Establishing Worm Color Preferences 2025
deep reply :
If I did one important thing (fishing related that is) over the last year, it was to study Bill Murphy's book from cover to cover 4 or 5 times. To those who have read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. To whose who haven't, here's the gist.
Murphy believed that bigger bass are more vulnerable to worms of certain colors and certain sizes, and this bait/ colors preferences vary from reservoir to reservoir. He also said that the way to figure out their choice was to fish outside structures with a standard size (6" most times of the year) worm in different colors and see which one(s) the (adult) fish like better. Aside: I don't believe my NLMBs are as choosy as the SoCal FLMBs/ intergrades, but I also believe that bigger fish, no matter their strain, are more likely to bite certain baits/ presentations during certain moon phases. Regardless, little details matter when hunting for big fish.
So, we're getting close to the transition here. Water temp yesterday was 72.7 about 6 ft down in the column. Sucks that the cord on my thermometer is only 10' long (and of course the shore doesn't drop straight down). Anyway, good enough for a start. Figured fish are starting to move in on structures from being suspended most of summer.
Picked a good-looking point in the upper third of the lake, casted around a bit with a swim jig just to check that there weren't anyone interested in a fast bait (no need to over finesse), blanked (which was good) and then got to work.
Had six bags of straight tail robos with me, I'll call the colors A, B, C, D, E and F. Rigged up a slip shot rig: cylindrical 1/4 oz tungsten, brass clicker, glass bead, bobber stop about a foot up, and then a 3/0 wide gap (not EWG) Gammy worm hook. Rod was a 7'6" Kistler He3, with a Curado G6 spooled with 12# Tatsu.
You fish a point from the sides. (See In-Fisherman horizontal jigging article.) Start out about 3/4 of a cast length off to one side, fish the point. Then get on the point itself, fish both sides (changing position if the point is big enough). Then move past the point, and fish the far edge from a different angle. Fishing from a boat would give you more angle options of course.
The first color got exactly zero bites. The second happens to be Mike Long's favorite color. Well, didn't fare much better with that one either. Caught one 10" fish that bit about 15 ft off the shore, and another 12" fish that bit right as I was about to take the bait out of the water. Not good, catching small bass in 5 feet of water gives no useful info.
Got a good bite with the third color in about 20 FOW, might have been a good fish. Set the hook too soon- that's what happens if you fish jigs too much lol. Nothing much on the fourth or the sixth color either (except for another 12" fish close to the shore). But I did catch a 3 lb 7 oz fish with the fifth color, so that (and the third color) might be better options for my reservoir. (I do classify a 3# NLMB as adult.)
Need to experiment more, I guess. Pretty inconclusive results so far- other than what I already knew, that I pretty much suck at fishing,
Catch and Grease reply :
Lots of variables, could have been many different factors that made them bite other than color.
like depth change, type of cover, etc..
Nitrofreak reply :
I wouldn't go so far to say you suck at fishing man !! LOL !!! It was funny how you put it in there though .
Sounds like your doing your best with all the info you have been soaking up , your catching fish with simple techniques proven to catch fish , as far as colors go , keep it simple in accordance to available forage , that's where you need to start and move a little one way or the next .
Your understanding structure , soaking all that great info up you can , that's a good thing , fishing from the bank limits you to seeing only a small part , you took a place according to what you have learned , you applied yourself , and you caught fish !!!!
That's an excellent mark of an angler , don't sell yourself short man !!
Raul reply :
I love pretty colored worms, got thousands in hundreds of colors aaaaaaaaand it comes to: my friend Moises fishes for practical purposes with watermelon with some sort of metal flake and green pumpkin, those two perhaps 95 % of the time, I don't see him catching less than I with a huge assortment of colors. Also he practically fishes with 2 different baits, one is a jerkbait, the other is a grub. Bare bones approach works. Baits catch fish when the context is right.
deep reply :
Nitro, I suck at fishing for big fish. You'd say the same about yourself too if you got skunked as often as I do. Over the whole of April last year- prime pre-spawn time-, I caught exactly one fish. And I fished for over a hundred hours that month. Granted I was only fishing 8"+ baits, but that's no excuse. The primary point of fishing is to catch fish (the size and numbers you want). I was fishing the right spots too, saw so many follows it was unbelievable. Either they didn't want a big bait, or it was a timing thing. I doubt it was the latter.
So that's when my eyes finally opened. Something wasn't right, and I needed to change tactics. You can get into a rut even when throwing big baits. Swimbaits aren't the be-all and end-all for big fish. Sometimes, big bass want a big bait, sometimes they want a small one. Bill Murphy writes in his book about fishing San V for 3 consecutive days. One day, he caught them on jigs, the second day on worms, the third day on live crawfish. Tom has posted several times how preference for baits change from day to day. So anyway, excuse my rambling.
