Color Theories...

[AtticaFish]

Ok, i would like to hear what colors you fish and under what conditions. I read any fishing mag i can and they always have a reason why they fish a certain color at a certain time...

I fish ALOT of natural colors (white, gray, black, olive, tan, brown, pearl) and have always done so because i fish mostly clear to only slightly stained water. I do this because i figure the fish can see it better so it should 'look' like food. Match the hatch. This goes for either crappie or bass and i lean towards darker colors for bass. Gill fishing i like natural colors (black, gray, brown) but have had some excellent days with brighter colors even in clear water: black/orange, chart/gold.

The main place i fish that has truly dirty/muddy water at times is in the river for smallmouth... then i use almost exclusively dark jigs - any color as long as it is BLACK is a saying that comes to mind. Later into summer and fall when the river begins to clear up, i use more color when fishing for reaction bites. Fast ripping a chart or yellow jig can be pretty fun.

I have heard that black has the best contrast in muddy water and if you ask 10 bass fisherman what color jig they would use in muddy water... i bet 6 would answer black. Reaction baits (cranks, spinners, buzzbaits) seem to go more towards the hotter and brighter colors but jigs stay on the darker side.

Why do so many crappie and walleye fisherman use such bright colors in muddy water? Has anyone given the 'all black jig' a fair shake in muddy water fishing for crappie or eyes???

 

[toadfrog]

Water is muddy around here most of the time . I use black , blk/brown , blk/olive drab or a varigated chenille with black in it . the tail color will very some. black , yellow, gold ect. Clear to stained water can be a color change nightmare. But on the average white and chartruese are good starters.

 

[oldfox]

Most of the Maine waters that I fish are pretty clear. Probably the best combo I have used is orange/chartruse, with pink/chartruse a close second. I like to try a lot of different colors, but those have proven to be my top choices. Of course during the spawn, all bets are off....they seem to hit anything that hits the water!

 

[upnort16]

An old saying "silver in the sunshine, copper in the clouds" still holds value. On clear water I like the "naturals" silver, gray, blues, greens and whites. Rootbeer waters I favor purples, blues, blacks, browns. Walleye in clear water has to be orange/yellow, stained water I switch to purple/green. Perch in the big pond is plain leadhead, nearly clear plastic tail with a slight hint of smoke. Panfish in the area hit the naturals the best most of the time, but lime green, pink and char. yellow produce the other times. The color selection is a closely guarded secret with most locals, but I tend not to follow the crowds anyways, so I have colors of almost any shade imaginable, just because fish are curious and I like the reaction from people when they look at my tackle.

 

[hhawkins]

Around here Crappie loves pink, white bass love chartreuse and white. Depending on the water bass love crawdad, peanutbutter, purple, purple/ black, pumpkin, watermelon and red colors. Our stripers love bright colors and our bluegills don't care if they're hungry. Walleye loves a pearl color to a baby bass green.

 

[Jig Man]

Besides black, I also like brown and gold with some copper or gold flash when fishing stained water. Yellow works good too... I am usually fishing for crappie, but I like to catch anything that will bite.

 

[deathb4disco]

Black is my standard color for bluegills, regardless of water color. I have also done pretty well with black for crappies. Most of my crappie fishing has been done in clearer water, though, so I tend to use white or chartreuse.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Being a KISS man, 3 colors of rabbit fur 99% of the time - dark natural, light natural, & chartreuse. But, per JJ2's decades of experience, some sort of gold flash accent is essential.

 

[AtticaFish]

hmmm.... i see lots of people stick with black as their 'secret' color huh? I have always shyed away from dark colors when fishing for crappie in the past just because i see SO many using the louder hues. I will change that this year. I have one local lake i can experiment with the dark colors for the walleye as well.....

Upnort - hot orange has always been one of my favorite walleye colors for either jigs or wt. forward spinners! Forgot to mention i also use orange alot for smallmouth as well. BTW - would love to see your jig rig for yellow perch sometime wether it is tied or plastic bait or anything - it would give my dad the shakes to see me catch perch on something other than a shiner.

 

[upnort16]

Attica, been working hard on getting things done in the "fishing room" and planned to photo a few projects and post them for advice. I must admit, getting pictures on the computer is ok, sending them elsewhere has been a challenge. I have no objection to sending the actual tails and jigs in the mail though. PM me your address and I'll gather some up. I have not begun the plastic poring/injecting phase yet this season, but perch season for us is closed until June 16 so I figure I have a little time.
Been concentrating on the panfish in inland waters, but mother nature threw us an ugly spring, so far. Better fishing ahead!

 

[moswampy]

here fishing water is usually stained so I use a lot of chart. even when tying bodies up for clear water I will use orange/red heads, chart or hot pink heads. I do use a lot of black jigs too since it does not take a lot to go from stained to muddy with our 5 inches of rain we can get overnight.

 

[ScottV]

The water in the south is usually stained so like Moswampy, I also use a lot of bright colors. Chartreuse, pink and orange are my go to colors. I'm a firm believer in using "Crappie Nibbles" on my jigs also. That way you are adding smell and taste to thier sence of sight.

 

[Lost Pole]

The water in the south is usually stained so like Moswampy, I also use a lot of bright colors. Chartreuse, pink and orange are my go to colors. I'm a firm believer in using "Crappie Nibbles" on my jigs also. That way you are adding smell and taste to thier sence of sight.

X2
BUT my main muddy water color, that seems to really be helping me out lately, involves black. More for contrast purpose.
Bright orange head black body and yellow chartreuse tail. Has to be marabou although I'm gon try fox soon bc I've heard it moves even better. Used to NEVER catch sacs in muddy and hated it. Not so much anymore bc I'm learning how to fish it and have confidence in that combo.

Adam

 

[AtticaFish]

I tell you what...... some of you southern 'dirty/muddy water' crappie folks have to test out this theory to see if it has any bones. I KNOW that black and dark colors work for the bass in my river when the water is muddied up but have very limited lakes with crappie that actually ever get muddy. Tie up some 'blacks' and set them up on a spare rod - start throwing them once you find a few fish using your normal 'bright' colors and see what happens. :jig:

Another idea to throw out. There is in interesting article in the latest Fly Fishing/Tying Journal about using.... Bright flies on bright days - dark flies on dark days ......for steelhead. I guess i have always taken into account the water clarity before i think about the above water factors. Hmmmmmm.

 

[Ron Don]

One that gets over looked in very muddy conditions is white. I have a camp on beouf river and the water is like coffee with a little creamer. It's so muddy that the markings or spots on bass and crappie don't show up. They are mostly white. But if you put them in an ice chest with clean water the markings appear. Don't know if it's from lack of light or just mud or what. Fill me in. Anyway I catch more crappie and bass on solid white! These fish are fat so they arent having problems seeing minnows either.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Black and grey have been the best I have ever used here in Arizona.Stained,clear,muddy,does'nt matter.Not too much muddy water here.Everytime that I put my rods away they always have a black and grey tied to them.I tye all of them other colors too,but always start and end with a black and grey,I wonder why,lol.