How important is color of a lure?? 2025

The Rooster reply :

At one time I used to think color was everything but now I'm finding that for some strange reason I tend to believe that whatever I have on at the moment, if it's not too far off from what I'm trying to make it look like, will work to catch a bass from whatever target I'm throwing to.

I tend to stick with natural colors, whites, browns, greens, for clear to slightly stained water, and black or other dark colors for dark, muddy water. Occasionally I'll use a bright color like chartreuse depending on the light conditions. Seems like to me now it's more about how light or dark the lure is instead of the color itself.

Just yesterday I was thinking I'd like to switch to a solid white color with a white tail in a spinner I was using for stained water instead of the brown and white with brown tail I had on. In order to lighten it up some so it was more visible. But I was too close to a stump I wanted to cast to and thought I'd use it for a few more casts to fish that stump before I drifted passed it and I ended up catching a decent fish from it, which was this one......

I may be wrong but I'm thinking if I had changed to the white one, or even something totally different like green or black......I think I'd have still caught that fish off that stump no matter what color it was.

I'm not that good at fishing, I'm beginning to get better though, I can tell, and this type of thinking is where I seem to be going to.

So, do you think color of a lure is gravely important or only slightly important as opposed to the type of lure and how it's fished being more important instead....like crankbait, spinnerbait, plastics, and so on??

BassinBoy reply :

Color is most important to match forage and the water conditions.

Pencil Pusher reply :

Not nearly as important as many people think it is.

Grey Wolf reply :

Technique and lure action are where its at. Color probably a distant 3rd or fourth.

Chad. reply :

Quote
Color is most important to match forage and the water conditions.

water conditions i guess but i do not think matching the hatch is that important

The Rooster reply :

Seems to me that whenever I see a spot that looks like it would hold fish, or see them on the fish finder, I cast whatever I happen to have tied on at the time and usually get a strike. If I miss the hookup that's usually my fault. Getting anxious too soon and setting the hook like it's a 50 pound catfish instead of a 2 pound bass. I'm trying to do better on that but I do that a lot it seems. ;D But I just noticed that the color usually didn't seem to make a difference, they hit it no matter what it was.

One time I even switched colors every time I got a fish to see if I had a color they wouldn't hit, inline spinners that is. I got a fish on every color I had in the box that day. Really good day for whitebass and hybrids.

Hawg Fan reply :

I believe its more about presentation and knowing what the bass are doing.

Low_Budget_Hooker reply :

Color is far more important to the fisherman than the fish

I'll throw anything natural, any time..... and fish it with the same confidence as the previous (natural) color.

TheBeast reply :

I was talkin color with my partner in the last tourny I fished and he said it didn't really matter since bass couldn't see color anyway, best part of this is he runs a paint and body shop and he is allways doing his own custom paint jobs on lures.

Bankbeater reply :

I think that it is somewhat important in shallow, clear water. The deeper and darker the water is, I don't think it matters as much.

roadwarrior reply :

Although I agree with LBH that color is "generally" not important, there are times when it is critical. When color is important, it's usually an exact shade or accent. Over time, you will run into this on occasion.

As a general rule I like "dark" or white/ silver (natural).

My favorites are green, blue and black, regardless of the water clarity, local baitfish or time of day/ year.

8-)

Low_Budget_Hooker reply :

I like white too, not sure if it's the color white that is getting the hit or the fact that the fluke it is embedded in is so darn sexy but I like it not for it's catching ability, just about anything will work colorwise but I like it because you get to see the hit in clear water,.....one second it's there, the next second,....it ain't

SET THE HOOK!!!

So, my point is, I can also see where color CAN be important such as sight fishing but in this instance, again,..., it is only important to the angler, not the fish.

My comments are strictly opinion, I'm sure there are 100 cases to prove me wrong, but that's my schtick and I'm schtickin' to it! ;D

Avalonjohn44 reply :

Mostly natural is the way I go, but I have a string of private ponds my buddy and I fish, and it seems that anything Yellow (not chartreuse...) gets bit hard.

Raul reply :

I 'm a sucker for brilliantly colored baits, specially with lotz and lotz of metal flake, fish don 't care or seldomly care what color the bait is as long as your location and presentation are right.

detroit1 reply :

I agree with color not being very important. Location, depth, speed, size, THEN color. Just don't look at my tacklebox without my consent.

Blue Streak reply :

I think the most important aspect of color is getting a bass to see the bait.

wilsonm1 reply :

Read Bassmaster article "Lure orLocation"

it doesnt talk directly abut color but the "lure

it is in the May 2008 edition

wilsonm1 reply :

its a great article and everybody here would learn somethin g

wagn reply :

i agree that about 90 percent of the time specific colors do not matter. Natural colors tend to work no matter what.

However there is that 10% exception.

I can think of one great example in which i'm sure that color mattered. I was shore fishing and fished the same place for 3 days at different times in the day. I was at cabin my family had rented for the week. I was fishing the only place I could, off of the end of the dock and I must have thrown every color and lure that I could in the water. The only color that would get bit was yellow. Different lures types as well. Yellow spinnerbait, yellow crank, and yellow topwater. No other color worked. I probably would have done even better if I had owned yellow worms. So for that week, at that lake, yellow was key.

so does color matter?

