It can be a hard to choice to make when you open up your tackle box to pick out the first lure for a fishing excursion. Colour can be a key trigger for fishing success, but do not let a topside, internal debate keep you from getting a lure down into the water quickly.
First, choose something that mimics the colour, size and shape of the natural prey your target species feasts on in the body of water you are on. When was the last time you saw chartreuse baitfish while you were freshwater fishing? That being said, that colour does work for the pros. My point is, to help you decide quickly on any body of water, start with natural colours.
If fishing is slow on your first ‘natural’ pick, be sure to experiment with other colours. Let light conditions and/or water clarity dictate your next pick. If the water is murky or they sky is overcast move to a brighter colour like chartreuse or bright orange. When water conditions are clear and the sky is bright – try shades of blue, browns, or green.
These are just guidelines. It has been this blogger’s experience that the way fish react to your lures is far from predictable. When in doubt about what colour to use – experiment. Take time to methodically try everything you got and forget the rules and systems often read about or seen on TV. My tackle box has cranks of various colours. The colour of your lure is just one of triggering mechanisms built into its construction. Vibration, flash and silhouette also play significant roles.
On day 1 of a recent sunny fishing trip on a local Muskoka lake, I started with a natural looking black-topped and silver-white bottomed minnow crank bait. My partner chose to start with a chartreuse coloured bait. Within four casts, he had landed a nice pike. Upon switching to a second bay, he pulled in another nice pike on his first cast. My natural looking lure had no hits. This all changed when I switched to a lure with similar colours (not shape) as my fishing partner’s. Colour in this case ‘trumped’ shape.
The second day of our fishing trip, I started again with a more natural coloured silver minnow crank bait. My partner, again, started with his chartreuse coloured lure. After a few minutes of fishing, I had landed two nice walleye. Things did not start to happen for the other angler UNTIL he switched to a silver coloured crank.
If you are deep water fishing, keep in mind that at greater depths, lack of light penetration makes a colour debate a mute point. Colours can not be differentiated if there is no light to reflect or absorb.
Colour can impact your fishing success, but not to the extent that it will benefit the angler to change a lure every second or third cast. Fish will not be caught if a lure is not in the water.
