What's your colour choice?

[kickingfrog]

Gord Pyzer with some thoughts on lure colour:

 

http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/How_important_is_the_colour_of_your_bait_or_lure

[mike rousseau]

Very interesting...

 

But my experience tells me different... I'm not saying they're wrong... I just disagree...

 

If I have 3 rods fishing I usually start with 3 different colors... Some days they eat anything... But some days 1 color will catch more... Then if another rod changes to the "hot" color their catch rate increases... It's like night and day... Which brings me to my second point...

 

At night color is very important... I have a few colors that 9/10 night trips will out produce any other colors... Again for walleye that is...

 

But as a wise angler once told me... I already have all the other pieces to the puzzle in place for my pattern cause it's my home water and my #1 species... So color is one of the only details left to fine tune... On a new water maybe not so much...

 

Again... This is mostly for walleye experience... And also rings true for smallies I've battled with...

[OhioFisherman]

I was bass fishing at East Harbor off of Lake Erie with a friend, shallow water slop 0-4 feet and pretty clear for our area. Both of us were using 6 inch Zoom u tail worms, the only difference was color, I was using Junebug and he was using Watermelon blue fleck, he had 3-4 bass in the boat casting to the same spots and I didn't have a hit.

 

Once that 3rd-4th bass hit the boat I changed to the color he was using and started catching bass, Junebug had been our go to color, but not that day? Hmmm...

 

Lake Erie and other waters for bass or walleye, a chrome, gold, or white crankbait, cast or trolled has produced much better than any other color, up north mix in a perch finish.

 

I had days where bass would absolutely tear up surface lures, but overall a stealthier lure was more consistent, a jig and pig, plastic worm - lizard - tube, even at night.

 

Pike at night? grab a beer and deck of cards! Stay inside away from the skeeters! lol

[cram]

So the researchers fished on a day when the fish would hit any colour.....and that's conclusive?

[manitoubass2]

For smallies and walleye i always fish alot of black cranks and platics.

 

Always my go to no matter the conditions.

 

For pike its white, in any conditions

 

Funny though. Years ago i posted this shallow crank that i had repainted with a glow in the dark chartruesse and that drove bass nuts. Some people just sat and watched me hammer em on everycast. Too bad it was a poor quality crank and broke down quickly.

 

Id love to paint more baits in that color for smallies

[Big Cliff]

Color does make a differance, I have often fished on a day when a pink jig and white twister tail would be pounding the walleye but I have also fished on a day when that combination wouldn't get a hit but a yellow head and black twister tail would be pounding them. I have seen it with crank baits too, same bait, different color pattern, one will be catching the other won't, next day it can be exactly the opposite.

[Roy]

I agree with the survey. Lure manufacturers would never let it happen though. Can you imagine what our "show me your tackle" thread would look like if everyone posted their tackle trays filled to the brim with black baits and another would post his/her baits in chartreuse, firetiger or whatever? It wouldn't be very visually appealing would it? How could you possibly justify to your significant other (if you need to) that you already have 15 chartreuse countdowns but you need another?

It all comes down to confidence. The more time the bait is in the water, the more that colour will produce.

Seriously now, do you really think that those newer baits showing the image of several minnows on the same bait will get you more fish because the fish will "think" that it's a school of minnows? If that bait does get you more fish, it's because you've been sold on the idea and you've got confidence in the bait. That's my humble opinion. I'll be back in a while....I've got to go sort my tackle trays by colour.

[Spiel]

I'll be back in a while....I've got to go sort my tackle trays by colour.

 

 

My Grandfather always said if it ain't solid black don't tie it on. Contrast (along with vibration/noise) are the attention getters.

[BillM]

It doesn't matter what you use when the lake is loaded to the gills with fish. My buddy has caught giant snakes on rope for christ sakes, lol.

[aplumma]

I fish color by what the conditions dictate. I fish the bottom with a color that is 5 shades different from the bottom color due to composition and depth. I fish upper level and top water a few shades lighter or darker than the backround, be it the overcast shy or a tree line of green. This takes into account that evolution has made the back of fish to blend down and the belly to blend up. With the shade difference it gives the fish something to key in on as different than normal in their environment. To add what I really think helps trigger a bite it is the cadence of the unpredictable movement or the wounded fish tactic.

