Went out last night and was caught off guard due to the change in water clarity.

 

It looked like a completely different lake from just Friday night. Water was much darker and a whole bunch of more weeds on the surface. Hard to imagine it changing this much in just a matter of a few days.

 

Long story short, I didn't have the lures or colors I probably wanted and it got me thinking.

 

Many times when you read about lower visibility, you hear the colors black/blue and chartreuse mentioned.

 

But to me, those colors are the complete opposite of each other. In my pea sized brain it doesn't make sense.

 

So, the million dollar question, does it matter much?

 

Does one work better than the other? If so, when?

 

What do YOU use?

 

THANKS!

In stained water I've always done well with black & blue jigs if I'm not throwing a spinnerbait.

My opinion is contrast matters more than the specific color

4 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

My opinion is contrast matters more than the specific color

 

Are you talking contrast between jig and trailer?

2 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Are you talking contrast between jig and trailer?

Really, anything. Could be jig versus trailer. Could be plastics that are laminates. Could be spinnerbait skirt versus trailer versus blades. Could be a bright color contrasted with a dark color on a hard bait like chartreuse black back.

Contrast in the context of bass fishing refers more to tonal contrast (dark and light values) and how strong it silhouettes to its surroundings. Although color contrast is a thing too, in murky water it’s less of a factor, they can only distinguish reds and greens anyhow, everything else falls on a grayscale. Also remember that every theory we postulate is generally laughed at hysterically by our little green and brown friends on a regular basis.

I go for noise and vibration in murky or stained water. Visibility is often reduced so they tend to hone in on the noise more with the lateral line.

I just fish.  Most of my stuff is green pumpkin.  I’m a simple man.  
 

I do okay.  Medium. 

@HawkeyeSmallie is this a northern natural lake with very clear water that just saw a lot of boat traffic?  If so, my suggestion is to change nothing from your usual successful colors.  The quiet days after busy weekends here, can see the bass become very active.  If anything think about bigger, faster, and covering water.

 

scott

11 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

@HawkeyeSmallie is this a northern natural lake with very clear water that just saw a lot of boat traffic?  If so, my suggestion is to change nothing from your usual successful colors.  The quiet days after busy weekends here, can see the bass become very active.  If anything think about bigger, faster, and covering water.

 

scott

Very small man made lake, I’m talking roughly 25 acres.

 

Normally has pretty good visibility.

 

Changed dramatically in a few days. Much darker and way more weeds on the surface. Wife was like “This water stinks and is disgusting” lol.

 

I normally don’t fish it over the weekends because a lot of campers are nearby and they are all banging around in kayaks and making tons of noise.

I think in dirty water fish will often look pale compared to clean water - white is hard to beat.  

 

When it's dirty I like to fish tighter to cover and slower and shallower.

38 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I think in dirty water fish will often look pale compared to clean water - white is hard to beat.  

 

When it's dirty I like to fish tighter to cover and slower and shallower.

I like this, too

On 7/2/2025 at 8:34 PM, Pat Brown said:

When it's dirty I like to fish tighter to cover and slower and shallower.

 

What kind of presentations do you like?

 

Went out yesterday and the lake was pretty murky from all the rain we have had.

 

Had a decent outing.

 

Caught one on a chartreuse looking crankbait, deeper diving though.

 

One on a neko rig.

 

Couple on a popper, bass and a bluegill.

 

Most on a swimjig with a 4" trailer.

 

Wish I would have had a spinnerbait.

 

Tried a football jig with a craw type trailer with no luck.

 

Thanks!

 

 

When I 1st started night bass fishing the popular thinking was use black plastic works or black with blue or red flakes ribbon tails 10” long. black jigs with rattles and 4” black trailers.

Big noisy surface lures like buzz baits or Jitter Bugs. 
All the above worked good so the black color scheme was considered a fact and all you needed.

When I started night bass fishing tournaments the above was my lures of choice, but the tournaments started around 7 PM, still light until dusk around 8 and didn’t get dart night until after 9 PM. I like to use diving crank baits and various color jigs normally in the late afternoon to dusk, so added those lure until it was dark. 
My 1st derby I was catching good bass using a ghost white Poe Cedar 300 and used it until the event closed at 2AM in morning because it worked!

This event changed how I thought about low light bass fishing, black wasn’t necessarily the only color chose. In fact everything that catches bass during the day will catch bass in low light or night conditions including off color water.

Tom

 

55 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

What kind of presentations do you like?

 

Went out yesterday and the lake was pretty murky from all the rain we have had.

 

Had a decent outing.

 

Caught one on a chartreuse looking crankbait, deeper diving though.

 

One on a neko rig.

 

Couple on a popper, bass and a bluegill.

 

Most on a swimjig with a 4" trailer.

 

Wish I would have had a spinnerbait.

 

Tried a football jig with a craw type trailer with no luck.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

I always fish the same stuff all the time - plastics, jigs, buzzbait, frog, spinnerbait, jerkbait, crankbait, lipless.

 

I just try to do more active lures if they're more active and biting more indiscriminately and more slow and sneaky stuff when they're around but aren't hitting the fast and flashy stuff.

 

In dirty water you can really throw just about anything at them and get bit it's more about making the right cast.

A shad or a crawdad doesn't change color to camouflage in the water color. I mostly throw the colors I like regardless of water color. Now... sure, sometimes I'll pick a color based on water color or time of day. But I'm just as likely to throw a junebug fluke on a clear sky and clear water day, as I am on an overcast or dingy water day.

Actually crawdads can change colors to match their environment. 
Tom

19 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

This event changed how I thought about low light bass fishing, black wasn’t necessarily the only color chose. In fact everything that catches bass during the day will catch bass in low light or night conditions including off color water.

Tom

 

Thanks Tom.

 

You really have to wonder how much they are even using their eyes at certain times.

 

My best fish the other night in the dirty water came around 10:00pm in the pitch black.

 

Zero chance he “saw” the lure.

When the water gets muddy during the spring runoff, my top choice is a black double Colorado spinnerbait.

 

Other than that, it’s business as usual.