Senkosam
Active member
Color choice has been beaten to death over the decades - none of it scientific! You and I could be using different colors and the same lure, and both of us could fish all day long. In fact, even if we are both casting different lures in the same color, we both could catch fish as long as certain principles of lure choice and presentation are observed. So, is hue important? Again, 'different strokes for different folks'.
I have a few reasons for color choice, but always in conjunction with color brightness. This brings me to the topic of lure design: shape, action and size, as well as presentation (slower or faster) that make all the difference whether fish strike or not. Most of us match a color or colors to the lures we are using. Personal preference is not scientific but rather a confidence thing based on the number of fish caught on that lure in that color. But then again, lure choice is usually based on how fast a lure moves and how it moves. A plastic worm moved slowly on the bottom, moves much differently than a swimbait cruising along at a certain speed. Same for finesse soft plastics or trout flies that stay in place longer, barely moving. This brings me to the importance of presentation and lure action.
Fish are supersensitive creatures (like my wife, though not a creature unless she gets hysterical
.) A fish's sensitivity to moving objects IS #1! Vision is secondary, though important when fish assess everything about a lure. Pressure waves the lures sends out are easily detected by the lateral line; the other design factors confirmed by the sharp visual capability of the fish's oversized eyes. Pressure waves, more than visual cues, count more the faster a lure type is moved. I.E. a Rattle Trap must be moved at a faster speed than a billed crankbait or spinnerbait.
Fish sense the vibrations of a crankbait with rattles long before it enters the zone, and if active enough (meaning apt to chase & attack a lure), will strike based on the lure's action at that speed. When it comes to slow-moving lures, fish have time to look at a lure's motion in slow motion. Visual cues are important in this case because the longer a fish senses the lure, the more irritated it becomes by the lure strutting its stuff. A good example would be the subtle tail quiver of a spike tail grub attached to a 1/32 oz. jig. The lure moves slowly at various speeds and actions - darting/gliding/pausing - all in the same retrieve.
A curl-tail grub is much different and far less subtle in motion than a spike-tail and must be moved faster for the tail to flap.
But even more subtle in motion and forward speed is a grub body minus an action tail. These are variations. Note the various colors - all caught fish on the same outing.
In fact, I recently started casting a 1" grub body to catch little tail-nipper fish with mouths too small to get a larger lure in their mouths to hook. I call it the micro-pill-too-easy-to-swallow:
Another discovery that catches just as many fish is the micro-swimbait - both rigged on a 1/32 oz jig with #6 hook:
IMO, the chartreuse emphasizes the lure's subtle action-tail's motion: a back & forth flutter that irritates fish of ALL sizes to strike. Lure proximity is another key factor, as well as time-in-place for a lure's subtle action to provoke a fish to strike. The reason a fish strikes, IMO, is a combination of hypersensitivity, irritability and the bully inherent in all fish. Forget hunger, anger, lure recognition or feeding as factors because fish sense the real thing from an unnatural-looking and moving object. If a lure moves and or looks natural, it's coincidence and nothing else. There are simply too many lure shapes and actions that provoke fish to strike via unique strike-triggers to choose from to limit oneself to just a few based on myth.
Color is obviously not important when it comes to a Mepps in-line spinner and most bladed lures. The flash says it all to a fish. But the action imparted to a soft plastic worm or grub rigged on a Chatterbait or Beetle Spin is an addition to the flashing blade's strike-trigger. Lures contrast with a water, plant or bottom background, no matter the appearance - some more than others. Contrast always matters, whether subtle or in-their-faces!
The above is my opinion and not meant to preach to the choir. But the combination of lure action, size, shape and presentation - as well as color/ color brightness always matters in order to catch the most fish on any given outing or water.
I have a few reasons for color choice, but always in conjunction with color brightness. This brings me to the topic of lure design: shape, action and size, as well as presentation (slower or faster) that make all the difference whether fish strike or not. Most of us match a color or colors to the lures we are using. Personal preference is not scientific but rather a confidence thing based on the number of fish caught on that lure in that color. But then again, lure choice is usually based on how fast a lure moves and how it moves. A plastic worm moved slowly on the bottom, moves much differently than a swimbait cruising along at a certain speed. Same for finesse soft plastics or trout flies that stay in place longer, barely moving. This brings me to the importance of presentation and lure action.
Fish are supersensitive creatures (like my wife, though not a creature unless she gets hysterical
.) A fish's sensitivity to moving objects IS #1! Vision is secondary, though important when fish assess everything about a lure. Pressure waves the lures sends out are easily detected by the lateral line; the other design factors confirmed by the sharp visual capability of the fish's oversized eyes. Pressure waves, more than visual cues, count more the faster a lure type is moved. I.E. a Rattle Trap must be moved at a faster speed than a billed crankbait or spinnerbait.Fish sense the vibrations of a crankbait with rattles long before it enters the zone, and if active enough (meaning apt to chase & attack a lure), will strike based on the lure's action at that speed. When it comes to slow-moving lures, fish have time to look at a lure's motion in slow motion. Visual cues are important in this case because the longer a fish senses the lure, the more irritated it becomes by the lure strutting its stuff. A good example would be the subtle tail quiver of a spike tail grub attached to a 1/32 oz. jig. The lure moves slowly at various speeds and actions - darting/gliding/pausing - all in the same retrieve.
A curl-tail grub is much different and far less subtle in motion than a spike-tail and must be moved faster for the tail to flap.
But even more subtle in motion and forward speed is a grub body minus an action tail. These are variations. Note the various colors - all caught fish on the same outing.
In fact, I recently started casting a 1" grub body to catch little tail-nipper fish with mouths too small to get a larger lure in their mouths to hook. I call it the micro-pill-too-easy-to-swallow:
Another discovery that catches just as many fish is the micro-swimbait - both rigged on a 1/32 oz jig with #6 hook:
IMO, the chartreuse emphasizes the lure's subtle action-tail's motion: a back & forth flutter that irritates fish of ALL sizes to strike. Lure proximity is another key factor, as well as time-in-place for a lure's subtle action to provoke a fish to strike. The reason a fish strikes, IMO, is a combination of hypersensitivity, irritability and the bully inherent in all fish. Forget hunger, anger, lure recognition or feeding as factors because fish sense the real thing from an unnatural-looking and moving object. If a lure moves and or looks natural, it's coincidence and nothing else. There are simply too many lure shapes and actions that provoke fish to strike via unique strike-triggers to choose from to limit oneself to just a few based on myth.
Color is obviously not important when it comes to a Mepps in-line spinner and most bladed lures. The flash says it all to a fish. But the action imparted to a soft plastic worm or grub rigged on a Chatterbait or Beetle Spin is an addition to the flashing blade's strike-trigger. Lures contrast with a water, plant or bottom background, no matter the appearance - some more than others. Contrast always matters, whether subtle or in-their-faces!
The above is my opinion and not meant to preach to the choir. But the combination of lure action, size, shape and presentation - as well as color/ color brightness always matters in order to catch the most fish on any given outing or water.
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