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Old 04-19-11, 08:44 PM   #1
Apt79
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Default How much do colors matter?

Ok, I'll start off by giving a situation-lets say 2 to 5 feet visability. Do you really think that the color patterns in the lures your using have that much to do with the chances of the fish bitting or do you think its more of a reaction strike. Alot of times when I go to choose a color (for crank baits) Ill just go with sexy shad because I have confedence in it. I know that your to try to match the color of what their feeding on but is it that big of a deal? Is the color for the visability or does it appeal to the fish to have something more natural? Me personally, I think that its all about that reaction strike. What do you guys think?
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Old 04-19-11, 08:50 PM   #2
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Here is my take. Some days it matters and others it don't. I've seen days when they would hit about any color I'd put out there, and other days when it became very clear they were being very particular. I have my favorite colors for various situations that I have confidence in, and really, having confidence in a certain color is probably the most important aspect. But there are times when one color will make a lure more visable than others, especially in off colored water. Also, too much flash in very clear water often will not produce as well as lures with a more neutral color scheme. I've seen many times fishing for steelhead off the pier in Michigan City, IN where if your spoon wasn't a brite orange, you were going home with an empty stringer while all the guys who had orange spoon were loading up on steelhead steaks. I simply try to make an educated guess at what color I should begin with and if that is failing, I'll try another.
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Old 04-19-11, 08:58 PM   #3
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i have to agree with keith on this. i have seen where it didn't matter WHAT i threw, they would hit it. other times, jsut a little difference in color made ALL the difference. take the first get together, i had bigbassin144 and his dad with me in my boat. 2 days earlier i was catching bass on a punkinseed lizzard 3rd day.nothing, anthony's dad tied on a junbug color...and wham bass biting again. big difference in color there, but you get the idea.
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Old 04-19-11, 09:01 PM   #4
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You know I never really tried throwing the same bait but a differnt color cause sexy shad seems to always work no matter where I'm at. Next time if its not producing I'll switch colors and see what happens.
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Old 04-19-11, 09:04 PM   #5
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do that apt. go from the sexy shad color to say red or a darker color. something they don't expect. works for me with spinnerbaits too. i go from whit eto dark blue or black alot.
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Old 04-19-11, 10:28 PM   #6
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Great thread!

My 2 cent about the subject. It's very similar to author Tim Holschlog idea, mainly because it's always been more or less what I was tough when my dad was teaching me basic bassin, and I just flat out agree with him.

I'll use a scale of 1 - 10 of fish activity.

If the fish are in a 5, or 6, which they may be in half in the summer or spring, than color dose not really mater that much.

The way I see it, is fish are more keyed in on how stuff behaves. I'll use a crawdad for example. Before a bass eats a crawdad, it's either, scooting away, or defending it's self. If if you're using a bright green grub scooting it along the bottom like a crawdad than, I think the bass is gonna see that movement and associate it with a crawdad, and eat it, because that's just what bass do to crawdads. I honestly don't think he's gonna see that and say, "well, that looks like a crawdad moving away, but it bright green, so I'd better not eat it!" You may however come across a wise old bass that wants you to imitate that crawdad dead on before he eats it simply because he's smarted then other others. He may have seen that bright green crawdad scoot away a few to many times and he may have eaten it. So he know what happens, and associates bright green crawdads as bad things, so he won't eat it. I think the same thing applies even more so when bass are even more active.

However when bass are in a 1 or 2. Bass my not, for whatever reason, not eat that bright green crawdad when they're not active. I could be because of pressure, and they've all see when happens when you eat a bright green crawdad (that being the bright green grub).

Here's a snippit from one of Holschlog's books River Smallmouth Fishing, obviously this applies to river smallies in particular, but I think goes with all bass as well.

"Smallies eat alot of crayfish. In many waters, crunchy crawdads account for more than 75% of the fish's diet during the summer. but the crayfish is no fool; when it sees a smallmouth approaching it tries to escape with a backwards hopping motion. Millennia of genetic programing cause the smallmouth to instantly notice and key in on this motion. This "triggering characteristic" is the most prominent feature of the pry (the crayfish), which causes the instant recognition in the brain of the predator (the smallmouth).

By exaggerating this triggering characteristic you can create a supernormal stimulus (in scientific lingo ) with your lure. This actually causes the bass toto focus in on your lure even sooner than it would with a natural crawfish! This motion (and sometimes color) often triggers the fish into stiking when even when crayfish numbers are low, inculdingin the spring and fall."
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Old 04-19-11, 11:32 PM   #7
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I think everyone has said the same basic thing. There are times that it matters.
I can give a specific example. I was fishing a lake with 3 weeks ago with less than 1 ft of visibility. I was in the front of the boat throwing a 4" light oxblood robo worm and couldn't get a sniff. My partner was in the back of the boat throwing a 4" orange crusher robo. Everything to include line size and leader were identical except for the worm. He put 11 in the boat and I finally caught one when I used one of his worms.
If you put these worms side by side, it is not easy to tell the difference.

I will also add that there are times when a color can be on fire for the smaller fish, but it takes a change to trigger a bigger fish into biting.
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Old 04-20-11, 06:39 AM   #8
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I think it matters on the speed of the presentation. The slower it moves, the better look the fish gets at it, so color starts to be more important. However, I dont buy into fancy realistic custom paint jobs on crankbaits... the fish seriously wont get that good a look at it. All you need is to make sure teh overall color is visible to teh fish without spookin him. Thats why i like 4 general color ideas..

Clear Water and sunny skies, i go as natural as possible and love translucent hard baits, smoke color flukes, and green pumpkin soft plastics (sometimes this is a good time for red flake)

Clear water and cloudy or windy I like colors that have a little more reflection. So this is where i like sexy shad, gizzard shad, shad raps in natural shad color. Flukes and swim baits, I go white, and soft plastics amd throwing green pumpkins, watermelon red, and other natural colors.

Muddy water or heavy stain and sunshine... chartreuse on my hard baits and spinners... the heavier teh stain the more the chartreuse. Its all about making the bait visibkle through as much water as possible. This is where bubblegum flukes work great for me. And any soft plastic I use will have flake... mostly green pumpin purple flake, or blue fleck. Sometimes i go black neon.

Muddy water and clouds or wind... fish it like its at night. Dark colored everything.


I also think about how deep i am fishing. Even in clear water I am adding chartreuse or going darker in color as i go deeper.
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Old 04-21-11, 08:14 AM   #9
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Just about color, I've found zooms watermelon red and case plastics watermelon red both to be very effective colors and both have become my soft plastics go to. My question is this, why doesn't some company use watermelon red like either of the above on a hard bait? If there is such a lure, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
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Old 04-21-11, 08:27 AM   #10
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Bandit makes crankbaits in that color Mac
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Old 04-21-11, 08:49 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac2 View Post
Just about color, I've found zooms watermelon red and case plastics watermelon red both to be very effective colors and both have become my soft plastics go to. My question is this, why doesn't some company use watermelon red like either of the above on a hard bait? If there is such a lure, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_...html#multiview

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_...html#multiview

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_...html#multiview

A couple that I know about. Wish there were more.
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Old 04-21-11, 11:57 AM   #12
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Default My 2c worth

I think color matters less and vibration matters more as visibility goes down. Single Colorado blade spinnerbaits, wide-wobble cranks are my go-to baits when the water is muddy.
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Old 04-21-11, 10:13 PM   #13
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true davew, true.
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