors such as Potomac Blue, Bama Bug Red, Green Pumpkin, etc.

I haven't been fishing jigs for too long but I have been a lot in the past couple years and really like this type of fishing.

[keithdog]

I'd mostly stick with natural colors myself. But back/blue seems to work for me regardless of water conditions.

[BigBassin144]

How clear is "pretty clear"? I fish lakes that range in visibility from 6-8" to about 8-12'. I'd personally describe pretty clear as around 3-4' visibility.

If those kinds of conditions, I prefer a couple jig colors I make myself. One is quite simple and would be equivalent to a watermelon flake worm. The other is one of the most complicated colors I make involved a few different shades of green pumpkin, watermelon, black, and with a few different colored flakes. I like a PB&J too, but I prefer mine with slightly more brown/orange/pumpkin than purple. Black and Blue is also another great choice in almost any water clarity.

BB

[carolina-rig-01]

Don't over think it too much. In clear water natural colors are king. Watermelon, watermelon candy, green pumpkin, and pb&j are all proven colors in clear water. My advice is to choose 3 or 4 natural colors that you have confidence in and stock up. In my opinion people get too carried away with having every color under the sun in their box and they end up confusing themselves in the long run.

[b.a.s.17]

Thanks for all the advice guys! With how dry it's been around here the water clarity was around 6 or 7 ft, but we've had some good rain the last 2 days so I'm sure it's changed a little bit.

C-Rig I definitely overthink colors it doesn't just apply to fishing though... You shoulda seen me trying to decide what color truck I wanted!

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by b.a.s.17

How much purple are you guys talking about? Like the purple craw color or the pb&j?

http://elkriverjigs.com/brushjigs.html

The june bug color, Only I use a black head.

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01

Don't over think it too much. In clear water natural colors are king. Watermelon, watermelon candy, green pumpkin, and pb&j are all proven colors in clear water. My advice is to choose 3 or 4 natural colors that you have confidence in and stock up. In my opinion people get too carried away with having every color under the sun in their box and they end up confusing themselves in the long run.

I definitely agree that people do get carried away. I carry about 4 basic colors.

Black, watermelon, green pumpkin, and brown. Now I have variations of all of them, but use them pretty much interchangeably. I don't really care if I'm throwing black and blue or just black. Same goes for watermelon vs watermelon candy vs watermelon red.

BB