To me, fishing for big bass is a percentage game. You fish the high percentage areas- can't catch them if they're not there. But presentation and baits are very important. Just my opinion though. But don't you want to know what might happen if you do everything right? Including fishing the right bait in the right color?
As far as colors are concerned, I will respectfully disagree with you. My best producing swimbait (for kickers) was a white hardgill. I love chartreuse hardbaits. Not a 100% chartreuse, but a lot of chartreuse on them, I have caught a few big fish on them. I like rainbow trout hudds. There are very few rainbow trouts where I fish- the ones that are there are over 14" long, and I doubt bass eat them on a regular basis. I also like the hitch color, probably because its got a little blue and purple. I don't own a single black and blue jig. That's the only color we need right? Well, I don't need it. I like browns and green with a little purple/ blue highlights.
So, in conclusion, I guess I concur with Murphy. Whatever colors work for you on a particular reservoir is the best color for you on that lake. Big surprise!
The point of yesterday's enterprise was to catch a few adult bass on worms. I know I can catch them (3# fish that is) on jigs and big baits, but what happens when the big ones don't want a jig or a big bait? Do you just keep beating the water with your choices, or give them what they want?
Zach Dunham reply :
I agree with Raul to a point here. I think way too much emphasis is put on color. To me, choosing color is the last priority in a list of other things that help you catch more. First of which is location, obviously. Doesn't matter what you're throwing if they aren't there. What type of bait you are using matters a heck of a lot more than color. If its spring time and the bass want a jerkbait, certain jerkbait colors may work better than other colors, but pretty much any color jerkbait will out-fish a bait that isn't the right action or isn't what they want. Once I have the right spot and the right bait, then I move on to refining color and retrieve timing and whatnot. There are some situations where this may not apply in that order, but for the most part I think it does.
Catch and Grease reply :
I just make sure the bass can easily see what I'm throwing, I don't care so much about specific colors.
OkobojiEagle reply :
A little study on bass vision; water clarity and how it affects the light spectrum; and how background color can camouflage baits will give you a little more perspective.
oe
roadwarrior reply :
Fish your favorite colors.
Comfortably Numb reply :
Welcome back Deep. Did you forget these you caught a couple years ago?
Wish I sucked that bad 
Comfortably Numb reply :
BTW. Color means nothing. As long as the Bass can see it.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 9/16/2014 at 9:36 PM, deep said:Nitro, I suck at fishing for big fish. You'd say the same about yourself too if you got skunked as often as I do. Over the whole of April last year- prime pre-spawn time-, I caught exactly one fish. And I fished for over a hundred hours that month. Granted I was only fishing 8"+ baits, but that's no excuse. The primary point of fishing is to catch fish (the size and numbers you want). I was fishing the right spots too, saw so many follows it was unbelievable. Either they didn't want a big bait, or it was a timing thing. I doubt it was the latter.
So that's when my eyes finally opened. Something wasn't right, and I needed to change tactics. You can get into a rut even when throwing big baits. Swimbaits aren't the be-all and end-all for big fish. Sometimes, big bass want a big bait, sometimes they want a small one. Bill Murphy writes in his book about fishing San V for 3 consecutive days. One day, he caught them on jigs, the second day on worms, the third day on live crawfish. Tom has posted several times how preference for baits change from day to day. So anyway, excuse my rambling.
To me, fishing for big bass is a percentage game. You fish the high percentage areas- can't catch them if they're not there. But presentation and baits are very important. Just my opinion though. But don't you want to know what might happen if you do everything right? Including fishing the right bait in the right color?
As far as colors are concerned, I will respectfully disagree with you. My best producing swimbait (for kickers) was a white hardgill. I love chartreuse hardbaits. Not a 100% chartreuse, but a lot of chartreuse on them, I have caught a few big fish on them. I like rainbow trout hudds. There are very few rainbow trouts where I fish- the ones that are there are over 14" long, and I doubt bass eat them on a regular basis. I also like the hitch color, probably because its got a little blue and purple. I don't own a single black and blue jig. That's the only color we need right? Well, I don't need it. I like browns and green with a little purple/ blue highlights.
So, in conclusion, I guess I concur with Murphy. Whatever colors work for you on a particular reservoir is the best color for you on that lake. Big surprise!
The point of yesterday's enterprise was to catch a few adult bass on worms. I know I can catch them (3# fish that is) on jigs and big baits, but what happens when the big ones don't want a jig or a big bait? Do you just keep beating the water with your choices, or give them what they want?