The answer is that color never matters, except for those times that it does ;D

Shad_Master reply :

I agree with Wagn - I think color depends partly on the time of year - right before and right after the spawn - not so much. Later in the year, it can matter a lot. There have been too many times when I have seen a slight color change (green pumpkin to watermelon for instance) be the key to getting fish to bite when they won't otherwise. Color alone isn't THE key, but it is one of the keys.

bass wrangler569 reply :

Quote
I was talkin color with my partner in the last tourny I fished and he said it didn't really matter since bass couldn't see color anyway, best part of this is he runs a paint and body shop and he is allways doing his own custom paint jobs on lures.

1) Bass do see color.

2) Color is definately important but not nearly as important as most people think it is. There are times when it is important to match the hatch exactly but generally speaking color is not as important as lure size, running depth, speed, etc.

RoLo reply :

I believe that color is important inasmuch as it enhances lure visibility,

but beyond that I think color becomes angler-intensive.

The best color to use varies constantly throughout the day and may even vary from one cast to the next

if the cover is different (e.g. in the weeds - outside the weeds).

Ironically, matching the color of the prevalent prey may not only be unnecessary,

but may actually work against the angler. Creatures are colored by Mother Nature

to be difficult for predators to detect. Copying Big Mama might be playing into her hands,

because a bass won't strike a lure it can't see.

Roger

The Rooster reply :

Quote
Read Bassmaster article "Lure orLocation"
it doesnt talk directly abut color but the "lure

it is in the May 2008 edition

I would read this but I haven't recieved a magazine since that Pro Guide they sent out in February right before the Classic tournament. Called them 4 times so far and they said they're looking into it with a trace on my mail and that it will take 4 weeks for me to get all the issues I am missing. My membership is current through May 2009 too. Maybe when I get them all I'll be able to check up on it. >

Catt reply :

There are times when color matters

There are times when color does not matter

Only the bass can determine when

When asked why he makes many different color baits Tom Mann answered to catch the fisherman, a bass has never put a penny in my pocket!

SimonDM17 reply :

I have a couple color considerations--

Matte v. reflective: especially with the mann's 1-, I've had times when they wouldn't hit a black/white bait, but they'd hit a black/chrome one.

Perch v. no perch--if there are perch in the water i'm fishing, I'm throwing a perch-colored bait 90% of the time. One pond I fish, early in the season, the fish will only bite perch patterns.

My visibility--if there's a color I can see easier from above the water that the fish won't mind, I'll use it.

Match the hatch--not a big concern for me, (except for perch), I try to get fairly close, with the other stuff coming first. For instance, the "Ice" color of 3X jerkbait is a dead-on imitation of the minnows in Walden Pond. So if they just happen to match up, I'll throw it.

MNGeorge reply :

There are certainly colors that will catch fish under nearly all conditions, but that being said, there are often times other colors that will catch more and/or bigger fish. That is why you will find very few baits in our tackle bags/boxes that don't have a number of color options to choose from. Often times color doesn't matter very much, if at all, but when it does matter, it usually matters a lot. Not to mention the desire to stay on the baitmonkey's "best friends" list. ;D

BassFishingMachine reply :

The rule I follow which probably has already been stated is dark colors on overcast days or at night, and more "natural" colors on slightly stained to clear water.

I believe when the water is slightly stained - clear, your best bet is something generally in the "natural chart", but when the water is badly stained - murky, I believe that rule goes out the window and the best colors are something the fish can see, which for silhouette reasons, as you probably already know, are dark colors such as black, black/blue, black/red flk (anything that has alot of black), or very bright colors such as firetiger etc.

For hard lures the sun has alot to do with it, if the water is stained and we have some sun I will use a black/gold or more commonly known as "golden shiner" pattern. Whether we have a sun or don't have a sun and the water is chocolate milk colored I will use a bright color, not "flash wise" but color wise as in chart, orange etc. When the water is extremely murky, I don't think the sun helps the lure much and I believe a brighter color instead of a shining color is the best bet. On overcast days, topwater wise, I like black or a yellow belly, and at dusk or night, black is my most common and confident choice. I will use colors that are extremely natural in slightly stained - clear water, such as a perch pattern, a standard silver w/ black back, or even golden shiner tends to work well.

Basiclly anything that looks extremely natural relating to the forage in the water your fishing is the best bet IMO on slighty stained - clear days.

fishfordollars reply :

Not nearly as important as location.

T-rig reply :

Quote
Not nearly as important as many people think it is.

x2. Colors are important to us but not that important to the fish.

Big-O reply :

In the daylight, my favorite color is green, Andy's favorite is purple, Lisa's favorite color is hot pink (getting the gals involved), notice we all like different colors. Then it starts getting dark and my green looks like purple to Andy and Andy's Purple looks pink to Lisa and Lisa just looks crazy Hot to me and Andy (Oh, sorry about that, we kinda got off track there). So maybe it could be very similar in the Bass' world depending on what is most visible and attractive to them, then combine that with what we feel is most attractive to us, Hotty Lisa (Oh, did it again!) After combining the preferences of these two different worlds, is it any wonder that no two fishermen will have identical preferences at any given time but will mutually agree that Lisa should be a centerfold.

Big O ;D

www.ragetail.com

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How important is color of a lure?? 2025

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