Have wondered over the years that most top water baits have elaborate color schemes on the top when in the water however the bass I assume only see what's on the bottom of the bait plus the skirt that hangs down , has this thought ever occurred to my fellow angler's?

 

I'm sure it has occurred to the people who make and sell baits that are making money off of guys who believe they have to have every possible color In order to catch a bass. 

 

Lure manufacturers don't sell any lures to fish, so it's pretty clear who they're targeting.

Ironically, many of the best topwater anglers ignore the upperside pattern, and choose between

2 colors: baits with a 'white' belly and baits with a 'black' belly, that's all she wrote.

 

Roger

I agree with all comments here.

On Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 10:18 AM, RoLo said:

 

Lure manufacturers don't sell any lures to fish, so it's pretty clear who they're targeting.

Ironically, many of the best topwater anglers ignore the upperside pattern

and choose between 2 colors: baits with a 'white' belly and baits with a 'black' belly  (go figure).

 

Roger

 

WINNER!!!

I like 3 colors for topwater. White, black, and translucent.  

 

Ironically translucent has always worked best for me. 

I've caught fish with a white top water then turned around and caught them with black within minutes of each other. The things I noticed that drew the looks was surface commotion. A popper got a few looks, but something that was rustling around that looked like it was struggling got eaten. 

1 hour ago, tcbass said:

Ironically translucent has always worked best for me. 

 

 

I've always felt that a translucent lure

is the best way to avoid insulting a bass's intelligence. 

 

Roger

Your story is only partially true.  It very much depends on the type of lure.  If the bait is a popper and most of the lure is sitting down in the water than i would be the first to disagree.  If were talking about a walking bait then i think you may be right on the money.  Frogs are another case where the bottom may be the same color as the body.  High end lures are diffrent than the discount baits as easily seen with the megabass pop-x and max

I remember seeing a fishing show once that shot a scene from the bottom of the lake looking up and it was amazing how little can be seen. A bait like a spinner bait is almost invisible except for the flashing of the blades. Now I'm sure you will say that a bass' eyes are different than our eyes but I tend to believe that even bass, when looking up at a bait when the sky is bright or dark can't see all that much. That is why we move the baits at a rapid pace. To get the attention of the bass. 

White and black for put top waters

 

Add silver and red for poppers

 

 

This is what infuriates me so much about how bait companies package their frogs. I want to see the bottom, not the top. I want frogs with white, black or yellow bellies. I'm usually standing in the aisle at field and stream holding the packaging up trying to see the bottom of the lures to no avail. Lunkerhunt is the only company I know to have clear packaging that allows you to see the bottom of the frog, but their frogs suck.

52 minutes ago, BuzzHudson19c said:

This is what infuriates me so much about how bait companies package their frogs. I want to see the bottom, not the top. I want frogs with white, black or yellow bellies. I'm usually standing in the aisle at field and stream holding the packaging up trying to see the bottom of the lures to no avail. Lunkerhunt is the only company I know to have clear packaging that allows you to see the bottom of the frog, but their frogs suck.

Lunkerhunts frogs do suck, and I love the kicking legs, but isn't the booyaa package mirrored on the back?

I have been using the Whopper Ploppers in different colors in shallow rip rap on the Tennessee River, wheeler lake, and have had very good results. Not a weedless bait but absolutely deadly. I have caught large mouth, smallmouth and stripers on this top water bait. I am using the 90 series which is the small one but it has produced very good quality bass. Biggest smallie was just over 4 lbs.

On 22/6/2017 at 8:38 AM, jim49 said:

Have wondered over the years that most top water baits have elaborate color schemes on the top when in the water however the bass I assume only see what's on the bottom of the bait plus the skirt that hangs down , has this thought ever occurred to my fellow angler's?

 

 

Well, "elaborate color schemes" are a thing of today, not long ago color schemes were really simplistic and still today some companies remain true to those simplistic finishes ( like Heddon ), I may love the way my Megabass Pop Max popppers look but .... I don't see them catching more fish than those decades old now skirtless Hula Poppers I got.

5 hours ago, frosty said:

A popper got a few looks, but something that was rustling around that looked like it was struggling got eaten. 

I've found this to be true most often as well. I've really worked on my technique with popper style baits the last couple of years. I get far more bites with poppers using a subtle walk the dog action (with minimum splashing & gurgling) and sporadic pauses, than I do with the more traditional retrieve, i.e. hard jerks which produce the loud popping/splashing action. I think this more closely resembles an injured baitfish on the surface that makes for easy pickings. Sometimes all it takes is a couple of little twitches after a 2 or 3 second pause to get em to commit. 

 

Some days tho, the loud popping and gurgling retrieve is the ticket. But not often in my experience. 

 

As for colors, I keep it simple. I mostly use white, silver or chrome. For dark colors it's black or dark green. 

Lots of topwater baits roll or walk so the side of the bait is facing at least slightly downward at some point during the retrieve. Others, like poppers and prop baits, might sit a little lower in the water where their sides can be seen at least partially. I'm in the KISS camp when it comes to topwater colors. I like translucent, bone/white, and bluegill colors, but I could see where a guy might feel a really realistic finish could get a few more bites. 

Yes. Among all the lures, topwaters' color schemes matter the least. If not how could you explain the white frog? I think that is to allow the angler to see it.

I am in the white or black belly and sometimes orange myself.

 

Allen

23 hours ago, frosty said:

but isn't the booyaa package mirrored on the back?

 

I don't recall to tell you the truth. I own a few pad crashers too, great frogs.