I'm of the impression that color "can" matter, at times. At other times, not so much. Sometimes shape, size, depth, retrieve speed, and presentation, or any combination of or all together makes as much difference, or more. Color, to me, is a variable puzzle piece. I know why the fish would hit certain colors, as they mimic other fish or critters that are on the fish's menu. But, then why do they hit pink, yellow, orange, or purple ?? Ain't no critters out there wearing those colors. But, fish like Crappie are sight feeders ... first and foremost. And if the colors are lost in the water clarity or the background color of the scenery behind the bait, then the fish are forced to use their lateral lines & sense of smell to find it and decide whether or not it's food or foe.

I've experienced times when a solid pink Roadrunner was the only thing that would elicit a strike on 90% of the casts made. And I've also experienced times when the most garish colors, on baits that had gotten soiled from being long forgotten in the deep recesses of a seldom used tackle box, would get bitten as though it were the biggest, fattest, juiciest morsel of food that the fish had ever seen. I wondered ... why ??? Could have been that they were easy to see, under the clarity conditions of the water ... or it was the presentation I was using ... or it was because I happened to be fishing during a feeding period ... or it was just that I had offered them something new & unusual, and their curiosity had gotten the better of them ...

What I do believe, from my experience, is that contrasting colors seem to work better overall, than do single colors. And it's one of the reasons I tend to use baits (especially jig bodies) that have a chartreuse tail or belly, with a body or back color that contrasts or even clashes with the chartreuse. I cover two sections of the color spectrum, which I believe makes the bait more visible in various water clarity or background colors ... thereby making the bait more visible & eliciting more curiosity, if not outright making the fish "hungry" for a taste.

... cp