CREATIVE COLORS FOR FISHING
Fishing to many of us is kind of magical. You tie a thing on to the end of your line, it might look like a minnow, a frog, a crawdad, something that lives in or near the water. Or it might not look like anything that has ever lived anywhere. You throw that thing into the water and every now and then you reel it back in with a fish attached to it. People who fish are optimistic. Usually we don’t see the fish before casting, but we’re always thinking that there’s one near where our bait just landed. There are several things that we need to think about before we throw that thing into the water hoping for a fish to eat it.
First, what kind of fish are we after? Some baits are designed mostly for walleyes, others mostly for bass, panfish, or something else. Then we need to consider where the fish are in the area that we’re fishing. Are they in deep water or shallow water? Is there vegetation or timber or something in the water that could increase the likelihood of getting snagged? We need to use a deep running lure for fish that are in deep water and a shallow running lure for shallow fish. When fishing near stuff that could snag our lure, we need a lure designed to resist snags.
Then there’s one more thing, and this is the one that seems to be at the forefront of our lure selection considerations: Lure color. How many times have you heard an angler say that they caught’em really good today on an XYZ lure, and the first question is “What Color”? Color is and probably always will be a very important part of the fishing equation.
Fishing lure colors as described by the manufacturers can be very creative or not so creative. If you look on one company’s website, you’ll notice they have a minnow bait in the silver/black back color. That sounds pretty straight forward. Take a look at another company’s website at a similar shaped lure in a similar color and it’s called natural shad. Again, pretty straight forward if you know what a natural shad looks like. But some names are really creative and will put your imagination to work. How about a color called Sweet Tator Pie? Or Monkey Shine or Acid Rain. Very unique names that will be easy to remember, and those colors are fish-catchers.
In my days of guiding, fishing tournaments, or fishing with friends, when we were after walleyes, we had to have some orange head/chartreuse body and pink head/white body jigs in the tacklebox. In crankbaits, firetiger and perch were our go-to colors. 2021 National Walleye Tournament Angler of the Year Drake Herd looks into the water when he’s deciding what color to go with. If he’s using plastic and the water is clear, he likes a Slick Shad in Ruffe, Lemon Tiger if the water is stained. Regardless of location, those are his thoughts on color. Drake’s color decisions have served him well in walleye fishing.
Jay Przekurat and Cole Floyd travel across the United States to participate in bass tournaments. They fish on the highest levels of different tournament circuits, but it’s interesting how much they agree on lure shape and color. Both are very versatile anglers, but when they’ve got to put a bass in the boat, they’ll often be pitching a Rage Bug in black/blue, pumpkin, or Moon Juice colors. They agree that sometimes a different and unique color will be better, but they’re confident that wherever they are, black/blue, pumpkin, or Moon Juice will produce.
Wherever you fish and whatever you fish for, experiment with colors that you’ve never used in addition to your favorites. And expect some curious looks from your fishing friends when you tell them that you caught’em good today on a Rage Space Monkey in the Okechobee Craw color.
