Do you think color matters?

The fishing around here has been frustrating. Some days we go and catch a few to several. We haven't slayed them yet. And some days we go and can hardly get a bite. Like the past two days. I caught zero yesterday and zero today. I asked one gent out in the lake if he was doing any good and he was not happy, but he had 4-5 fish, he said. I was fishing 2-3' deep in 4' water and he was fishing near the bottom in 6-7' of water. Just a few days ago, we caught 5 big crappie fishing for bass at the same places I went today. That's why I went today, to load up from those spots where we caught them bass fishing.

It makes me wonder... do you think color matters? Do you ever try this and that and know you are in good places but they won't bite and have you ever found a color that really did seem to matter? Or do you think they just all of a sudden started biting!

:popcorn I hope color matters or I have bought a bunch of different color jigs and lures this week for nothing. I did see a video on youtube were a man said he used only two colors of jigs. One was black/chartreuse and the other white/ chartreuse. He said that by using these two he would start with the black/char and if they didn't bite he would go to the white/char. He said by doing this he went from one light spectrum to the absolute other spectrum.:dono I don't know so I am going to set back now and read what others say.:popcorn

I have no doubt that it matters. I have experimented when sitting directly over a school with two rods rigged with different color bodies, same head. One color got them on every drop the other not a tap for 5 -10 minutes then got one. After that fish I dropped the other color back down and got a fish or a miss on ever drop once again. All winter the best color in the river was yellow with a red tail. Now as always on this body of water the spring brings a rush on anything blue and white or grey/green. You can still catch on yellow and red but it's 2 - 1 at best. But color is only one part of the equation. Had my buddies sons out in the boat last week and they insisted on using the ugliest color I had every seen and they started catching. Seems the crappie liked their dead slow retreive more than they disliked the color. Once we started copying that retrive blue and white and grey green out produced that ugly color.

Maybe 20 years ago, when I was so into bass fishing, I gave up and fished only a black worm and caught just as many fish, if not more.

I think it can make a difference but also think size of bait should have equal consideration . I used to fish mainly 1/8 during the spawn but have discovered that trying different size has triggered more bites than color change . Fishing 1/100 jigs at bay springs and could not get a bite on a 1/32 made me rethink what I had been doing for years . We all have jigs we start with according to water clarity so I change size on my 3rd color change as a rule now . jmo . :popcorn

I feel color does matter and many others feel the same way. Couple years ago we were fishing a cove and a buddy pulls up and starts fishing the same area. After a lot of trials we had determined silver head, grey body and pale blue tail to be what the fish wanted. Our buddy after about 30 minutes of nothing finally begs. He took a look and found something close.... Naw and half hour later begs again, I cast the jig into his boat and said take that one. He had his first fish before I had retied a fresh jig on my line.

If water clarity is under 2' I start with black head, chart body black tail over 2' Chart head, blue body, chart tail. I have every color imaginable and some that defy description. Some days may try 50 different jigs but usually find a color that works.

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 ... :dono

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 :kewl

For 30 yrs. I fished a blue and clear. Catched a lot of crappie. About a decade ago I started Power trolling- 5 jigs a pole on a 5 ounce weight. All different colors. Yessr COLORS do matter. One of the best single pole guys I know keeps 10 different colors in his left hand and changes constantly.

Colors reflect what type of bait the fish are hitting. Sometimes they are chasing shad, sometimes minnows, sometimes other predator fish. They are all different colors too. You have to experiment and see what the fish are eating. Sometimes they just can't stand ANY color around them so they bite out of aggression trying to get the jig out of their territory. I firmly believe the UV factor makes a difference on the jigs as well. The sun can make the jig look like gold under whater with the right colors. That's why some people use UV paint to draw a bite. You have to use all the colors you can to find the right bite.

I qm of the color matters school as well. If nothing more than to be more visible for given light and water clarity.

I think color does matter. anything with chartruse or some hint of blue seem to work most of the time for me.

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Originally Posted by eagle 1

I think it can make a difference but also think size of bait should have equal consideration . I used to fish mainly 1/8 during the spawn but have discovered that trying different size has triggered more bites than color change . Fishing 1/100 jigs at bay springs and could not get a bite on a 1/32 made me rethink what I had been doing for years . We all have jigs we start with according to water clarity so I change size on my 3rd color change as a rule now . jmo . :popcorn

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Very well said....i think color does matter to some degree but to me presentation and the size matter even more i have believed that for years but it was drove home to me on a few early trips this year our lake was low due to drawdown and i could see my stakebeds and was tightlining the small stingers i make and would catch a fish or two on each spot and this same thing happened on several beds i knew the fish were there so i decided to try my tiny grubs(i just had gotten the mold and this was the first time i tried them)and it was a bonanza after that i would pitch that small bait into the same beds i had fished with a slightly larger bait and we must have caught 100 or so fish in short order.Not only does a person need to play with colors on a given day but if you know fish are there and won't bite what your using try to switch up styles and sizes also you might just get a surprise.....