When I first started chasing big bass , or more so "targeting" big or bigger bass , I got skunked more times than I care to mention , being in the right spot at the right time is truly a key factor , I agree with you there , but big baits does not always equate to big fish , especially during the spawn .
Forgive me if I seemed to be making fun of your situation , that was not my intent , for years as a bank angler my frustration was the same as yours , I certainly sympathize .
Deep , Lake Anna is primarily a one color fishery , or at least one that produces more than others as far as plastics go , when fishing the spawn , I put more emphasis on the bait selection , if they are in the spawning stage I am more apt to fishing a predator style bait such as lizard , the bass are more in the mindset to protect the nest rather than in the mood to eat , they will chase a bait from their area , quite possibly that's why you were seeing followers , I'm looking for something that will get their attention , something that will set off a reaction to protect , appealing more to their instinct rather than their appetite , a small bream bait , like a small perch swim bait , if you like swim baits .
Water clarity , surface disturbance etc ... a host of factors come into play when choosing colors or the combination of colors , when you find yourself throwing everything you have and not getting what you seek , it may be that the big ones are not in your area , it may mean that they are mostly suspended , fishing from the bank , as in your case , is very very difficult to discern exactly what the fish are doing without the aid of electronics , IMO , your doing everything you can to dissect an area , presentation and baits as you mentioned are important , if your catching fish , your doing it right , there may simply not be larger fish within your reach , it may not be what your doing is wrong .
Comfortably Numb reply :
I feel in most cases big baits eliminate smaller fish. Thats it. If a big bass saw a 8" Hudd or a 5" swimbait go by, it would eat either if it was in the mood to eat
I also think the whole lizard thing for spawning bass is a myth. Bass are not that smart. They will chase anything from a nest. All the flappers on the lizard may be what does it. Never seen a lizard that big in a lake anyway.
Same reason Jig/craw work great in waters with no crawfish.
Bass are just not that smart.
Guess I am a pesimist and getting off track here.
Raul reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 12:29 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I feel in most cases big baits eliminate smaller fish. Thats it.
I also think the whole lizard thing for spawning bass is a myth. Bass are not that smart. They will chase anything from a nest. All the flappers on the lizard may be what does it. Never seen a lizard that big in a lake anyway.
Same reason Jig/craw work great in waters with no crawfish.
Bass are just not that smart.
Guess I am a pesimist and getting off track here.
Nope, you are being REALISTIC, "matching the hatch" is just plain nonsense.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 12:29 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I feel in most cases big baits eliminate smaller fish. Thats it. If a big bass saw a 8" Hudd or a 5" swimbait go by, it would eat either if it was in the mood to eat
I also think the whole lizard thing for spawning bass is a myth. Bass are not that smart. They will chase anything from a nest. All the flappers on the lizard may be what does it. Never seen a lizard that big in a lake anyway.
Same reason Jig/craw work great in waters with no crawfish.
Bass are just not that smart.
Guess I am a pesimist and getting off track here.
I agree , bass are not that smart , but when conventional wisdom fails , appealing to other instincts with different baits does work , keeping smaller baits in front of them for longer periods of time during the spawn can/will illicit a strike , lizards do work and work very well .
deep reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 12:13 AM, Nitrofreak said:there may simply not be larger fish within your reach , it may not be what your doing is wrong .
I can fish outside structures from the shore (in the 2 reservoirs I fish most often); so there are or should be plenty of adult bass within casting range. Now getting them to bite has been the problem.
Unless its middle to late summer. And then I don't know where they are or what they're doing. Maybe they are within casting range and they just suspend (a fishfinder would have helped here), or they go out to the middle of the res and do heaven knows what. I have no idea. But fall to early summer, I do fine. Or at least I did fine until I took a one year break from chasing bass. As fast as discerning structure is concerned, I have some pretty good low water pics when the reservoir was down about 40 odd feet, so I think I'm good there.
If I was fishing a 1000 acre lake or one with poor shoreline access by foot, then yes, I agree with you. Can't catch them if you can't cast to them.
My project is this: when they want a worm, do they like one or two colors better than all others?
For (casting) jigs, I know the answer. Yes they do. (Them refers to the adult bass is one particular reservoir.) Haven't fished worms a whole lot other than when I wanted to be Barney. I'd like to add worms to my arsenal for bigger bass.
Alonerankin2 reply :
Those pics look like fine catches to me....
Yea, the whole lizard thing, well, how bout I say it this way... If you catch them on it, if its you're confidence bait, by all means fish it, because color matters to me ( confidence ) based on years of use, not sure really if it matters to Bass...
