I am new to bass fishing and I wanted to know about lure colors and when to know what colors to use in clear water and stain waters. I'm a crank bait fishermen, and I have know idea what colors to use.

For clear water I prefer neutral colors. For stained water I go with Chartreuse and Orange. Got to give the Bass plenty of contrast to make it easier to see your lures

Clear water: natural colors

Stained/Muddy: bright colors/dark/red

The above guidelines are good, however, the bass have proven on countless occasions that they don't know those rules.  

For clear water I prefer neutral colors. For stained water I go with Chartreuse and Orange. Got to give the Bass plenty of contrast to make it easier to see your lures

x2

I've also used black & black flake at times with success, but have never thought about using a black crankbait, lipless crankbait, or spinnerbait for contrast in stained water. I've always reserved black for night fishing. Has anyone tried this with or without success in stained water conditions ? The more I think about it, the more it does make a lot of sense.

I've also used black & black flake at times with success, but have never thought about using a black crankbait, lipless crankbait, or spinnerbait for contrast in stained water. I've always reserved black for night fishing. Has anyone tried this with or without success in stained water conditions ? The more I think about it, the more it does make a lot of sense.

AMEN to the guy who said the bass dont know these rules. ;D

But yes.I have actually painted some of my cranks straight black with red eyes or a white stripe and do rather well on occasion in some nasty water.

Also remember that on certain bodies of water there are certian colors that will p iss the bass of more than others even if it doesn't follow our "bible" of color choice.

AMEN to the guy who said the bass dont know these rules. ;D

But yes.I have actually painted some of my cranks straight black with red eyes or a white stripe and do rather well on occasion in some nasty water.

Also remember that on certain bodies of water there are certian colors that will p iss the bass of more than others even if it doesn't follow our "bible" of color choice.

My son is real fond of telling me that the Bass don't read the books nor watch the videos. Only us fishermen do.  There are times when I think that I've got too much "fire power" at my disposal.  Find the Bass, and 9 times out of 10 my usual 3 or 4 go to presentations/lures will put 'em

in the boat. I'll be the 1st one to admit that I switch presentations and lures way too often. The bottom line is that the fish really don't care, we do.

I have a few key colors that I buy most if not all of my plastics in:

Clear water: Watermelon, watermelon/gold flake

Stained: junebug

Dirty: black, black/blue

And then a few others for good measure Green pumpkin, white, chartreuse