Lure Colors

[goosecreekguy]

Ive heard several times that fish only see certain colors underwater, and that colors (as they appear on the water's surface) will have a different apprearance underwater. I think I get the whole muddy vs. stained vs. clear water aspect, at least mostly, but isn't this a good question to ask when thinking about lure patterns and colors?

I guess all this sittin around waitin to fish has got my mind wondering about things like this... Any help or info is greatly appreciated...alot of smart fisherman on this board and I'm looking forward to some good opinions. -Rob

[slowride]

clear= natural color, stained/muddy= dark silhouette ie. black or black/blue........thats my approach i keep it simple

[Col Forbin]

Green pumpkin looks like a cheeseburger under water. I wil fish it in some way all year. I like a little tip of chartruese, especially if it gets stained. Most lakes around here have a good crawfish population. The colors of the crawfish vary quite a bit throughout the year and from place to place. Green pumpkin is kind of the middle ground for craw colors, and i will vary lighter or darker (light browns/pb&j to black and blue) - but I usually end up back with green pumpkin.

[findingem]

Clear to stained I use green pumpkin. stained to muddy I use black and blue. These are the colors I use 90% of the time. Keep it simple.

[12VoltMan]

Back to SCUBA diving: When I was doing my open-water certification in the rock quary, one of the other students (a female) had pink fins, mask and snorkle. I noticed that even in real shallow water, less then 10 foot, they turned almost gray in color. If pink does this in less than 10 foot, I imagine red turns grey shortly there after.

[DJD]

Back to SCUBA diving: When I was doing my open-water certification in the rock quary, one of the other students (a female) had pink fins, mask and snorkle. I noticed that even in real shallow water, less then 10 foot, they turned almost gray in color. If pink does this in less than 10 foot, I imagine red turns grey shortly there after.

Yep always heard that Red was one of the first if not the first color fade so I guess Pink is the same.

I use natural colors in clear to very little stain and hotter colors (red, chartuese, yellows) in stained and dark colors in muddy. There are always exceptions but thats pretty much were I start.

[TEE]

I beleive it's more of a confidence thing too....
I think they just see different colors and lighter as darker hues.
I usually let the water color tell me what I'll be using.
I also think that red cranks do better in spring for both LM and SM because when they are up shallow for spawn..most crayfish take on a red hue. Some I've seen in the mouths of both with blue tips on their pinchers. Seems they can definitley see that!

[Jabbo]

Clear Water- Clear Baits.
Darker Water- Darker Baits.
Muddy Water- Rattle Baits or Scent baits in a larger profile and Bright Colors or Dark Colors
Slightly stained water (can see 1-2 feet)- Natural colors
Pretty Basic stuff, hope it helps

[00SKEETER]

Terry Scroggins keeps it very simple. He said he only carries two colors of Jigs (Blk.Blue and Green Pumpkin). He said he only carries a couple colors of crankbaits (Citrus Shad and Foxy Shad and only a couple crawdad colors). I think we make it too complicated (myself included) with colors. I mean when you watch KVD fish a crank, 90% if the time he's throwing a shad color no matter what time of the year it is. And when Timmy Horton fishes a crank he's throwing Citrus Shad or Foxy Shad 90% of the time and these guys are some of the best crankbait fisherman out there.

[goosecreekguy]

Thanks for the opinions guys...I agree that we tend to make it more complicated than it probably should be. But 12voltman brings up a good point about how pink and red change to a gray appearance, even at shallow depths. I'd be curious to find out what other colors change underwater.
i'll be sure to keep plenty of green pumpkin cheeseburgers handy....
thanks for the opinions guys, lots of good information.
-Rob

[roadrunner]

I had a friend tell me once color make no difference and he had four tackle boxes of every color ever invented. By the end of the trip he would like to have those words back. That was ten years ago and we still don't cut him any slack.

[artcarney_agr]

I believe action is the number one thing to concern yourself with. Keep your colors simple and basic, limit yourself to two or three colors, and focus more on the action of your bait.

A fish won't see the color unless you can get his attention first...