How many color variations of the same hardbait do you think is necessary? When I buy crankbaits I usually get one in a natural baitfish color and one in a chartreuse like color. 

I think something natural like a shad type color and something bright like firetiger/chartreuse are really the only two 'necessary' colors. That said, if you are looking to expand on colors of the same bait, I would recommend picking out something flashy and something translucent for ultra clear waters if applicable. I have made the mistake of buying hardbaits in "different" colors that ended up being too similar when I should have gone for more variety.

55 minutes ago, RedHeadAngler said:

How many color variations of the same hardbait do you think is necessary? When I buy crankbaits I usually get one in a natural baitfish color and one in a chartreuse like color. 

No less than 5, 7 or 8 would be better, more if you can afford it, just like me.

I have lots of crankbaits in just one color but a baitfish and something with some chartreuse are my favorites . I quit trying to have everything long ago .

42 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have lots of crankbaits in just one color but a baitfish and something with some chartreuse are my favorites . I quit trying to have everything long ago .

Traitor, you are supposed to support the economy and help create jobs for the fishing tackle industry purchasing as much color variations as you can.

I like to have a vast variety of color cranks, I have learned that certain colors work better than others on certain lakes and since I fish all kinds of different bodies of water I like to have all types of colors to experiment with. And there's been times I caught schoolers on cranks and when thy stopped biting making a subtle color change could reignite the school.. i like shad colored, bluegill, red, chrome, chartuse , chartuese shad, blue and bone white

I like to have 3 or 4 color patterns depending on the type of crank. I like to have a natural pattern, a visibly loud color, a bone/white/pearl color and a dark color. In the waters I fish the visibility is normally 2' to 4' on average so I tend to run more colors with my shallow cranks than I do with mid or deep divers.

Deep divers; Shad*, red/black crawdad,all black w/orange belly, pearl white.

Medium and Shallow divers, Shad, ghost, baby bass, fire tiger and pearl white.

Lipless divers, silver Shad, gold Shad, red/black crawdad, bone white.

I tend to use the black and pearl white at night and during the rain.

Averaging about 4 colors per depth range, why restrict yourself?

Tom

* green, black, blue, grey backs = about 4 Shad colors.

I usually go with shad, chartreuse, bluegill, and craw colors. With as bad as I usually do with cranks, I don't know why I even buy that many.