Quote Originally Posted by CrappiePappy View Post
There is some residual light above the water, so the black bait creates a more visible silhouette against the sky/water's surface. Fish looking upwards can see that silhouette. Even fish looking forward or downward can distinguish the black profile of the bait against the "not so black" bottom of the lake ... that same residual light will illuminate the lake bottom to a slight degree, but the black bait will not reflect any of that light, so it appears "darker" than the background (lake bottom).

"Slowboat" is also correct in that the curly tail will throw off vibrations (pressure waves) that can be detected by the lateral line of the fish.

It's also known that Crappie do tend to feed during the twilight times (first light & post sundown) and often do so in the shallows ... which is also where many of the baitfish minnows are at those times !!
We used to fish spinnerbaits for Bass at night and favorite colors were black and purple . We have even used white on moonlight nights . It is like crappiePappy stated they are looking up at a profile against light from above . But sound and vibration helps them find your baits also because of their lateral lines .