I'm sure we all know the basics about colours when it comes to our baits such as which is best for each condition, but what i don't understand is.

if i tie on a firetiger or bright green coloured crankbait and fished it in clear water would i catch fish?

i mean there is no bright green shad in the lake. maybe it will catch a bass because it bumped off a structure and caused a reaction strike, but if the bass sees it for a split second, will he bite it?

same goes for such baits like chartreuse spinnerbaits, i'm sure it's easier to get a reaction strike than it is for a crankbait.

but will any colour work aslong as the fish can see/feel it? any input on this?

You have asked a very simple question with a lot of opinions and answers.

May I suggest you read the articles on this site plus others, including magazines, books and various DVDs.

Everyone has their philosophy on color selections.  Some are within the guidelines of the professionals while others are out of the box.

Please secure Dr. Keith Jones' book, Knowing Bass, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish.

Or see what Uncle Homer Circle says about colors in Bass Wisdom.

And good ole Al Linder shares his thoughts in Largemouth Bass.

Water clarity, sunlight, depth, forage and vegetation all play roles in color selection.

But to make it easy, watermealon and green pumpkin, with or without black flake are good for plastics; firetiger for river cranks; shad for lake cranks; white and chart. for spinnerbaits; blue/black for jigs; and pink and white for trick worms.

Everyone has an opinion so hold on and read what the guys tell you.

Everyone is correct and then again, everyone is wrong depending on the above mentioned factors.  

If it looks like food and they are feeding , I don't care what color it is  , they'll eat it.     JMHO

why do bass eat creature baits worked slow when they actually have time to see and study the bait?

really, you can catch a bass on anything. it doesnt have to look like anything in the lake...as long as it peaks their curiosity(?...i havent been in school all summer, give me a break)

I have caught bass on green cranks in clear water, as well as on yellow spinnerbaits

i really dont think color is as much of an object as we think it is, just use what color you have confidence in

i understand where everyone is coming from, i just wanted you guys to give me ur input on this and how you think it works. i haven't read much books, but i do plan on buying a few sometime this week. i think that in my opinion LM bass will eat anything that they can fit into their mouths.

the thing is, the bigger the bass the smarter they are. so baits like bright green crankbaits don't work if they see it and unless its a reaction strike, maybe i am wrong and at that time, they don't wanna chase a bait.

i do agree that creature baits work because you can cast it right on the tip of their noise. they don't know what it is. it smells good, it looks unique and different, it looks like food, bam! they hit it.

to me, i think every bait out there has a good chance to catch fish, but you still need to know because some colours catch fish more than others. same thing goes with presentation. i have countless time where me and my buddies in the same boat where 1 guy was catching fish and the other guy wasn't on the same lure.

I was fishing a lake that is really bad in clarity, so I first tried bright colors like, chartruse, white, and pink baits, (because thats what i heard, bright baits for low clarity water) all day. I got 3 fish, not bad for one day by my standards, well I switched to my natural colors, like dark green, brown, motoroil and watermelon. Guess what, I caught 13 fish. That is 10 more fish that I caught that I didn't the day before. same weather, little cloud cover, and in the mid 70's from about 3 till 7.

So I would suggest trying the basic rules and if that dosn't work try somthing different. Even if it does work try somthing different, till you find what seems to work the best.

And welcome to the forums! ;D

i think really color does work to some extent, like fishing natural baits andcolors for finicky fish, but it mostly comes down to if the fish can see it or not. i read in a book once about creature baits : "fish look at em like people look at airline food: they dont know what it is, but they eat it anyway." as long as it looks alive and moves the way they want it to, they will eat it.

I believe if they cant see it, they just react on impulse. Movement and such.

Only you can form your own opinion on this.  How?

Start casting.

I personally feel that color won't be a factor in keeping me from achieving my goal, whatever that may be.

On this note, I'm happiest when I use all the colors at once, which would be called "Black" and as we all know....................Black is beautiful

Bright colors can work great in clear water - I fish them all the time.  

Table Rock Shad (yellow with a purple back) has won a ton of $$$$ around here, and Table Rock has up to 20' of visibility.    

Bass don't read books.......and it seems like a lot of outdoor writers just regurgitate widely-accepted generalities for the purpose of article writing, anyway.  

A lot of those articles are helpful for beginners who need some basic concepts to get them going - - but past that, you just have to figure out what works best on your home waters yourself.      

 

Bass don't read books.......and it seems like a lot of outdoor writers just regurgitate widely-accepted generalities for the purpose of article writing, anyway.  

A lot of those articles are helpful for beginners who need some basic concepts to get them going - - but past that, you just have to figure out what works best on your home waters yourself.      

 

Amen!!

Stringjam for President!! ;)