Match the hatch... Or off the wall 2024

JRammit reply :

Color selection is a huge topic here... Everyone has their favorites, and conditions narrow down the choices..... But as a general rule for each angler, do you try and match the hatch? Or do you go for off the wall colors??

Its always a battle for me... I like my bait to stand out, i figure the bass see bluegill and shad all day every day, when my bait swims by i want it to get their attention........ But on the flip side, i know they chase and eat those bluegill and shad too.. For the confidence factor, its difficult not to throw those colors

For this thread, we'll talk all types of baits....... Do you match the hatch? Or go off the wall?... Or both?

mrmacwvu1 reply :

I do both as far as color goes.

However I do try to throw the whatever the size of the baitfish in the water I am fishing is

usually smaller in spring, bigger in the fall

herbu reply :

In my very limited experience, it seems the bass in my favorite lakes have a few favorite colors. I try others, but always return to the favorites. However, I'm not convinced it is the color more than my confidence and attention with those colors.

FloridaFishinFool reply :

Match the hatch in my opinion should by natural inclination be more successful than NOT matching the hatch.

On some of my best fishing days matching the hatch is what puts the most fish in the boat and at the fastest rate too.

Senko lover reply :

I have found matching the size is much more important than matching a color. If the bass are feeding on small minnows, I just switch to a really small baitfish profile. I don't really worry too much about the color.

Raul reply :

You don't need to match anything, I fish rainbow trout pattern, shad pattern and none of those live where I fish most of the time.

BrownBear reply :

In my experience:

1. Match the hatch

2. Change size

3. Change color

4. Something completely off the wall

Scott F reply :

"Match the hatch" is a trout fishing term used when there is a hatch of a particular type of insect that is emerging on the river that the trout are feeding on. Fly fishermen try to match their fly to look like that insect. Of course there are times when bass a keying on a particular food type and you would be smart to try and copy that. But, most times, bass are opportunistic feeders that when hungry, will eat nearly anything. I usually don't start out trying to match the hatch, but if I catch a few fish that are coughing up a lot of the same type food, I'll switch to something that resembles what they have been feeding on.

For you guys who rely on matching the hatch, explain why worms are one of the most successful baits of all time when worms are seldom found swimming around in lakes.

scaleface reply :

Sometimes I use colors that have caught fish before under the same conditions . Sometimes I use whatever floats my boat .

Catt reply :

I've experienced times when color made absolutely no difference at all, I would switch colors to the opposite end of the color spectrum, and that color woukd be productive.

I've experienced times when I had to change colors constantly to continue getting bit, catch 3-4, change colors, and catch 3-4 more. This pattern would continue all day or night.

I've experienced times when if ya wasn't throwing a particular color ya wasn't getting bit period!As for size of the lure, it depends on the body of water, some places I fish do not have a population of large bass (3 lbs +) so throwing large baits would be an exercise in futility!

But then again I've caught large bass (6-9 lbs) on small baits!

I make color and size selections based on previoys experience with a body of water and current conditions.

FloridaFishinFool reply :

When I am on the St. Johns river watching thousands of bass boiling up on bait fish in huge boils up and down the river- I match the hatch!

When I have tried to throw off the wall lures at them quite often they won't even touch it. If I even try and throw a 4 inch swimbait out there and they are feeding on 2 inch bait fish, my hits are much fewer if any at all. But as I dial down into the match the hatch range the hits jump way up.

Try the rubber worm in this situation and you might not even get a bite!

But under other circumstances it will do very well.

I'd say matching the hatch is a situational thing.

Jigfishn10 reply :

I try to concentrate on what my lure is doing, location and depth would be first, second and third in no particular order and finally color selection would be the last thing I try and dial in.

Jake the Cake reply :

I'd have to say I go natural colors most of the time. if I get discouraged I'll switch to what I call clown baits and sometimes they're useful but most times I'm just using it to justify having in my tackle box, lol.

Brown, green, black - on the bottom (jigs, T-rig, Drop Shot, etc)

White, silver, cream, blue - any swimbaits

one jig that blurs the lines between useful and clown, the Mizzou Craw from Strike King. It's one of my favorite but honestly it doesn't produce like I think it should but d**n do I get confident when I tie it on

roadwarrior reply :

On 1/1/2016 at 12:30 AM, Jigfishn10 said:

I try to concentrate on what my lure is doing, location and depth would be first, second and third in no particular order and finally color selection would be the last thing I try and dial in.

I think depth is #1, bottom contact vs "moving lures" is #2.

WRB reply :

Getting locked into specific colors because you had success with those in the past can be counter productive. With that said we all tend to do things we are comfortable with, making changes can be difficult and sometimes needed.

If you fish with different partners or draw tournaments, you will experience bass being caught on lures and colors you never use, always an eye opener.

The only lures I use that match the hatch are swimbaits, everything else tends to color contrasting with darker backs lighter bellies in something like the prey bass are eating at the moment. My favorite jig color is a combination of black/brown/purple and soft plastics with purple high lites tend to get used a lot for the past 45 years or so.

Tom

roadwarrior reply :

Yeah, as a specific example I just placed an order with Siebert Outfoors for a dozen 1 oz football jigs, brown with a few strands of blue after watching a video featuring Mark Zona. This is a color and a presentation I would NEVER choose on my own!

mbtharp1 reply :

Depends on the situation. I feel that when you're fishing a body of water that has tons and tons of a certain kind of baitfish, or a certain size, matching the hatch could be counter productive. You need something that sticks out from the crowd a little bit in my opinion.

scaleface reply :

If you use a shad crankbait or spinnerbait ... in a lake full of shad its not going to match the hatch very well . The action of those lures are going to make it stand out .

