Just curious if people think or have seen color matter when it comes to walking topwaters?

I usually try to have a white or bone and then a more translucent color for high sun. I haven’t experimented enough to see if there is actually a difference though.

I think some variation of white or black bottom is enough. I can see where translucent could maybe have an edge based on water clarity and light. But with a walking bait it's more often than not moving? so are the fish seeing color or reacting to movement? I'd say the latter.

I've had good luck with chrome in low light and I'm nowhere near a herring, but otherwise white/bone or ghost colors is all I throw.

I have seen color make a difference throwing a popper where the fish have more time to get a look at what they're hitting.

3 minutes ago, Jerkbait22 said:

Just curious if people think or have seen color matter when it comes to walking topwaters?

I usually try to have a white or bone and then a more translucent color for high sun. I haven’t experimented enough to see if there is actually a difference though.

I think we walking bait addicts each have our favorites. And there's a reason for that. These are some of mine.

A-Jay

If we're just talking favorites, Duo Realis Thradfin Shad II. The fish like it.

yes, I've seen it matter (being outfished 8-1 throwing the same lure with the same speed/presentation just a different color). I've also seen it not matter by catching fish on 3 different colors and 2 sizes in the same 2 hour period (I had 3 rods rigged with the same bait. 3 different colors, 2 sizes. And I would swap around seeing if they wanted one more than the others).

My rule of thumb anymore is that for bright days and clearer water I am throwing chrome. Darker days I want a more solid outline and throw some combination of sexy shad or similar with a white belly. If I am getting refusals on those, I'll swap to a natural or tennessee shad. I don't throw black as much as I should.

I'm just a walking bait novice. I have tried several. By far my most productive lure is the three hooked Zell Roland Spook.I cant explain the finish but its kind of a reflective white shad imiatation.

Virtually all of mine are some variation of a threadfin shad - g finish, chrome, translucent, solid.

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

yes, I've seen it matter (being outfished 8-1 throwing the same lure with the same speed/presentation just a different color). I've also seen it not matter by catching fish on 3 different colors and 2 sizes in the same 2 hour period (I had 3 rods rigged with the same bait. 3 different colors, 2 sizes. And I would swap around seeing if they wanted one more than the others).

My rule of thumb anymore is that for bright days and clearer water I am throwing chrome. Darker days I want a more solid outline and throw some combination of sexy shad or similar with a white belly. If I am getting refusals on those, I'll swap to a natural or tennessee shad. I don't throw black as much as I should.

What were the conditions and color differences where one outfished another 8-1?

profile and sound can make a big difference too, don't see people fishing silent spooks too often.

IMA Japan Skimmer Grande is my current favorite.

My current favorite is the Teckel Kicknocker. It has a unique sound and they absolutely destroy it.

My top 3 walking baits all time would be:

1. Evergreen SB105 (shower blows shorty)

2. Megabass Giant Dog X

3. Teckel Kicknocker

Honorable mention to the LC Sammy which used to be a staple but I never throw anymore, and one sleeper bait is the evergreen Justine.

39 minutes ago, Jerkbait22 said:

What were the conditions and color differences where one outfished another 8-1?

clear water, bright skies, smallmouth. chrome vs sexy. I had planned to throw sexy and pre rigged it. My dad had planned to throw chrome and pre rigged it. I figured no sense in both of us throwing the same color so I stuck with it (for probably too long). Once I swapped the numbers started to even up again.

8 minutes ago, Jerkbait22 said:

evergreen Justine

Another sleeper silent spook, buddy got a nice 6lb striper with one last year.

45 minutes ago, ElGuapo928 said:

g finish

Thats the finish in shad on my favorite Spook.

I wish they’d bring back the G Finish across the Pradco lineup again!!

I think Color matters, when I’m walking a bait, I pause for a second, maybe twitching the resume my walk. Orange, yellowish or white bellies is a factor too.

Black for night time fishing is what I use.

This is my favorite walking bait and color. IDK if it really matters when the fish want a topwater. I've caught bass on shad, frog and baby bass patterns. I have other productive topwaters in silver, gold, bone and bluegill.

I have used nearly every color of the rainbow, but most often it's Shad, Bone, chrome, or black; a friend of mine swears by clear, sometimes with red trebles.

18 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I think we walking bait addicts each have our favorites. And there's a reason for that. These are some of mine.

A-Jay

My walking bait / top water color collection tends to mirror this above collection . Bone / White , Black, Translucent , Bluegill and Perch colors cover all the bases. As has been said before “color doesn’t matter - until it does” .

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

My walking bait / top water color collection tends to mirror this above collection . Bone / White , Black, Translucent , Bluegill and Perch colors cover all the bases. As has been said before “color doesn’t matter - until it does” .

Don't overlook sound.

One Knock, Rattles And even Silent walking baits can all have their time & place on the effective scale.

Also - not every bass is the same—each may have a different trigger.

So when the topwater bite is looking favorable, I try them all.

FYI - The Evergreen JT115 silent bait seems to have massive potential.

Especially in skinny, clear water.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

Eh, I don't know. I try different colors and whereas I usually chuck black in fog and white in bright light, I've never discerned a pattern. Sometimes I think anglers like to believe that if they do X, bass will strike, but bass are mysteries to me.

I believe that it's more of a sound/profile/retrieve speed thing with topwater than it is color. Most likely, the fish just see the bait as a dark object on the water's surface and determine if they should try to eat it by if it has the right sound and if it's moving at a speed that is worth chasing or not. My walking baits area almost all white, shad, or translucent colored. The biggest difference between baits is size, sound, and profiles.

12 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Most likely, the fish just see the bait as a dark object on the water's surface and determine if they should try to eat it by if it has the right sound

^This!^

I have a lot of walking baits (because they're fun to fish and pretty), but I lean on my Duo Realis baits because they chirp like a bird and my local bass seem to like that sound. My walking baits by other makers don't chirp.

I found a chrome and blue sammy hanging from a tree years ago and I used it for a few more years until I lost it. It caught a bunch of Alabama Bass and stripers. Caught my PB Alabama with it, 4-12.

I like a translucent in sunny and a chrome in low light/overcast