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Originally Posted by kickingback

Colors reflect what type of bait the fish are hitting. Sometimes they are chasing shad, sometimes minnows, sometimes other predator fish. They are all different colors too. You have to experiment and see what the fish are eating. Sometimes they just can't stand ANY color around them so they bite out of aggression trying to get the jig out of their territory. I firmly believe the UV factor makes a difference on the jigs as well. The sun can make the jig look like gold under whater with the right colors. That's why some people use UV paint to draw a bite. You have to use all the colors you can to find the right bite.

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I agree with the different colors of baitfish etc and the reaction bites, but Most fish have been proven to see in the same color spectrum as us except at night...then fish like Crappie and Wallleye see in HD black and White....Recent research has shown that fish do not see UV light and most researchers have jumped off the UV coating bandwagon!
On thing I have notice is that the Dye I use is suppose to have UV BLAST in it (????) but it does make the Fluorescent colors brighter.

I fish with other buddies that fish exactly the way that I do....the good thing about that is that I have been able to experiment with different things while we are out...and this helped us all.
Once we are catching fish, I will start experimenting with different colors, shapes, and sizes to see if they work during different patterns. We also track craws, baitfish size, hatches of insects, and what's in Crappie bellies, etc.
It is true that they will key in on certain colors, they key in on certain shapes and sizes also.
In early Spring (AT OUR LAKE, 2500 acres, stained) they will key in on small 2 inch natural minnows, so a smoke Silver Glitter or Bluegill color works best....then as the water warms they will start feeding on 3 inch Shad, so Shad Colors start coming into play....during the Spawn ANYTHING will work, I have thrown paper bits, foil, and bits of plastic bags on my hook and caught fish just to prove points. After the spawn craws are out heavy, shad, and other baitfish are eaten to recover from the spawn, again they will hit about anything!
Then when the heat hits, things start to slow down in the day time and you have to down-size. This is when I fish at night, they will feed heavy at night and vibration, smell, etc, takes over from color...some days glow colors work also!
When the shad fry are about and inch, they start keying in on those colors, they will take other fry, but the smell of shad just calls out sushi to them!
In-between all of this, you have freshwater shrimp hatches in certain states, insect and larval hatches, and worms....so besides all the feeding bite colors, you have reaction bite colors also.
If you can pattern your lake, like we have, it cuts down on what you have to carry throughout the year!

Good Fishing!

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Originally Posted by scrat

:popcorn I hope color matters or I have bought a bunch of different color jigs and lures this week for nothing. I did see a video on youtube were a man said he used only two colors of jigs. One was black/chartreuse and the other white/ chartreuse. He said that by using these two he would start with the black/char and if they didn't bite he would go to the white/char. He said by doing this he went from one light spectrum to the absolute other spectrum.:dono I don't know so I am going to set back now and read what others say.:popcorn

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You can bet your bottom dollar that it matters as long as you have chartreuse in the lure and fish it on a pink jig head. Fish it V-E-R-Y slow and then slow down your retrieve some more. As Bugman said, size matters. I stick with 1/16th and 1/32nd jig heads fished on four pound Stren HI Vis yellow line. These are all you really need. Works for me.

chartreuse and chartreuse
chartreuse and white
chartreuse and pink
chartreuse and aqua
chartreuse and black
chartreuse and flo orange

Very interesting discussion! In all my years of fishing, I've always been of the mind set that the primary factors to fishing success are depth and speed control (Buck Perry's concept from the 60's). And I've always treated color as the 3rd or 4th. in terms of importance. However, with these darn fish that we are here about - crappie mainly - I've re-thought this factor.

Take yesterday for instance. In my post in the New England States Forum here, all those fish we caught were on mainly one color combination - pink & chartreuse straight tails. Switching to just plain chartreuse or pink, your hit ratio went down dramatically. Tried white, red, motor oil in straight & twister tails. NADA! Going back to the pink & chartreuse and you got nailed on almost every cast. Go figure! :)

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Originally Posted by scrat

I did see a video on youtube were a man said he used only two colors of jigs. One was black/chartreuse and the other white/ chartreuse. He said that by using these two he would start with the black/char and if they didn't bite he would go to the white/char. He said by doing this he went from one light spectrum to the absolute other spectrum.

