Are shades worth the money

[Bonefish]

When it comes to shades of color, how many do you need? Are too many shades of color unnecessary which are costly and take up space in an already crowded tackle box? When it come to bait colors, I like to use "reverse psychology" on bass by introducting the "camouflage Factor." If you are married, I am sure you know a lot about "reverse psychology."

I think if you stick to a few "natural colors" and present them with a "natural action", for the most part you are off to a good start. The real challenge is finding what fish like, not what looks good on the shelf. Black, blue, brown, and green are proven productive colors. Colors like green pumpkin, melon-seed, junebug and natural craw are excellent producers. Slight differences in shades I feel are an overkill and a waste of money. After finding the color fish want, presentation is the next most important thing you can do to increase strikes.

Slow-constant crawls, slow-short intermittent crawls and short hops allow the bigger, slower bass time to strike. As a rule, larger bass spend less energy chasing prey. That's why more big bass are caught on slow moving jigs, worms and creature baits. Many times we lose concentration and become impatient to trust the slower retrieve. The more natural the presentation of the prey being imitated, the more strikes are possible.

Tip: Soak cotton with your favorite scent and stuff your favorite grub to retain scent release longer. Pipe cleaners also work. Good fishing everyone!

[butternut13]

as a poor U of L grad student I agree, Bass Pro has about half my tuition on lures!

[Dave Stewart]

Amen on the slow presentation....I spend more time trying to get my clients to slow down their presentations of finesse baits than anything else...that is why you can ask any bass guide who is the more effective angler overall with finesse bites...women or men...women will win hands down...they focus more and fish slower.

[fishcatcher]

I agree on only needing just so many colors. I used to try all of the next batch of cool colors but now I can go to a bait store and I only buy the basic colors that I know catch fish. I bet I have a grocery bag of baits that are maybe 10 years old that I don't use. I do sometimes give the bait to kids so they can have something to practice with.:D

[Moose1am]

I've yet to see a Chartruse colored Shad or Crayfish in real life. But my chartruse colored plastic jig bodies sure do attract a lot of bites.


I think that baits that have contrasting colors work better than other baits. At least that is my impression.

I think that smell is more important once the fish get closer to a bait and home in on it. If it don't smell right, has gasoline scent on the bait, the fish may not bite.

Logically I would think that baits that mimic the natural prey species should be the best. Shad colored baits to imitate a gizzard shad or Threadfin shad. Crayfish color to imitate a crayfish. Never saw a purple earthworm or nightcrawler in my life. But I have seen red worms. I have seen black or brown crickets but never a yellow cricket. But then I have seen a yellow and black bumblebee.

I've caught a lot of bass on just plain white Balsawood 300 and 400 series bomber baits. Coach dog bomber baits in white with brown spots did well at KY lake for many years. They still catch bass today.

Motor Oil colored plastic worms soaked in Dr juice work well to for Bass on Barkley Lake and at Patoka Lake. I have successfully caught 2lb and up to 6lb bass on these baits.

Motor Oil colored Charlie Brewer crappie Sliders worked well on bass at Patoka, Glendale, and Barkley and Kentucky Lake for bass.