So I forget exactly what show I was watching but they were fishing props and walking baits I wanna say and he was talking about bright colors for smallmouth does anyone have experience with that I usually throw more natural but if that's the key then I might have to change up 

Bone is by far my most productive topwater color for smallmouth. 

It really depends I think on what the fish want. I like to throw bone for top water and then natural colors on the bottom. If you haven't tried bone then I suggest giving it a shot. Also a fire tiger heddon tiny torpedo works good too.

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Bone is by far my most productive topwater color for smallmouth. 

 

Is that bright bone or subtle bone?

 

oe

1 minute ago, OkobojiEagle said:

 

Is that bright bone or subtle bone?

 

oe

I would consider it subtle, the more yellowed version. 

My first choice is 'ghost' patterns followed by a orange and then a yellow belly bait.

White/Off white, ghost, black, Firetiger type colors in that order.

I have a crazy crawler... in "glow black."  However, it has a bone/yellow belly that actually glows slightly.  For early morning or lowlight conditions it really stands out and ticks off the smallmouth.  

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Bone is by far my most productive topwater color for smallmouth. 

 

Couldn't have said it better myself

Once I found that a clear spook was a top producer, I stopped caring about topwater color almost completely.  I either reach for 'dark' or 'light'.  Just seems that against a much brighter sky....or in the dark of night...I can't seem to figure that color matters much to the fish.

 

 

I'll have to get some bone and more clearish most of my luck cake off a crippled killer in green with a pink belly and torpedo in bull frog but I just hand carved a custom torpedo so I'll have to give it a shot making it a bone color cause where I fish the creeks and river are pretty clear most of the hear 

Black and white are the only 2 you need

I'm sure every angler knows that lure colors are designed to hook fisherman...not fish.

When was the last time you seen a bass with a credit card? 

 

When a bass is in active feeding mode, it's not likely that any color will destroy its appetite.

Conversely, I wouldn't think that color alone can give an appetite to a non-feeding bass  

 

On the other hand, the importance of 'lure visibility' cannot be denied, because a bass

won't strike a lure that it doesn't see within its striking zone.

Realistically, only 3 hues are needed to straddle the light spectrum:  White - Green - Black

 

Roger

 

 

I find that most topwaters have a white bottom.  I have several that the lure is painted but the bottom is white.  I like to keep it simple and after i discovered this i only run a few different ones now.  I have white, black, something clear like ghost minnow and one Megabass that looks very natural with green and an orange throat.  I think there is to many options with action and sound already to get a lot of the same lure in just a different color for topwater.  

That's what I figured it was more to hook fisherman then fish I'll have to get a clear bait or 2 and a dark one to round off the spectrum

On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 8:32 PM, NHBull said:

Black and white are the only 2 you need

 

This is what I have found as well.

 

Allen

On 5/17/2017 at 8:32 PM, NHBull said:

Black and white are the only 2 you need

 

Best smallmouth surface lure I ever saw was a chug bug my son had that was sort of irregularly spotted white (or bone) and black.  If you took a bone one and made splotches of black on it, you'd be close.  The lure of his invariably beat everything else.  but second place is bone.

On 5/17/2017 at 9:14 PM, RoLo said:

I'm sure every angler knows that lure colors are designed to hook fisherman...not fish.

When was the last time you seen a bass with a credit card? 

 

When a bass is in active feeding mode, it's not likely that any color will destroy its appetite.

Conversely, I wouldn't think that color alone can give an appetite to a non-feeding bass  

 

On the other hand, the importance of 'lure visibility' cannot be denied, because a bass

won't strike a lure that it doesn't see within its striking zone.

Realistically, only 3 hues are needed to straddle the light spectrum:  White - Green - Black

 

Roger

 

 

I have to say i agree with this very much.  most popular colors for bass are just mixtures of these three general colors.  i don't think there are really special colors you need, some of that i think is just to sell bait making you think it's special.  honestly though white black and green are really the only colors id say you need because those colors fit whatever situation an time of day you're fishing.  bass aren't so picky that bait needs to be a certain color.  it just has to be a color they can see and use the bait correctly. that's just my opinion though so don't bash me for it.

If it wasn't for color, lure manufacturers would go broke. Depth & speed controls are paramount. Action & size follow those with color lagging way behind. Beyond that, the color that catches you the most fish is probably pretty close to what they want if you're clued into the first 4 controls. JMO.

nm