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A lot of good replies so far that I am in agreement with. Color is a 3rd or 4th consideration after depth, speed, etc. Some days it matters, others it doesn't. I think the main reason for color preferences on a given day is the water color and lighting conditions. What's most important is that they can SEE it. That's why this Black/White dichotomy works. I do the exact same thing. I have found that I can usually catch them on black-chart. or white-chart. I use the black with clear water and the white with muddy water. I use other colors, but that dark/light tradeoff is usually the first step to narrowing in on what they want (or what they can see well). If they are picky, I have to continue narrowing it down from there, but I often don't make it past that.

Color definitely matters as does other factors. It called developing a pattern. Jig size, color, presentation, speed, depth, the type of bait, weight along with many other factors have to be considered when developing a pattern. With crappie, time of day can be a factor and current. Stage of the spawn maybe your issue. My hey may have started leaving spawning areas scattering back along staging areas to recover from spawn. I see you are in LA. Is this tidal waters. If not tidal or having a natural current, you may have an artificial current being created by the wind. This will cause fish to stage in different areas to ambush bait. Color does matter, but they're also many other factors to be considered. Sometimes tipping your jig with a power nibble or live bait such as a minnow or grass shrimp can be the extra ticket. To me the fun is in the challenge of finding the right pattern. Then the satisfaction is the benefit of catching.

To leave you with one last tip: When bass fishing always keep a ultralight in the boat in case you happen onto a hungry panfish.

Definately - although it can change during the day. The right presentation and size and depth also factor in. I've seen times with trout 1" deeper and you'd be catching otherwise not. Plus being in the North and the winter being as bad as it was powder coating gave me some time to try some mix's I'd seen here on the board. I use a small duo-lock snap for quick changes and never had a problem with them.

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Originally Posted by shipahoy41

You can bet your bottom dollar that it matters as long as you have chartreuse in the lure and fish it on a pink jig head. Fish it V-E-R-Y slow and then slow down your retrieve some more. As Bugman said, size matters. I stick with 1/16th and 1/32nd jig heads fished on four pound Stren HI Vis yellow line. These are all you really need. Works for me.

chartreuse and chartreuse
chartreuse and white
chartreuse and pink
chartreuse and aqua
chartreuse and black
chartreuse and flo orange

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Research has shown that when filming or viewing Chartreuse underwater that it is muted into a gold shade...Most if not all baitfish have some gold coloration from light reflecting off their scales, and predator fish are keyed in on that.
Other colors also mute in water also, so what we are seeing in the store can be a lot different when underwater to a fish.
True Fluorescent colors tend to hold their brightness more than regular hues and are recommended to use on super bright (Bluebird) days.....differences in bites at different times and patterns, have been shown from changing from Regular Chartreuse to Fluorescent Chartreuse.

This URL may answer the color question.
Lure Color Selection: Fishing Techniques On Make Wooden Lures

Size and colors. .

Yes

Yes color matters. But the color changes frequently and is relative to light, water clarity, current, bait, and possibly many other factors.

It is also true that changing color back and forth is helpful. But this, I mean will keep trying different color baits until I get a consistent bite. Then sometimes when the bite stops for a while, I'll throw another color and immediately catch a couple. And then I'll switch back and forth with these two colors and always catch more than those around me. I am pretty consistent in my presentation and retrieve so the difference in color helps get their attention again.

YES COLOR MATTERS !!! If you want to try a new color always try it when your catching fish not when they're not biting or you will never have faith in it.

Yes, some days it is very important. Some days not so much. All the information given is right on a given day. You just have to find out what works best for you.

:popcorn Done and read all this several times and I have learned again more in one evening reading than I would have in years of trial and error fishing. Anyone that crappie fishes and they are not a member of crappie.com doesn't know what they are missing. I have read and asked questions and have learned tons on this web site. How crappie change their eating habits as far as size,presentation, speed or movement, as well as depth and color. I have noticed that about 99% of people use chartreuse in most of their color combinations. With most having black/chartreuse as their most used goto color. I have also noticed 1/32 and 1/16 is a very popular weight jig head. Crappie like slow presentations in winter and faster ones in the spring and early summer. Now if I can just remember all this when them crappie refuse to bite next time. Thanks for asking this question Livemusic and thanks everyone all the information and still reading.:popcorn

As one who if not fishing is thinking about fishing and as one who retired their 5000 dollar tackle box and now uses one 8 by 10 plano box.......you need black/green and yellow/white.

The rest of it is presentation and above all things the weight of the jig is very important. Generally the lighter the jig the better the bite. Kinda depends on how you are fishing, what method you are using, but lighter jigs that fall slow always most of the time do much better than heavy jigs. For example to me a heavy jig is 1/32. I throw many lighter than that, and all those standard 1/8 to 1/4 one day I threw them all in the trash can. I do not wish to knock out the fish, I wish to present a slow fall to them this is what triggers the bite, hey do bait fish come in pink and yellow dots? Or tangerine orange and purple.............chuckle.

