Choosing the correct colors for your fishing lure is an important part of fishing. The color of the lure will determine if the fish will see the lure and strike at it. While many people may believe that the color of the lure you choose is a matter of luck, the correct color for your lure is based off the clarity of the water, the sunlight that hit the water, and the color of the baitfish in the water.
Understanding how water clarity affects the visibility of the lure is the first part of understanding how to choose the correct lure color for the given fishing conditions. The first factor to consider in choosing the correct lure color is the clarity of the water in which you will be fishing. In very clear water, the fish can easily see detail of the lure from a distance.
How to Choose the Right Color for Your Fishing Lure
In this case, you should use lure colors that is translucent, such as pearl or smoky shades. These colors will allow the lure to appear as natural baitfish to the fish in the water. Avoid using neon colors for your fishing lure for clear water as the neon color will appear unnatural to the fish in the water, and the fish may avoid your lure because of the unnatural color.
If the water is lightly stained (from rain or wind, for example), use colors that contrast against the natural color of the water. For example, use gold flash on white bellies for your fishing lure which allows for good visibility without being to bright. Gold flash on white bellies works well for bait such as spinnerbaits.
If the water you are fishing in is muddy and has very low visibility for the fish, the fish do not rely upon seeing the lure to find it. Instead, they use the silhouette of the lure to find it. Use lure colors that are bold and stand out against the water.
For example, use lure colors such as chartreuse bellies with black backs or orange throats. Bold colors such as chartreuse or orange stand out against the murky water and allow for easy detection of the lure by the fish. Also, reaction baits may be helpful in murky water as they rely upon the movement of the lure to find the fish.
The angle of the sunlight that falls upon the water will affect the color of the lure that you should use. For example, if the sun is high in the sky and there is alot of sunlight hitting the fishing spot, use soft finishes for your lure. Soft finishes such as pearl and smoke colors will not create a glare off of the lure that the fish would see.
However, during the dawn or dusk hours when the light is low in the water, use solid black colors for your fishing lure. Solid black colors will stand out against the water during these hours. Finally, if the wind is creating ripples in the water you should use high visibility colors for your lure.
High visibility colors such as chartreuse or gold will cut through the ripples the wind caused. The type of baitfish that are in the water will dictate the color of the lure that you use. During the spring, for example, there will often be many red clawed crawfish in the waters, so using earth tones to mimic the color of the crawfish will attract the fish.
During the summer, however, there will often be many bluegill fish in the water, so using green pumpkin colors that mimic the habitat of bluegill will be more successful in tempting those fish to bite. During the fall, there will often be many shad fish in the water, so using silver and white colors will mimic the color of the shad fish. Different species of fish prefers certain colors.
For example, largemouth bass tend to eat many different types of bait, so you must adjust the color of the bait depending upon the location of the bass fish. Walleye prefer to use golden or silver colors when they cast the bait into the moving water in which they live. Additionally, the striped patterns of the bait will work if the water is stained with colored substances.
Redfish live in saltwater environments and prefer pink colors in the bait that mimic the color of shrimp. Finally, tuna live in the ocean and prefer the use of bright blue colors in the bait to mimic the color of the baitfish in the ocean. By using these color patterns for your fishing bait, you can avoid many common mistakes when fishing.
For example, many fishermen make the mistake of using neon colors for their fishing bait in water that is clear. However, the bright colors of neon bait often repel the fish from the bait. The other common mistake is to only use natural colors for bait in stained water; bold silhouettes work better in stained water.
Finally, there will never be a single color of bait that will work for all target species of fish; the types of baitfish in the water change throughout the year. By observing the color of the water, the light levels in the water, and the types of baitfish in the water, fishermen can choose the appropriate color of fishing bait to increase the likelihood of the fish striking the bait.