Posted this on here to find if there are any other builders/painters who have tried any experiments like this and what your results were. I posted this on another site a few months ago but about the only answers were about everything except the question asked.

Living in east central Indiana I do a lot of smallmouth fishing in the three main rivers in my area. Most of my fishing is done using crankbaits about 80% of the time, maybe not always the best choice but it is what I enjoy most.

The subject of color, color patterns and the detail of crankbaits is always a main topic of discussion anytime fishermen get together so I thought I would do a little testing of my own to see if it really makes any difference. The testing was done with a 3 color bait, one of my personal favorite colors, but using several variations of the same colors. The baits used were the same, Mdl. A Bomber Square bill in the 2” size, ( Gander Mnt. Bargin bin) no alterations were made except for color. The colors used were dark brown, chartreuse and orange and no other details were added. All the colors were airbrushed and no topcoat was used, since I would be repainting them often and a little paint loss was no problem. Experimenting with these baits over the last couple of years and have found a few interesting things.

These tests were done over a couple years time, nothing scientific, just wanted to know.

1. No matter which order that the paint was applied made any difference in the ability of the bait to catch fish. Brown back, chartreuse middle, orange belly or any combination to these colors on the bait. No eyes, gill or fin detail was painted on these baits just the color order. Also tried a couple with the colors painted from front to rear.

2. If I detailed any of these colors by adding scales, craw patterns or eyes it did not make any noticeable difference in catching fish. They sure did look better though.

3. Did the same thing a few years ago with FireTiger colors with the same results.

My own conclusion is that certain colors will catch fish, more by the colors painted than the order they are painted. The key is visibility in most water conditions, not “Match the Hatch”. Bass do not do a scale count before eating a bait.

What are your thoughts?