I'd have to say it might.
I'd have to say it might.
Last edited by SPOONMINNOW; 11-19-2018 at 12:32 AM.
Maybe. This past Thursday I went Walleye fishing, after finding them and catching a quick limit on a gold blade bait I started experimenting with colors on that same school of fish. I tried silver, pink, blue, and many other colors and sizes, oddly enough the only other color I caught fish on was red. This was in 30’ FOW that had maybe 16” of visibility. So yes, sometimes I believe color makes a difference.
Color does matter, especially with smallmouth. When the fish are on a "suicide bite", sure, lots of colors will probably work.
Color definitely matters. Last week, the smallmouth didn’t want anything to do with a color that wasn’t green pumpkin. I threw green pumpkin with different colored flakes and caught one to ten as a was with just straight green pumpkin. I’ve never seen color make a huge difference with crappie or bluegill but color can make all the difference with bass.
Lure color only matters up to 4 days a month, if you don't fish every day it is unlikely you will know if it matters. Lures are made first to catch fishermen as the company is selling to us not fish
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I know colors dont matter for crappie....you can catch em with a cigarette butt lol
I think the wrong color turns them off more than the right color turns them on.
It's interesting how often it seems to make a huge difference with walleye. I don't fish them in open water really ever, but have seen it make a big difference the times that I have....situations with 4 people in a boat vertical jigging on a drift and one person is catching them while no one else does until they switch to that color. See it happen all the time with ice fishing too. Generally red, glow pink, or gold seems to be best in dirty water and white, chartreuse, or green in clearer water. When ice fishing for them I switch lures a LOT if they're coming in and not eating it. Generally if one fish comes in and doesn't commit, I'm trying something different as soon as that fish disappears from my electronics. Usually you'll find something that they'll eat that way! I've even pulled a lure up that one was just following and dropped another down that I had rigged up on a different rod and had that fish slam the different lure. Always nice to carry multiple rods for that reason!
I've seen it matter for bass as well, but it seems much rarer. One time this past spring I had largemouth just swiping at a green pumpkin swim jig. Dyed the tail on the trailer chartreuse and they started inhaling it. Got lazy and didn't dye a trailer later, had to miss a couple before I took the hint and dyed it. Smallmouth it seems to matter more, though I've still usually found it's more light vs dark instead of green pumpkin purple flake vs green pumpkin candy. Of course clear water it seems to matter more than in dirty water.
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When the Senkos came out, I experimented with three basic (but very different) colors, 297 (Grn. Pmkn Blk Flk), 150 (Smoke Black Flake) and 187 (clear black flake). The only color of the three that worked in everything from crystal clear to as murky water as I typically fish was GP/Blk. Flake #297. So, GP with Blk flake has become my standard. I've since found other colors that work just as well...like #240, and have nothing at all against using similar colors, such as Watermelon Red Flake, Watermelon Candy, Mossy Pumpkin (Zoom), PB&J, etc. I think you need to be close, and that's good enough. I believe the main factor is being visible enough, but not too visible. Same colors work for lizards, worms, etc. Only fishing for LM & SM.
Color definitely matters. The other week we got on a wicked smallmouth bite (119 bass in 8hrs). In the morning they would eat anything black or green pumpkin. Then towards the afternoon those same lures stopped producing and a smoke/bluegill color started working. My cousin was using that and outfishing me 4-1 I was using a similar bait but different color. I started throwing Ned rigs and anything else to get bit and couldn’t catch anything. Remembered I had a finesse worm in the same exact color pattern as my cousins craw bait and put that on a shakey head. From then on we were catching fish at the same rate. So after using 10 diff baits and 5 diff colors, the only thing that performed just like that craw in bluegill color was a worm in bluegill color. Different body, different action, same color. I’m now a believer that color is way more important
Some ichthyologists have written that bass's vision is not "detail oriented" or something to that effect. I'd buy into that. They like movement that fits their mood, and a color that seems natural. FWIW, in the early '90's, green-ish colored soft plastic lures were rare.
I have seen shallow squarebill fish only bite a certain color with 2 of us in the boat, if you wasn't throwing it might as well sit down.
Just yesterday --my son and i were catching fish on sexy shad, but were catching em on back treble only. Switched to a craw color and chartruece/black. the fish started choking the crankbait all the way down their throat. Yes color does make a difference .
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I'd rate color lower in importance than size, shape, and movement, 90% of the time.
Any bass angler with experience, knows its not the only/or most important factor in catching success. It doesn't matter if you don't want to catch a lot of fish or do well in tournaments. Like others have said, the right color can trigger a bite or match something that looks natural to get more bites.
I absolutely believe it makes a difference in clear water. Maybe not so much on water that isn't extremely pressured as the local lakes around here.
Last edited by Les Young; 11-18-2018 at 08:54 PM.
Action before color...imo.
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