so is now a good time for crawdaddy colors

[wallywallace]

hey, forgot to ask, but at the classic, i went to 3 seminars, great info but would love to back it up, i sit through the jerk bait, pre-spawn and crankbait seminars, and all 3 mention in this time now red/orange cranks, are the best in lipless and square and round bill, said the bass were into eating crawdeads at moment. I throw red and orange in stained and muddy, never thinking of crawdead but just for them to see. whats yall opnion on it.. lol me being dumb, i got about 5 red/orange kvds, rattlin rapala lipless, and a mans baby 1-minus, i havn't tried them, but my docs by the river, so i looked at the water today, and it seems pretty clear, whats your take at on this

[Tavery5]

When the water reaches 55-60 the crawdads start becoming allot more active.

[wallywallace]

wonder why they said now, i know the waters temps aint that high

[joedog]

Crawfish colors are very confusing to me.
Now these are my understandings so take it for what it's worth.
First the crawfish have very different colors and shades depending on location.
Next, when people talk crawdad colors they think reds and oranges. In reality, the only time you will ever find a complete red craw is when it has molted and you will almost never see one unless your turning rocks in rip rap, which a Bass never does. This is because the craw hides during molt and will never show unless disturbed and then they scat to the closest cover or burrow in the mud. If you have ever seen a craw come from the belly or throat of a bass, it's not red, even if the stomach acids of the bass has already started break down.
In reality the best craw colors should be browns, golds, greens and sometimes blackish colors. Now remember, there are hundreds of different shades of craws. Missouri I believe has not only the largest population of craws but also the biggest variety. And I doubt many of them have ever seen a full red craw.
Now, most varieties have red, yellow, orange streaks or areas of coloration along with red, orange pinchers or shades of.
Not sure but many have chartuese pinchers or a shades there of. Many have an orangy belly.
Watermelon and green colors really came to popularity because of trying to match craw colors. The same with pumpkin. Adding chartruese is as much to mimick craws as sunnies colors.
Yet with the exception of Rebel (who in my opinion colors closely resemble craws) when talking craw color, the manufacturers are usually talking reds.
Mississippi River has tons of back water and marshes that are full of craws. We captured them as kids for 'Craw Wrestling Matches'.
I to this day have never seen a red craw! Pink, when found under a rock after molt, but NEVER red.
So if you want to fish craw colors, you should be fishing greens and browns or golden brown or gold and copper colors with hints of charteuese and orange or chartruese or orange pincers, especially effective on jig traiers.
Anyway, thats my story and I'm sticking to it!

Have a great day all!

[lilmule]

Actually that does not always ring true,like most of gods creatures they tend to try to blend in with surroundings,
While color changes do occur like after a molt and just before there are times those colors are found year round on almost all of them,not just certain times.
Tennesse river has a black and blue crawfish,havnt a clue what colors they turn before and after,most likly black and a light blue.
Crayfish on discharges in the ohio river where it is common to use slag for fill are rust colored,and its not something once captured they lose.
So color is not based on molting and shedding alone but somewhat on the species.
Reds rust colored browns and black and blue arnt just molting colors either before or after,and in many locales can be found year round in most of them,exception they would be from that to pre and post molting colors whatever those may be.Ive seen eggs that were black ,brown and even almost a chartreuse,to moss colored and the rest the same.
So an all blue blue fleck or red rust black and blue may be viable if the species lives there year round.
Black n blue works well on ky lake when clear as gin due to the species living here.On the ohio blue blue fleck and red rust year round,two different species living in different areas,one a mud bank the other fill rocks from plant slag etc.In an area that if one were to disturb the bottom and its like black stagnant looking they will be dark almost black.

[Tavery5]

If you fish TX you are going to want the red craw pattern.

[wallywallace]

thanks for opnions guys, as said i throw mine in muddy water, never thought of this, wil through mine, see if i get any hits

[bassinbob]

They turn a nice shade of red in boiling water.

[MallenManson]

Don't let clear water sway you from throwing red cranks.
Clear water is all we have up here, and red is a solid producer in lipless cranks.
I've never thrown red Aruku Shads before, but grabbed a couple at Gander the other day for $3.99. They were marked incorrectly, but the sales lady honored it

[Tavery5]

Colors with the longest wavelengths are the first to lose their color underwater. Guess what colors have the longest wavelengths...... you got it, red then orange, so while it appears as red and orange above the water, it has a much different appearance under, at least to the human eye .........

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by Tavery5

Colors with the longest wavelengths are the first to lose their color underwater. Guess what colors have the longest wavelengths...... you got it, red then orange, so while it appears as red and orange above the water, it has a much different appearance under, at least to the human eye .........

That was always Cajun Lines claim