| This is a topic that comes up many times when | | | | water, silver or gold can be rendered nearly invisible |
| discussing bass lures, and the proper colors to use. | | | | when the sun goes behind the clouds, because they |
| Biologists know that bass can see colors, and they | | | | reflect the grayness around them instead of the |
| probably can see red and green better than a human. | | | | sunlight. When this happens we always switch to a |
| Bass also have better visual acuity, which helps them | | | | bone or a pearl-white color. Jigs, Creature baits, and |
| during daylight and the darker periods of the day | | | | other bottom type lures can be hard for bass to see |
| near dusk. Although there has been much written | | | | under dark skies. When this happens we use the |
| about how bass use their lateral line and sense of | | | | same browns and blacks that we use in the muddier |
| smell when feeding, their eyes are still their most vital | | | | water, even if the water is clear, but it has become |
| sensory organ. | | | | cloudy or very dark. |
| LURE COLOR AND WATER CLARITY | | | | Chartreuse is another excellent color when its cloudy. |
| The clarity of the water is a key factor in | | | | We found that Chartreuse is more effective on small |
| determining what color lure to use. In slear water, | | | | lures such as grubs and small crankbaits. We just use |
| that is les than five feet deep, bass can see colors | | | | it as a secondary color on the larger baits in these |
| extremely well. In thses conditions lures that mimic | | | | conditions. Just the right amount of a bright color |
| the baitfish available, such as spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, | | | | such as orange or chartreuse can attract bass, just |
| and crankbaits, should be used in silver and gold | | | | as too much of a bright color can sometimes turn |
| finishes. The silver and gold flashing more closely | | | | them off! The best thing to do as a rule is to add |
| resembles a baitfish in this type of water, and as | | | | bright colors to the baits a little at a time until you |
| they wobble, and flash, they attract bass from long | | | | determine what the bass want. Once, in Virginia, the |
| distances. | | | | bass absolutely wouldn't hit any lig you had unless it |
| When you are using lures such as ligs, tubes, worms, | | | | had a small fleck of Chartreuse on the trailer. Too |
| or anything that is designed to resemble a crawfish | | | | much and they ignored it. |
| or an eel, then the best colors would be a subtle | | | | ADD FLASH WITH FLAKES |
| breen or brown in the clear waters. In stained water, | | | | There are many soft plastics that come with |
| which is what we have the most of here in the | | | | different flakes built it. A Yamamoto "IKA" tube in |
| Northeast, that is water with a visibility of around | | | | smoke , is a good example. This worked extremely |
| one to three feet), different colors may come inti | | | | well for us this year in all the rivers and lakes where |
| play. Brighter colors such as firetiger, charteuse, citrus | | | | there were a lot of shad, and the"Sweet Beaver" |
| shad are better producers here. In muddy water, | | | | worked well also, but seemed much better than the |
| (that is water that has a visibilty of one foot or less), | | | | Kreature on several occassions when there were not |
| dark colors produce the best. Bass will hit on crawfish | | | | as many shad but more crawfish in the areas we |
| patterned crankbaits, brown jigs with orange trailers, | | | | sampled. |
| black and blue plastics, etc. | | | | Flake colors usually work best when it is sunny in |
| SKY CONDITIONS AND COLOR | | | | clear to stained water. On cloudy days, or in muddy |
| Many people don't pay enough attention to the sky | | | | water, try using different plastics with black flakes, |
| conditions during the day.The changing conditions of | | | | or pepper, mixed in for contrast. There are many |
| the sky dictate what color you should be using. | | | | other color combinations that work well in various |
| When fishing minnow type lures, keep in mind that | | | | waters all over the country, but if you learn these |
| shiney colors like silver and gold loose their | | | | simple basic techniques for color matching you can't |
| effectiveness under heavy cloud cover. In clear | | | | go wrong. |