I would like to know what colors of shad or other baitfish and craws that they are eating, and what color baits people are using.

I'm a keep it simple guy... I keep green pumpkin (which mimics bluegill and almost everything else), black & blue, and some brown/orange color on hand.  If I fish a lake full of smelt or stocked trout, I'll occasionally pick up a grey/silver color.

 

Sent you a PM with a link in it.

 

I generally am the same, I personally love white spinnerbaits, but I have trouble picking any colors for soft plastics and such.

17 minutes ago, Dmacster1 said:

but I have trouble picking any colors for soft plastics and such.

Keep it simple and stick with green pumpkin and variants for soft plastics, and don't worry about using the wrong color.  Bass aren't going to decide wether to hit a bait or not because of its color.  Some people disagree and say that you have to "match the hatch", and then go out and throw a pink trick worm or a chartreuse spinnerbait.

47 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Keep it simple and stick with green pumpkin and variants for soft plastics, and don't worry about using the wrong color.  Bass aren't going to decide wether to hit a bait or not because of its color.  Some people disagree and say that you have to "match the hatch", and then go out and throw a pink trick worm or a chartreuse spinnerbait.

Haha, ive never understood the allure of pink worms and stuff like that, but its to each his own.

I will echo what the others have said- Green pumpkin/ black and blue. I have had a ton of success with the watermelon variants like watermelon candy (Yum soft plastic)

1 hour ago, Dmacster1 said:

Haha, ive never understood the allure of pink worms and stuff like that, but its to each his own.

Pink (or other brightly colored) trick worms are usually fished weightless just underneath the surface, and the bright pink color makes it easier for us to see it, since most of the bites will usually be detected by seeing the bass hit it.  It is a fun way to catch a lot of bass, especially right after the spawn.

6 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Bass aren't going to decide wether to hit a bait or not because of its color.

 

I'd say it like this:  There may be times when the bass will bite the a swimbait in neon-purple-black-flake and not eat anything else in any other color.  However, the number of situations where that happens is so small that trying to PLAN to deal with them is a fool's errand.

Anything Perch colored or fire tiger bass up here primarily forage on bluegills and perch with crawfish as well. so anything brown orange, Perch or fire tiger, black and blue, green pumpkin. or you can say screw it and go buy a huddelston perch swimbait and that is one of the most realistic baits in my opinion for a bait fish. Or you wanna catch big bass find a stocked trout pond that has bass in it and throw a brown trout huddelston or a rainbow in 6-8in. Reel it low and slow and cover as much water as possible. you'll get your PB up here doing it.

As most of the others mentioned, green pumpkin or black with blue flake will be effective for soft plastic baits. For spinners and chatterbaits I have had the most success throwing bluegill pattern for largemouth, any time the water isn't crystal clear. Good luck.

On 3/7/2017 at 10:00 PM, MikeOGNR said:

Anything Perch colored or fire tiger bass up here primarily forage on bluegills and perch with crawfish as well. so anything brown orange, Perch or fire tiger, black and blue, green pumpkin. or you can say screw it and go buy a huddelston perch swimbait and that is one of the most realistic baits in my opinion for a bait fish. Or you wanna catch big bass find a stocked trout pond that has bass in it and throw a brown trout huddelston or a rainbow in 6-8in. Reel it low and slow and cover as much water as possible. you'll get your PB up here doing it.

I started using the s waver with great sucess , 168 size even if they dont bite you get a lot of followers 

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 8:43 AM, Dmacster1 said:

I would like to know what colors of shad or other baitfish and craws that they are eating, and what color baits people are using.

Where this thread is a couple of years old, my post probably doesn't matter, but here it goes:

 

Some great answers in this thread, so I will only say this: If you're trying to "match the hatch" so to speak, shad imitations might be out. I have never seen shad in lakes and ponds up here in the northeast.

 

If you're just trying to catch fish, then shad imitations will definitely work.

All I generally fish are the ultra clear lakes in New Hampshire . Sprayed grass by zoom always works the best for me but just about all my soft plastics are some kind of green pumpkins / watermelons / bass colors. For hardbaits I stick to perch sunfish and bluegill patterns