What do you all prefer color wise for night-time spinnerbaits. Do you go black? I have black nickel, black, black/purple hue in #6-8 Ind/colorado. Thinking slow rolling along rocky flats in rivers for cruising smallies and walleye. Mainly smallies.

Colorado copper with a black and red skirt.

I especially like when the blade gets teeth marks on both sides.

A-Jay

My confidence is in pure painted black but I’ve had plenty of other colors work fine too. 

I have never understood the logic of "dark colors at night".  It's night! It's already dark!  And if anything, baitfish and other forage tend to be paler, not darker, in low-visibility water.

Gold or silver ?

Yeah I think if they're on a spinnerbait bite, color isn't gonna play too heavy but I go with the same colors that typically work best at the fishery in the daytime.

Lol, there's a perfect formula for pitch black but forgot what it was.

Maybe it's the turbulence created by the blade or blades spinning, just maybe.

I like a black skirted version with a gold blade. Preferably a Colorado or Oklahoma style blade rather than a willow leaf so I can reel it slower.

I started using Indiana blades painted black on the curved side and white on the cupped side decades ago and never found a better color for low light or night.

Tom

I saw a video of spinners in VERY dirty water.

 

With a black spinner, you could not see it from a distance.

 

With a silver or gold blade, you could distinctly see a "flash" now and again that was not seen with the black blade.

 

I'm no fish, but it would seem, based on video, that the gold/silver provided a little something extra the black did not.

 

YMMV.

3 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

I have never understood the logic of "dark colors at night".  It's night! It's already dark!  And if anything, baitfish and other forage tend to be paler, not darker, in low-visibility water.

 

Black silhouettes better than any color at night. I like a black blade and mostly black skirt at night myself.

 

Allen 

I MUCH prefer a chatterbait over a spinner at night, especially if fishing close to the bottom. I've missed/foul hooked alot of fish on a spinner when slow rolling one at night because they often hit the blade instead of the hook, as @A-Jay's pic shows. It's not an issue when fishing one close to the surface, but I still prefer a chatterbait for that also when fishing in the dark.

 If you fish waters where shad or minnows are the predominate prey species, then try a white spinnerbait with a white trailer.

 

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

I MUCH prefer a chatterbait over a spinner at night, especially if fishing close to the bottom. I've missed/foul hooked alot of fish on a spinner when slow rolling one at night because they often hit the blade instead of the hook, as @A-Jay's pic shows. It's not an issue when fishing one close to the surface, but I still prefer a chatterbait for that also when fishing in the dark.

I was losing Spinnerbait blades for a while as the bass would hit the blade and tear it off.

Once I up scaled my hardware (split rings & swivels) it put an end to that noise.

 

A-Jay

Black with some type of glitter or silver/black nickel. I also like a black skirt with either pink or purple. Finding one exactly like that again has been tough. 

13 hours ago, WRB said:

I started using Indiana blades painted black on the curved side and white on the cupped side decades ago and never found a better color for low light or night.

Tom

Sounds like im going to be painting the backside of some black blades white. Now i just need a better solution clear-coating my blades so the paint doesnt chip off. 

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I was losing Spinnerbait blades for a while as the bass would hit the blade and tear it off.

Once I up scaled my hardware (split rings & swivels) it put an end to that noise.

 

A-Jay

Same issue. I’ve found making a wider bend and removing the splitring that connects the blade to the wire has helped with that. Theres an art to bending the loop round so the swivel doesnt want to hang up. A heavier split ring would do the same thing though probably.

14 minutes ago, FishTank said:

Black with some type of glitter or silver/black nickel. I also like a black skirt with either pink or purple. Finding one exactly like that again has been tough. 

I like putting junebug in my skirts. Contact me and i can put some together for you. I have a ton of junebug tabs and black rubber. Neex to order more black silicone.

What about red blades. I’ve read that red appears black to fish. I could see it silhouetting as well yet maybe giving something alittle different.

Put Sampo swivels on your slow moving Colorado’s. I like #2 and #3. #3 if a larger bait. I have not used #4 yet but for 1oz and over, it’s likely I will use that.

 

Sampo’s set the standard for smooth rotating blades and durable hardware 

2 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

I like putting junebug in my skirts. Contact me and i can put some together for you. I have a ton of junebug tabs and black rubber. Neex to order more black silicone.

What about red blades. I’ve read that red appears black to fish. I could see it silhouetting as well yet maybe giving something alittle different.

Here is my favorite night/pre-dawn bait. I painted the back of the blade to match one of my favorite senkos. Yes, that is my wife's nail polish.  Works great.

 

4 minutes ago, FishTank said:

Here is my favorite night/pre-dawn bait. I painted the back of the blade to match one of my favorite senkos. Yes, that is my wife's nail polish.  Works great.

 

Mail polish does have a place in my lure making arsenal. I’ve found a combination of this shiny matalic blue i have on top of black gives this crazy purple metallic color shift type thing going on. 

4 hours ago, FishTank said:

Black with some type of glitter or silver/black nickel. I also like a black skirt with either pink or purple. Finding one exactly like that again has been tough. 

These guys will make any color combo you can dream up..

 

https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/categories/spinner--blade-baits

1 hour ago, FishTank said:

Here is my favorite night/pre-dawn bait. I painted the back of the blade to match one of my favorite senkos. Yes, that is my wife's nail polish.  Works great.

 

Fantastic. Really nice mod
 

That’s a picasso?

52 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Fantastic. Really nice mod
 

That’s a picasso?

Yes.  Picasso.  I need to order a few and set them aside. The one pictured above is the only one I have.

1 hour ago, RRocket said:

These guys will make any color combo you can dream up..

 

https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/categories/spinner--blade-baits

For sure.... I have ordered from them on several occasions.  Great stuff.

@FishTank absolutely, you gotta have backups ?

Ithis might be my huckleberry. Had low light in mind when I made it.