 

 

Art

[crappieperchhunter]

From my experience I disagree. I fish the same plastics for crappie perch and bluegills. And I have one colour that really works well 90% of the time. However under certain conditions the fish want a different colour. Out of these 3 species crappie seem to be the ones who you really have to experiment with some days to find what they want. Just this past summer I adopted a new colour for my arsenal because a fellow fisherman was killing crappie standing right beside me and casting to the same spot. Came back the next day with my plastic but in the colour he was doing well on and I killed them. I think that proper technique and presentation are a much more important piece of the puzzle but some days you can get it all right and you won't get a sniff until you switch to the colour they want that day.

[Sinker]

I believe colours make a difference. Especially panfish.

 

That said, ive trolled 2 identical set ups together, same lure/line/weight, and one rod catches more fish?

 

Its a never ending learning circle.

 

S.

[msp]

I believe colour makes a difference as well.

Been fishing too many times when one colour out produces another

[outllaw]

after decades of squirtin/building baits,every region has water color variations. from blue to tanic. base colors with contrast do produce. colors vary by depth of fishing. yes we paint pretty stuff everyone oohs and aghs, but basics with contrast are the next best thing to action of lures.

[AKRISONER]

i still swear by the fact that you need to present fish with what they like to eat.

 

There is a reason why i don't buy orange and red lures for my area, and that is because they never work.

 

You could argue that I dont try them enough, but trust me ive tried the same shallow running orange and red crank for years and it never works, then when i use the same natural coloured crank it catches fish.

[jbailey]

i think it matters in the sense of visibility, depending upon how deep your fishing certain colours become less visible - if they can see it they will eat it! thats my opinion

Edited March 16, 2015 by jrwb

[muddler]

From my experience I disagree. I fish the same plastics for crappie perch and bluegills. And I have one colour that really works well 90% of the time. However under certain conditions the fish want a different colour. Out of these 3 species crappie seem to be the ones who you really have to experiment with some days to find what they want. Just this past summer I adopted a new colour for my arsenal because a fellow fisherman was killing crappie standing right beside me and casting to the same spot. Came back the next day with my plastic but in the colour he was doing well on and I killed them. I think that proper technique and presentation are a much more important piece of the puzzle but some days you can get it all right and you won't get a sniff until you switch to the colour they want that day.

100% agree. Crappie are colour sensitive most of the time. I've had many similar days as described above. I've had days when a particular color combo would out produce live bait. I experiment with different colours all the time with crappie. Once the choice colour is found, it's like fishing in a barrel.

 

I've had the same happen with steelhead. Under certain conditions nothing beats a purple wooley bugger, then it's a pink worm them it's an orange bead. Don't get me started with black stones on the Notty when there is snow on thew ground. Color makes a huge difference.Presentation is also important.

[Acountdeleted]

I believe colours make a difference. Especially panfish.

 

That said, ive trolled 2 identical set ups together, same lure/line/weight, and one rod catches more fish?

 

Its a never ending learning circle.

 

S.

Some stuff is super odd. There is always a 'hot hole' while ice fishing. I can never explain it. Yesterday I had my first 4 out of one hole. My grandfather and cousin were skunked. I told my cousin 'this hole is hot. Take over for me.' He proceeded to have 3, lost one and then hit his Bahemoth. Meanwhile my grandfather is fishing 3 feet away and couldn't get a bite.

 

Fishing is so strange and that's why I love it.

[Sinker]

i still swear by the fact that you need to present fish with what they like to eat.

 

There is a reason why i don't buy orange and red lures for my area, and that is because they never work.

 

You could argue that I dont try them enough, but trust me ive tried the same shallow running orange and red crank for years and it never works, then when i use the same natural coloured crank it catches fish.

Try something orange when the sun is setting on the horizon, or rising. I don't like orange any other time of day, unless i'm musky fishing, but at those times, when things have an orange glow on them, orange lures work great.

 

S.

[Sinker]

i still swear by the fact that you need to present fish with what they like to eat.

 

There is a reason why i don't buy orange and red lures for my area, and that is because they never work.

 

You could argue that I dont try them enough, but trust me ive tried the same shallow running orange and red crank for years and it never works, then when i use the same natural coloured crank it catches fish.

Try something orange when the sun is setting on the horizon, or rising. I don't like orange any other time of day, unless i'm musky fishing, but at those times, when things have an orange glow on them, orange lures work great.

 

S.