Knapp: Don’t get too attached to a fishing lure’s color, but keeping an open mind can lead to success
One of the joys of fishing is meeting the challenges each experience presents. Piecing together the puzzle, if you will, that results in a caught fish.
Many elements come into play. Fish location is the first. You can’t catch them if they aren’t there. Then comes lure or bait choice, and with it options that include action, profile, size, running depth, etc.
Color choice is another of these variables, one that perhaps anglers pay too much attention to. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind color can make a huge difference in whether or not a fish strikes a lure or bait.
Take for instance a recent trip on the middle Allegheny River during which my longtime client Steve Gierl and his friend Bob joined me.
Given several weeks of prolonged drought-like conditions, it was no surprise the river was running low and clear. In my experience, such conditions call for subtle, natural lures. However, the day was dreary and cloudy, with intermittent light showers. The water clarity called for natural colors, but the weather reduced light penetration, suggesting a more visible choice might be in order.
As it worked out, the river’s smallmouth bass and walleyes showed a strong preference for lures — in the case Rapala X-Raps — in louder patterns including orange or pink. The fish largely ignored the muted perch patterns that typically produce in clear water. Interestingly, a few days later, when Bob Holbein joined me, under clear blue skies then natural bait hues were favored by the bass.
Earlier this month, I had an interesting experience on Crooked Creek Lake while fishing for crappies.
A brushpile located in 20 feet of water revealed plenty of targets I felt confident were crappies. But getting them to bite was not easy. Rotating through the bait colors, it was not until I showed them a plastic body in a blue/pearl combination that they “took the bait,” literally.
Interested to see if color was making that much of a difference, or if the fish had just turned on, I fished alternative baits on a second rod right next to the first. Though I tried several color patterns that often work — chartreuse/black, pink/chartreuse — the blue/pearl option bettered the others by a 10-to-1 margin.
On that day.
Crappies are known for being color selective, so this experience should come as no surprise. But it’s something to keep in mind when you know you are on fish but they refuse to cooperate. It is easy to become complacent, unwilling to experiment with new colors when the old ones are not working.
I’m guilty of carrying baits that looked good when I ordered them, but tend to be ignored when I’m on the water because they just don’t look right.
Along this line is the Zoom Fluke, a soft jerkbait that produces well for me in both river and lake situations. My confidence colors tend to be watermelon in clear water, pearl white in slightly stained water, pink in dirtier water.
During an armchair lure-ordering session, the Sexy Shad color looked good so I purchased a couple of bags. When they arrived the baits looked a bit too gaudy to me. But when I put them to use the bass showed they didn’t share my reservations. Sexy Shad flukes have become a mainstay.
Like many elements of fishing, bait/lure choice color selections are influenced by our prior experiences and the conditions faced with on any particular day. Keeping an open mind can result in success and additions to our list of favorites.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