Comfortably Numb reply :
I am in total aggreemnt that a plastic lizard is a great bait especially when Bass are protecting a bed. BUT it has nothing to do with that a bass "thinks" its a lizard.
Raul reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 1:58 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I am in total aggreemnt that a plastic lizard is a great bait especially when Bass are protecting a bed. BUT it has nothing to do with that a bass "thinks" its a lizard.
Or how about when there are no ( and there have never been ) salamanders/newts/mud puppies raiding the nests for the bass to identify them as potential dangers ?
Nitrofreak reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 1:58 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I am in total aggreemnt that a plastic lizard is a great bait especially when Bass are protecting a bed. BUT it has nothing to do with that a bass "thinks" its a lizard.
I have to go back and read my post , that's defiantly not what was intended , my apologies !
Nitrofreak reply :
Ok , water clarity will have to help your decision , along with a few other factors , how to decide one color , two colors , with flake etc ...On 9/17/2014 at 1:04 AM, deep said:My project is this: when they want a worm, do they like one or two colors better than all others?
If you can see approx 5 feet visibility or more , the bass will rely more heavily on site , so , smaller more subtle worms should do the trick in natural colors .
Darker waters , like a foot to two feet visibility , you want to beef up your presentation , bass would most likely be using their lateral lines to aid in hunting their prey , water displacement is key , darker colors are better .
Water visibility between 2 to 5 feet , bass have a tendency to do a bit of both , me personally , this is where I like to add a little dye to the tail of my worms on cloudy or overcast days or use worms with flake in them under the brighter sunny conditions .
Raul reply :
My uncle Javier married a french girl ( she was actually from Strasbourg ), she came along with a purty nice collection of recipes from her homeland because she liked to cook. So there she is ready to prepare her very first cake in Mexican soil and to add, in Mexico City. She grabbed her recipe, followed it step by step, added, mixed, seasoned n´stuff, placed the dough into the mold and there it goes into the ove ..... and what came out of the oven was light years away from a cake.
What do I try to imply here ?
There´s always a lesson to be learned, she learned the hard way that even though she had the recipe the recipe didn´t work as it should, she didn´t take into consideration some of the variables ( in this case the height above sea level is one huge variable to take into consideration ), it took her months to find the correct ammount of ingredients and the baking time to make her recipe work.
Bass fishing is like cooking, you may have the recipe but you have to find the right combination of ingredients. Do not try to establish things like color preference as "rules", in the case of color: most colors will work most of the times in most place; and when they don´t ----> try with something else.
When it comes to me myworm color preference are three colors: red shad, black shad, tequila shad, funny my compadre likes watermelon and he fishes with his favorite color and I fish with any of mine and we both catch fish. I can count with the fingers of one hand when the fish "prefered" one specific color and no other.
Comfortably Numb reply :
Makes sense. Mexican bass like Tequila 
Nitrofreak reply :
On 9/17/2014 at 3:12 AM, Comfortably Numb said:Makes sense. Mexican bass like Tequila
HA !!! That's pretty good !! LOL !!
ClackerBuzz reply :
don't feel bad deep, the first half of my season was very difficult as well (even the second half of last year was hard). i tried to doing too many things at once: adding swimbaits and deep cranks to my search for adult bass on structure while learning a side imaging unit.
things got way too complicated. i backed off, read alot, refined my basics and gained some perspective.
hunting for small fish and adult fish (anything over 3lbs) is two different tasks. if I definitely want to catch bass i'm heading to weeds. but they will be small or medium. the big fish are off shore. there seems to be 2 camps with structure fishing: don't fish until you see baitfish on the sonar; and 'if I only wet a hook when I saw baitfish I'd never fish'. this is hugely dependent on the personality of ur home water. my very difficult experience of catching structure fish last year and the 1/2 half this year coinsides with needing baitfish to be in the area. no point in slow dragging jigs or throwing out ur shoulder/wrist out while casting search baits all day. in my home water i'm far more successful if baitfish are present. also my waters don't have schooling bass. i see youtube vids of guys down south just scanning a school of bass and pulling up bass after bass on every cast. that would never happen on my water. my water systems just don't support schools of 50-100 bass. mine hunt in small groups and are far more active when bait is close by.
keep in mind fishing around baitfish is the easy approach compared to Bill Murphy's. He knew several lakes inside and out. and was able to consistently slow craw a jig/worm on prime structure locations. i may get to that point in the future but for now it's all about the hunt for baitfish. i do have a few rock ledges where I can catch bass that will always eat a free craw/jig but they are shallow and I would consider them junival structure fish. crestliner2008 wrote a nice post the other day about fishing around baitfish and it coincides with the personality of my reservoir (when pertaining to structure fishing; as i said weeds always give up bass).
