chartruese

Is chartruese the only color that works? I fished a lot as a kid, but quit until last year when I got a boat and got back into it. And except for maybe one bass on a white spinnerbait and one on a christmas tree Tiki Stick, chartruese is the only color that I catch fish on. crankbaits, spinnerbaits, or plastics. I have used other colors but they just don't produce for me. I mainly fish cedar creek, beaver, and the KY river. Ist it the stained water? does chartruese just show up better?

scarboni,

I fish KY and Barkley lakes, and I can understand what you are talking about. I've always had better luck with chartruese baits, or at least baits dipped in spikeit chartruese to create a contrast in colors.

However, I have noticed that in the spring, other colors do exceptionally well, in smallmouth waters I've had luck with white crankbaits in the spring, blue and white bandits also work often well for me.

This year, in the summer, I've found that using watermelon or green pumkin has worked pretty well. I think the biggest thing is the confidence we have in these particular baits. For instance, a normal jig and pig, I can only catch dinks, and that is supposed to be a big fish bait... go figure.

I heard it on a fishing show once, and I found that it is true. You have to fish every cast as if you "KNOW" you are going to catch a fish on that cast. This raises your concentration, and also you reaction time. If you lose that concentration, and let your mind wander for just a minute, you will undoubtedly feel the fish **** your bait in, and blow it back out before you can react.

It is very tedious to fish this way, and I definately have not mastered it. In fact, it drives me crazy to miss a bite because I know I did not react quickly enough because my mind was else where.

Good luck, you'll soon have it all mastered. *devilish grin* LOL

Danny

I've fished the KY river a few times, and I always do better on white grubs. If they're not biting on white, I'll go to chartreuse. I think Danny makes an excellent point about confidence. That's probably most of the reason why white works for me and chartreuse for you; those are the colors we feel confident using. A lot of people say the color of the jig matters more to the fisherman than to the fish...

I too agree with the confidence aspect. I will go fish and start with what I think should work, giving water color, temp, available cover etc. And if the fishing is slow or tough in any way, I always end up going to my, so called, Ol' Stand By, which I probably should have started with.

Im kinda of the oppisite. The color I usually use is black grape. Zoom makes it. I do mostly largemouth fishing, but here recently started smallmouth fishing. I feel the darker the baits are better. Black and blue work well for jigs for me. I got over 20 different colors in my tackle box, but I have at least 10 packs of the black grape and 10 black and blue jigs. I have tried the other colors but never had the success I have had with the black grape. I believe the fish can see it a little better, for it being dark and all. The shade of it in the water sticks out better when its on the bottom. I fish mostly in laurel and havent really been anywhere else. Just started fishing this year. But on one day, me and a buddy caught 60 largemouth between us just using the black grape finesse worm. Guess it hard to change when you have had success with something. Others might work but your afraid to use them bc you know you have something that works.

ds,

That's exactly what I meant by confidence. You caught those 60 that one day on that color, and now you really believe that is exactly what you need to go to when you can't get bit.

As an example, for the longest time, on KY and Barkley I almost never caught anything but using a CR, fishing a pumpkin/chartruese lizard, with the tail dipped in spike it to make it more "flourescent". On one day, in one hour, on one of my honey holes, I caught 35 and my brother-in-law caught 25, all on the same bait, that zoom lizard in pumpkin/chartruese. It has been very difficult for me to over come that prejduice in my fishing. When the water is really stained, or the light level is low, I find my best color to be junebug, which is a purple color. But as I said, I am trying to over come this pigeon hole type thinking.

Look at all the folks on this board who swear by "roadkill" made by snoozers. I know they are gone now, and another bait company makes a knockoff (fraudulent) type bait, and I have used them. Until recently, I've always had much more faith in watermelon tubes by Prowler, dipped in chartruese (again..LOL).

Good luck, and keep catching them.

Danny

I understand the confidence thing, and I have heard it a lot. But, I have thrown several colors into places that I just "knew" there was a fish and came out with nothing. I guess when I say chartruese it covers several shades of the green and yellow, maybe that is too broad but I haven't distinguished all the different shades yet. Actually, there has been only about 3 baits that have produced for me this year. Chartruese buzzbait early and late, chartruese or green t-rigged lizards and lately it has been a Rapala suspending broken minnow CB that is green and chart.

I use alot of colors on my soft plastics but the one I use the most is black. Red is my second color with yellow being my least used. Oddly enough chart. was my first choice years ago.