What are the best soft plastic colors to use on clear lakes?

Natural colors like greens and browns - Watermelon, Green Pumpkin and colors mixed with them. The jig in my avatar is a good example. Also translucent colors over the entire spectrum will often work well in clear water but you'll need to try a variety to find the best among them.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

i totally agree with big-o. when it comes to soft plastics, i go with a green-pumpkin or anything similar. for hardbaits (spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, cranks, topwater) i go with a white or a white/ blue mix. something that is close to shad

I focus more on natural colors likes greens , browns and whites. I have also had success with tequila sunrise and red shads on overcast days.

X2 on all above.

My favorites in the green, brown, white spectrum include; Motor Oil, Avacado, Sand, and Smoke w/assorted metal flake.

Watermelon Rd Flk

All good advice so far. I keep my color selection pretty simple (from clearest to most stained): Natural color (green pumpkin/watermelon), Brown and then Black. On rare occasions one specific color or combination of colors will out catch all others but 95% of the time one of those 3 will work. Don't over complicate things.

I'm not sure if this is something specific to local lakes or holds true for more, but I tend to lean towards brown more as the water gets cooler regardless of water color. Maybe the crawdads shift colors, a new species becomes more active or it's all in my head...I don't know.

Natural colors like browns and blacks, you can also go with translucent whites. Also pumpkin seed.