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/144295-drop-shotting-for-smallies-where-are-they/
consistently catching big bass is a lifetime learning process and right now I enjoy catching larger than average bass in the deepest weeds possible; and catching bass that are active b/c of present baitfish. but catching neutral and/or negative mood lunkers while slow dragging a bait on deep structure w/o baitfish present like Bill Murphy is something that will take a few more seasons, if not a lifetime
Loop_Dad reply :
Deep congrats for studying and actually trying thing out. To me that's the big part of fishing, trying something new.
I've read that book and also read the other book written by a scientist Knowing Bass Scientific Approach, which he talks about colors. I also used to dive long time ago. After going down a few feet, certain spectrum of lights are diminished and things become mono-tone even in clear water. So I doubt fish see much difference between say blue and purple in deeper water.
Either way, to make any convincing conclusion about effectiveness of color, one needs a lot more sample than a few fish. Or forget that and fish the color you like and be happy! That's what I do.
bigbill reply :
Fish the colors to the water conditions. "Sometimes"
Now the very first plastic worm colors were black, natural Brown, then purple hit the scene and we been in warp drive ever since looking for the new hot color. But the old faithful basics is a split shot rigged 6" long standard Creme black worm.
We used a long sewing needle with a #2 smelled hook folded in half to insert it were the lump is in the worm the bring the leader out the head of the worm. You install the split shot at the knot in the smelled hook leader
We're talking basic late 60's / early 70's Field & Stream magazine tips here. I use this setup in the back washes on the larger flowing lakes from shore. Now with a boat you look for surface or submerged weeds. You move the boat out to where the weeds disappear from view. Anchor the boat and cast into where the weeds are. Strikes can happen as it falls on the cast. If not let it sit, in five minutes move it 6"/10" and let it sit. Watch the line for movement and repeat.
If you go to the waters edge at night with a flash lite there are freshwater eels that are a blackish to a dark gray in color this is why a black colored plastic worm is so hot.
bigbill reply :
What colors to use?
Here in the northeast the unfinished places that see no pressure is where I test my different colors of plastics. I haven't tried them all yet but here's a few that work so far.
Small ponds
1. Amber (reddish orange) gold flake. senkos bps sticko
2. Electric Blue very hot in senko's & worms. Gambler ace & gambler worm
3. Reddish black flake senko. (Senko brand)
4. Black creme orginal plastic worm split shot rigged.
5. Purple creme orginal plastic worm split shot rig.
6. Culprit worm black shad
7. Culprit worm red shad
8. Culprit worm green shad
Up at the lake I'll add.
Culprit blue worm chartreuse colored tail
Culprit purple worm chartreuse colored tail.
Any colored tail, blue, red, yellow, Orange, chartreuse etc.
Why I have no clue but maybe in the water column the water conditions can change and the purple or blue with the yellow or chartreuse tail mimics a sunfish or bluegill breast.
The creme worms are many decades old in design but them and the culprit stuff still works today.
Don't go crazy buying up all the colors start with just a few.
bigbill reply :
"The water conditions can change as we go deeper in the water column." Fact
On a tough day just toss a firetiger crankbait. After you have exhausted your favorite fish catching colors.
I'm fishing at one of my favorite hot spots from shore. I tossed every bait that's been proven to catch fish here in the past. I caught nothing. I tossed my baits a second time using different presentations. Not willing to give up I put on a bomber FAT A in firetiger. I started catching bass. I refuse to be beaten. I know from the past the fish are there.
The water may seem clear or slightly stained at the waters edge but as it gets deeper you can have multiple water conditions.
Just something to consider on a slow day, think brighter colors and "firetiger" is your color.
Slow Days are good......
I use the slower days to just practice each presentation with each bait. I like to hone my skills to an Oscar winning presentation with each bait. Fishing from shore I have a short time slot before the bass move to there deeper daytime haunts. I use this slow down time to practice. A bass will interrupt me every now and then but there letting me know I got it right. Throwing the correct color for the water conditions is the key thing, but your speed of your bait matters too. I like to keep it slow, just slow enough so the crankbait has an even steady wobble to it and the inline spinner and spinner bait blades just start to turn Even.
To practice you need to see your lure. I pick a spot where the ground is above the waters edge. Your lure is in full view. While you practice remember to wear your polarized glasses and watch behind your lure for short strikes too.
It happens all the time so look for it. I adjust my speed or add a shot of scent.
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