Well, I hate to be the one to say it, but I think most of us fisherman want our stuff to be pretty! :o I think that many lures on the market are to catch the fisherman.

My daughter (6) won't use anything unless it has sparkles and I think we get into a similar pattern. Ok, ok, maybe not just because it is pretty for us manly men! But if we go out one time and do good with a certain color, we DO remember this and look for anything with that color.

I have been trying to match a minnow for a lake I fish often. It's a creek chub, gold back with white belly and outfishes shiners any day. My effort has been mostly on getting that 2-tone look on top and bottom.

Look at most fish... light belly, darker back. My theory... view from the bottom and it will look like the bright sky, view from the top it will look like the dark bottom. Maybe years of evolution maybe not, but I am trying my darndest to match it.