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Hello Fellow Anglers-
Saw this on YouTube and thought it was very interesting and informative and I thought to share it with you.
It talks about bass as an example, but hopefully it carries over to crappies, panfish and all other fishes.
Fish On!
https://youtu.be/m1teVb-c_l4?si=QzmIj7ilE_atHzc_
https://youtu.be/m1teVb-c_l4?si=IIPFDhYgslbYS4hs
Here’s another color study focusing on just bass, not sure if crappie/panfish have the same taste in colors, but just good to know and try.
Fish On!
https://youtu.be/2s8bxkBiAbw?si=SwPreFEnmvklcANQ
https://youtu.be/2s8bxkBiAbw?si=a8qJdfz-rUZPl8nY
I tend to agree, and also color is not as important as size.
Presentation is biggest part of getting bit . I been catching on one tube color for years . Swapped to using trash jigs made with shopping bags for over a year now .Attachment 509672
I'm a believer in size and contrast. Actually had a customer ask what jigs I kept in my box. Three colors black/white, straight black, and something bright, pink/chartreuse.
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Color doesn’t matter. Until it does ;)
I’ve started off days with six to ten different color crankbaits and ended the same, catching plenty of fish.
And probably more days they’ve shown a preference, or sometimes it’s the trash fish with the preference. I’ve swapped off baits that were catching catfish. Then there are times when they only wanted one particular rod, same baits. I finally figured that one out, same brand and model rod, one has an imperfection that gives it a little different tip action. But then there are days like this, a buddy you trust is fishing same lake, a couple miles apart. Talking on phone, you see bite go from solid black to pearl white, and his fish are swapping too, but at opposite times from yours :)
I guess that’s what keeps me entertained.
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It all matters until it don't! Most fish don't and will not bite no matter what you do but a few will.
Sometimes color matters, this much I am totally sure of, doesn't always matter , but sometimes it really does for sure
:hesaidQuote:
Originally Posted by Ketchn
Profile and speed. I'm convinced color does not matter. That being said, I pretty much fish natural baitfish colors always.
There was a time when I would've said color didn't matter. After fishing with live sonar, I can't say that. I've seen crappie ignore one color, change to something different and they would chase it a few feet and swim back to where they were. Change to a similar color or to a body that has one of the colors but a different second color and they'll start biting. I've also seen them not react to any color you throw at them.
Several years ago, before live sonar I was fishing with a friend. We were vertical fishing and pulled up to a spot and he started catching fish, I couldn't get a bite with anything I tried I finally changed to the same color jig body he was using. I did start getting a few bites but not like him. The only difference was the color of the jig head, I changed to the same color jig head and put the same color body back on, and the bites picked up drastically. As an experiment I went back to the color body I started with and continued to get bit, just not as many.
So yes, I think colors or a combination of colors matter to crappie. Having said that, I don't think small variations in color matter. Back in the early 80's when my buddy and I started crappie fishing in the winter there was an old man that fished one of the bays we fished, he was generally in the same spot every time. We talked to him several times on the water and in the parking lot at the ramp. He always had a livewell full of crappie in his old beat up 14' Polarcraft jon boat. He two poled with 5 1/2-6' rods and only fished one bait in two colors. One rod had an all-white hair jig, the other an all-black hair jig. We talked with him many times over the years, and he always had fish.
Maybe it's all psychological. LOL
those that think color does not matter, are sending out information that will cost you a bite in some cases .
most of those preaching it don't matter, are either beginners at ketchn crappie or just not paying attention to what matters .
I sat beside many of person over the years and watched them hammer fish with the EXACT same lure and exact same presentation as mine and the ONLY difference was color . Then I changed to the color they are using and first drop I used the color they were using AND KABOOM !
the things I have seen done over the years with colors and changes of them, to get fish to bite are endless ....
some spots it never seems to matter and others it is quite common for it matter ....
watch whatever you want on youtube and follow whoever as well , but to be very sure of this part ....
if they are preaching it don't matter , they are for sure not well rounded in the fine art of ketchn crappie ...just saying
Lure color matters to me. Sometimes, they bite on anything. Sometimes they are picky.
I’ve fished a Gulp Swimming Mullet on the back of an underspin jig for saltwater fish. Speckled trout, Redfish, etc…. They love the stuff. They would be tearing up the white one and suddenly the bite stopped. I’d leave the same jig on, but change the Gulp Mullet to pink, or orange, or chartreuse, etc… and the bite would start up again. When it stopped, I’d change color again. Did color not matter, because it was technically the same lure - just with a different color trailer? Or did the subtle change in color on the same lure get the fish biting again? I think it’s color. They were already interested in the lure, but the color change enticed the bite to start up again. Without the color change - they stopped biting.
But for freshwater fish, I think color comes more into play depending on water clarity. As long as the fish can see it, but it isn’t too much of a contrast, it’s enticing. If they fish can’t see it, they have to rely on the lures vibrations. If they can see it and it’s too much, I think it’s the equivalent of humans smelling hamburgers, and seeing a hamburger truck, but when we get to the truck and the burgers are glowing fluorescent green… we lose interest (and appetite). :Rofl
All the best,
Glenn
I really believe you are onto something there with thoughts on contrast, too little or too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajuntec
Where I mostly fish had been getting darker green over the last few years, and I think that’s why I’m having better luck with two tone baits lately.
I used to catch a lot on white or shad colored lures, and still throw one into the spread at the start of the day. But it’s been a long time since that was a hot color for me.
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contrast is sometimes very important to the degree that split color baits that are dark above and light on the belly when turned upside down will get hammered, while right side up gets totally ignored ,,,,,been there and seen that personally ....Texas avocado and it HAD to be upside down to get bit .....the food source was freezing to death and they were falling to the crappie upside down .....this is NOT a joke ....
Color does not seem important, even more with livescope putting a jig on their nose.:twocentsQuote:
Originally Posted by abarkley
Maybe in some lakes etc. color doesn't matter but i absolutely believe it matters way more than most give credit. I use a few different colors but other than monkey milk & chartreuse the rest are two colors & some days they way out fish the solid colors atleast 10 to 1 with the same identical setup. There are also days like with heavy stained water & bright sun the same colors with the exception of one having glitter & one not get way different results with the one with glitter catching them way more i think because of the flash.
this is why blue ice is so often terribly deadly in the sunshine , seen that many a time myself , glitter in a bait, creating that extra flash can be all the differenceQuote:
Originally Posted by Les Young