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Originally Posted by Kit Carson

As one who if not fishing is thinking about fishing and as one who retired their 5000 dollar tackle box and now uses one 8 by 10 plano box.......you need black/green and yellow/white.

The rest of it is presentation and above all things the weight of the jig is very important. Generally the lighter the jig the better the bite. Kinda depends on how you are fishing, what method you are using, but lighter jigs that fall slow always most of the time do much better than heavy jigs. For example to me a heavy jig is 1/32. I throw many lighter than that, and all those standard 1/8 to 1/4 one day I threw them all in the trash can. I do not wish to knock out the fish, I wish to present a slow fall to them this is what triggers the bite, hey do bait fish come in pink and yellow dots? Or tangerine orange and purple.............chuckle.

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You say black/green and yellow/white. Do you think it matters where the color is? Black on front, green on tail? Or vice versa?

YES! Colors change throughout the day.

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Originally Posted by livemusic

You say black/green and yellow/white. Do you think it matters where the color is? Black on front, green on tail? Or vice versa?

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Unless there is some special tied jig, for the most part all jigs in Black/Chartreuse have black body and chartreuse tail, or yellow body and white tail, and some plastics are muti colored and have solid body and two color tail. I do not worry about it much and the jig I use most is black body with chartreuse tail. Now I may change from plastic to marabou or deer hair depending on water temp and or rate of fall I want. Mostly I use cheap jigs with an hook eye I can slip a small rubber band into the eye and slightly ben the hook a bit and hook the rubber band(the kind used for braces on teeth) over the barb. My fishing style is shooting docks or fishing right in the middle of heavy cover. So I spend more time trying to not lose my jig than worry about color. I suspect I could use a green, pink, yeller, black and orange with purple spots and so long as I shoot it way back there in the shade a crappie or big bluegill is gonna jump on it. I am a firm advocate of the fish are always biting, if not it is the fisherman doing something wrong with the presentation. I know this to be so as I have lost the day simply over the weight of a jig, lesson learned use as light a jig as you can use for the conditions of that day. You know you can also use pre made pork leeches in white is the color they come in or if you catch a white perch cut a strip of the white belly skin and use that. That works very well sometimes also when the bite is slow and you know the fish are there. If I really want some two pound crappie that is a very good way to catch the really big ones that hide under the dock and are gunshy.

I will say color does matter,but not to the extreme some believe.I get tickled watching many seasoned trout fishermen,as they shuffle through the multitude of powerbait colors.Ive seen some change colors so often,the fish can't seem to keep up,yet by the end of the day,more trout caught on powerbait are caught on chartreuse,corn yellow and orange.
I don't really know what a fish sees as far as color goes,but reason would say,lures that are natural color ( similar to foods they eat) would be the winner hands down,yet we see many fish bight on colors and color combos that would would make the 60's hippies proud.
This all leads me to the conclusion,fish strike for several reasons,color being just one,but not as important as we would like to believe.I wonder how often a color is not working,we don't simply change colors,but rather color and lure type?When we do and suddenly we start getting strikes,we assume the color change did it,not taking into account the action may have been the dominating factor.......that said,I have a ton of different colors,types,and sizes of as many lures as my allowance will allow,just in case!:biggrin

If I remember right "In Fisherman" did some test years back about color of different baits and what effect they have on the catch rate. At certain depths the color of the lure completely changed. What they found was that red and any variation was the best color. Red, purple, pink, orange, could be seen at the deepest depths. Where as white and yellow turned gray. I think there is a chart somewhere that will show what colors are the most notable at deeper depths.

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Originally Posted by sparkie51

If I remember right "In Fisherman" did some test years back about color of different baits and what effect they have on the catch rate. At certain depths the color of the lure completely changed. What they found was that red and any variation was the best color. Red, purple, pink, orange, could be seen at the deepest depths. Where as white and yellow turned gray. I think there is a chart somewhere that will show what colors are the most notable at deeper depths.

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All colors turn to grey then black, visually, once they get beyond the depth of light penetration. No light = no reflection of color = black.

It used to crack me up when my fellow Bass anglers, worm fishing at night, would swear the only color they could catch anything on was xxxx or xxzz and I was catching just as many or more on a black/red tail worm. :Rofl

And actually ... blue and black can be seen at the greatest depth, while the reds/oranges lose their color the fastest and are perceived as grey, as they descend into the depths, until they get beyond the light penetration .... then they're perceived as black.

... cp :kewl