With a lot of people here that have been fishing longer than I have. I was wondering where, when, and what bait companies made certain colors popular?

 

Like green pumpkin or chartuse.

Both are found in nature.  Crawfish, sunfish, shad, dragonflies, etc.  Even strange colors like pink, which some say matches albinism.

The question is impossible to answer!

 

The number of lure manufacturers over the decades is near impossible to list.

 

Who determines popularity?

Well not impossible but, the answer might be before alot of us ever fished.

 

Like lures that have come out since I've been fishing 10 years ago I'd never heard of an A-rig. Or sexy shad as a color scheme.

I think that the a-rig was first a saltwater rig.... 

 

Sexy shad is duplicated by so many companies because it sold so much... Whatever sells is going to be what keeps getting made... 

 

I think catt was dead on... Who determines popularity ??? 

 

We do. 

The story I have heard behind green pumpkin was: Some one at zoom made a mistake, and mixed pumpkin seed die with watermelon die when they were making a batch of baits. 

The problem trying to go back historically to determine who originated a list of soft plastic colors is no 2 companies make the same exact colors, they are all different and use the same names or different names.

Tom

 

Right...! I've seen companies name their color pumpkin and it could be green , brownish , or orange.. never understood that. 

Green pumpkin may have it's roots in Mann's Jelly worm scuppernong back in the 70's. Several translucent Amber color worms were also popular during that period. Green weenie hand pours showed in '80's; cinnamon brown belly with light green back and black flakes. The list can go on indefinitely.

We can agree the Nick Creme came up with the modern soft plastic worm around 1939 in a natural tan nightcrawler followed by black, then purple, red....color plus, etc.

Tom

Creme was a genius. 

 

Pretty obvious where the color names originated.

For instance, 'sexy shad' is the color of a female threadfin shad during the mating season.

The color 'pumpkin' is the same color as the dirt where pumpkins grow.

'Junebug' is the color of the Bolivian Yak Bug during the month of June.

The only one that's got me stumped is 'Bubblegum'   

 

Roger

Man, I, based on some positive stuff I read here, bubblegum colored lures in a few different styles of plastic. Thus far I have caught squat on any of them.  I feel like someone has sent me to the store for some prop-wash for our upcoming snipe hunt.  

On 5/12/2017 at 6:16 AM, ww2farmer said:

The story I have heard behind green pumpkin was: Some one at zoom made a mistake, and mixed pumpkin seed die with watermelon die when they were making a batch of baits. 

i'd like to buy that guy a beer

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 6:16 AM, ww2farmer said:

The story I have heard behind green pumpkin was: Some one at zoom made a mistake, and mixed pumpkin seed die with watermelon die when they were making a batch of baits. 

 

Gerald Swindle said this in on of his lectures. Someone at Zoom screwed up and made a bunch of baits in this color. Ed Chambers started just giving them away to whoever wanted them since it was a mistake. Once everyone started using them they came back to Zoom and ask for more.

 

I don't know who made that "Mistake" but they should get an award.

 

Allen

I don't know who originated sexy shad, I thought it was Strike King, but surprisingly that is one color that has been absolutely working overtime for me.  Fish find something attractive about a chartreuse stripe on a bait??  Whatever, I'll keep throwing it.