henry6759 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I don't quite understand this water color thing when selecting the proper lure. Could someone explain to me what colors are good in dark waters, clear water, mudy water and so on. Also, when using a spinner bait whats the diferance in the blades, and which blades to use in what condictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobbleDog Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I rarely throw spinner baits, but from what I've read... Gold spinner blades are used for clear water - Silver blades are used for murky water. Willow leaf for shallow water - Colorado for deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassin4life Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Well for water color in my opinion...for clear water the bright colors work/ Muddy water nautral dark colors/ For Spinnerbaits, in muddy water goldblade and colorado blade if its cloudy....if iys sunny and water is Muddy prob willowleaf gold blade. Clear water go Silver blades....I like to use the quad shad when fish are aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landis76 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I'd love to. Colors, in my opinion, are not that much of a factor. I use colors you can see well in muddy water (e.g. solid black, chartreuse, fire tiger)and iridescent or clearer colors (e.g. shad, clear with flake) in clear water. Use anything in between for stained water (e.g. watermelon, pumpkin). In some cases, I could see you matching the color to the dominate forage in the lake. For instance, if I fished some of the lakes in California that they sock with rainbow trout, I would probably try to use a rainbow trout color. But I really feel color does not make that much difference. I good way to decide on color for a worms, is if the lake is muddy, make sure you can't see through the worm. If the lake is stained, you should be able to see through the worm a little. And if the lake is ultra clear, use a worm that is almost enitely clear with little profile. As far as spinnerbait blades, I use willow blades in stained water and Oklahoma in muddier water. There are variations in between. (e.g. Indiana, turtleback) OK blades put off a lot more vibration for fish that use their lateral line instead of their vision to hunt for food in muddy water. Willows are the most often used but it is debatable whether the OK is better than the willow in all situations. I always use a spinnerbait when there is a shad bite. (e.g. windy conditions or fall) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 What I do is I figure out how much water clarity I am dealing with. The dirtier the water is the less distance a fish can see my bait and the shallower the fish will be. If I am dealing with chocolate milk colored water that I can see down maybe 6 inches I know the fish are going to be really shallow and real close to cover. The fish are going to feed on sound more than sight so I need to use a bait that has a vibration and one that I can bounce off cover to alert the fish to my bait. Yellows or chartreuse's work or darker colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMaster Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Well for water color in my opinion...for clear water the bright colors work/ Muddy water nautral dark colors. that's some good info there my friend... and colors are indeed a huge factor in catching fish... muddy water, watermelon seed works great, black works great... you want the darker less translucent colors in these conditions... the darker colors produce a silhouette so the fish can see it easier. in stained water go to a more transluscent color like a smoke color w/ blue metal flake, or something in that direction. in clear water use the clearest plastics you can find. also when choosing your plastics, pay attention to see if there is any vegetation or stumps around and choose your colors accordingly... you don't want any unnatural colors, i.e. barbie pink... never had any luck with those hot pink worms before. red colors work great in any of those conditions. maybe use a red shad color in muddy water, and a red w/ black flake in clear water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMaster Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 What I do is I figure out how much water clarity I am dealing with. The dirtier the water is the less distance a fish can see my bait and the shallower the fish will be. If I am dealing with chocolate milk colored water that I can see down maybe 6 inches I know the fish are going to be really shallow and real close to cover. The fish are going to feed on sound more than sight so I need to use a bait that has a vibration and one that I can bounce off cover to alert the fish to my bait. Yellows or chartreuse's work or darker colors. never seen chocolate milk colored water ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassin4life Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 well put bassmaster I do agree : ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_Barr Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Colorado blades=muddy/stained Willow=clear/light stained That is just a little starter rule that i usually use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Marty Posted April 13, 2005 Super User Share Posted April 13, 2005 never seen chocolate milk colored water ??? Don't worry about it; it's no bargain and you're not missing anything. I'm another one who doesn't place a big premium on colors. I've fished a lot in NY's Erie Canal, whose water in my area is murky green with 12-18" visibility at its clearest and I've seen no difference between the colors that are traditionally recommended for dark water and the colors that are not recommended. Conversely, I've seen too many fish in clear water caught on very unnatural looking colors and/or the same colors that are recommended for dark water. I can't make any sense out of it whatsoever. Another thing about the canal--conventional wisdom says to use wide-wobbling baits with rattles, yet my #1 or #2 bait there is a Shad Rap, which has a narrow wobble and no rattles. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter6598 Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Depends on the situation for me whether or not color becomes a factor. I won't throw light colors in really muddy water. For example my favorite color spinnerbait is white and chartruse but if it's muddy I'm throwing a black spinnerbait with the biggest single Colorado blade I can find. In most case I just like to throw natural colors but this is just personal prefrence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phishn_Phool Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 I think bait colors is something you will never figure out. For instance, I live on a Fl lake that never clears up, but it is a known fact that if you are fishing plastic here, it better have BLUE in it. No explanation for that...just fact, and other local lake will be similar. ie Claif lake and trout colors...go figur and good luck ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 yeah blue or junebug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User roadwarrior Posted April 13, 2005 Super User Share Posted April 13, 2005 There is a very interesting article in this month's In-Fisherman on color and how fish see. The article is about walley and does NOT apply specifically to bass or any other species, but I think there are some parallels. Water color has a dramatic impact on color, depth and light penetration are contributing factors. Personally, I've noticed that blue and green are more effective in clear water, although most of the literature suggests natural colors. Color and flash seem more important when fishing reaction baits. Although I'm not convinced color is important with worms, I fish dark natural colors at depth regardless of water color. As far as blades go, it seems intuitive that flash would be a key in clear water (silver willow blades) whereas, vibration (Colorado blades) would be more important in stained or muddy water and at greater depth. Sound or noise must come into play, but for me it's not a factor, at least regarding soft plastics. The thinking goes that the weight clicking rocks on a Carolina rig for example, attracts fish like the clicking of a crawdad. Well, I never use any weight when fishing Senkos or Fat Ika and I catch fish in water of all clarities. Sure, I catch fish on a C-rigged lizard but that doesn't really prove anything about sound, the weight just keeps the lizard on or near the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMaster Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 As far as blades go, it seems intuitive that flash would be a key in clear water (silver willow blades) whereas, vibration (Colorado blades) would be more important in stained or muddy water and at greater depth. does that mean you're saying blades don't matter? b/c i've read and found that they do matter... well around here anyway, it may be different in your area... during spawn the fish are easily scared, so you don't want to necessarily fish with a titanium spinnerbait w/ a tandem blade... both give off huge ammounts of vibrations that create reaction strikes... that doesn't happen during spawn. go with a steel frame with a willow blade. as far as color of blades, when the water is murky, go with gold blades... they don't produce an unnaturally bright flash that may scare the fish... in less stained or clear water, use a silver blade... lets off more flash, which would be natural when the water is clear... again, nothing unnatural... i don't know how many times i can... another thing is look to see if there are baitfish around, and if they're are, use an indiana or colorado blade with the diamond disign... the diamond disign resembles hundreds or baitfish as opposed the willow that resembles just a few baitfish... and if looking for reaction strikes, tandem blades work so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User roadwarrior Posted April 14, 2005 Super User Share Posted April 14, 2005 bassmaster, I'm saying blades do matter. I want flash in clear water and more vibration (the thumping of Colorado blades) in stained or muddy water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassMaster Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 ok, i was just trying to figure out what you were saying... but it's all gravy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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