JRammit reply :

On 1/1/2016 at 3:21 AM, mbtharp1 said:

Depends on the situation. I feel that when you're fishing a body of water that has tons and tons of a certain kind of baitfish, or a certain size, matching the hatch could be counter productive. You need something that sticks out from the crowd a little bit in my opinion.

My thoughts exactly!

The little lake i fish is teaming with baby bass and bluegill.. Ive tried matching those colors with little success.... The colors that work best there dont resemble a bass or bluegill in any way

Jigfishn10 reply :

On 1/1/2016 at 12:40 AM, Jake the Cake said:

I'd have to say I go natural colors most of the time. if I get discouraged I'll switch to what I call clown baits and sometimes they're useful but most times I'm just using it to justify having in my tackle box, lol.

Brown, green, black - on the bottom (jigs, T-rig, Drop Shot, etc)

White, silver, cream, blue - any swimbaits

one jig that blurs the lines between useful and clown, the Mizzou Craw from Strike King. It's one of my favorite but honestly it doesn't produce like I think it should but d**n do I get confident when I tie it on

I can see why you like this...it should have an "R" rating!

Bankbeater reply :

I worry more about the action of my bait and what color to use with the water condition. I start off using natural colors. If those don't work I switch to the colors are different, or have high contrast.

corn-on-the-rob reply :

Regardless of color choice, confidence is key. Sometimes you need to develop that confidence. Just like everything in bass fishing, nothing is ever certain.

Can color matter? Yes

Will it always matter? no

In this case I like to keep it simple. For cranks I like natural shad, natural bluegill, orange/red craw, and a non-natural color like bright chartreuse/black or fire-tiger. This color choice doesn't change regardless of if the lake has that specific forage, I will always have that selection.

Bass are known to both follow specific feeding patterns AND being very opportunistic. I like to believe when bass approach your bait, they ask themselves two questions: Is it alive? and will it fit in my mouth? And there are plenty of instances when they ignore those questions lol.

I will also argue that there are plenty of instances when bass are conditioned to react certain colors/shapes so it can be beneficial to mimic these.

I know this was a very vague answer, but utilize your instincts and pay attention to your surroundings.

Sam reply :

Depth and water clarity control color.

All colors, other than for blue, fade to black or gray in deeper or stained water.

If the bass in the area are aggressive they will hit your lure no matter what color it is.

If the bass in the area are not aggressive they will not hit your bait no matter what colors you present.

Turkey sandwich reply :

Lure size and presentation tend to be much more important to me than color most of the time. The closer your bait comes to mimicking forage or (when appropriate) just p*ssing them off, the closer you are to being consistent, I believe. Matching things like sound and color to conditions is also important, but only if presentation is on point first.

As for for mimicking shad/alewifes in lakes full of them... Unlike when tossing flies for trout, I don't typically want my lure to look just like all of the forage around it. I want a jerkbait that looks injured/dieing/struggling in current or cold temperatures. I want a crank bait that's fleeing a predator and swimming confused/clumsily and making a racket. I want my jig bumping into cover and kicking up dirt like a terrified crayfish. Yes, there are some incredibly realistic looking lures out there, but most of them are out performed by a spinnerbait (essentially a jig head built on a safety pin with metal blades). If I ever see a live spinnerbait just swimming in a lake, I'm checking myself into rehab.

drew4779 reply :

I have more confidence in natural colors, therefore use them more often, and seem to catch better quality fish on them. Is it probably a coincidence?...yes.

I turn to hot colors when what I usually do isn't working or the water clarity is poor. However I reach for black in those situations first...just seems to work for me.

I used to know a guy who would fish nothing but small fire tiger cranks with great success so maybe color is more about catching fishermen than fish?

MickD reply :

I think bass react instinctively to cues which need not look very much like "the hatch," I've never seen a chartreuse "hatch," but chartreuse is one of the best colors in any type of water, sometimes just the tail of a swimbait, sometimes just a few strands in a skirt, but it is, I believe, a very good unatural color. I've never seen a natural marine creature that looks much like a tube, but you know how they work. The littlest details often make a big difference in success, but they are hard to predict, so changing often is a good strategy, and using colors that are visible in current water conditions can be important. For example, a glass minnow may work great in clear water where too big a visual impact might spook the fish, but probably will not work in dirty water. Unless it has a sound component that the fish may react to.

I think tubes and other things work because the combination of color, motion/action, and possibly shape strikes something in the instincts of the bass to make them bite/strike. Sometimes it's easy to find that combination, other times more difficult. I find that "matching the successful fishermen" is more important than matching the hatch.

Raul reply :

I have never seen a minnow rotate on a longitudinal axis like an in-line spinner or spinnerbait blade does, you may say the "flash" creates the illusion of the shiny sides the scales of fish create when struck by light but how about those painted blades ? they don´t produce any flash, I know they catch fish since I´ve caught thousands of fish with lures with painted blades and we can go on and on writing on the subject of "matching", since I´m a non believer of matching I don´t bother myself with matching anything, I put more emphasis on other characteristics ( like size, water displacement, hydrodynamic signature, vibration, sound n such )

janeandsteve60@yahoo.com reply :

Let's take this take color thing to the next level I have owned a color collector since they came out in the 80's. All I know is that I check the color from time to time if color changes put on a color similar to the chart and one to many times I start catch fish. I can see the value of match the hatch or colors that catch fish in you region but some days you throw a bubble gum color and you can't keep the fish off the lure. I think color is important tool to help fisherman catch fish but you got factor every thing else season weather type of water to fish.

A-Jay reply :

On 1/3/2016 at 10:43 AM, janeandsteve60@yahoo.com said:

Let's take this take color thing to the next level I have owned a color collector since they came out in the 80's. All I know is that I check the color from time to time if color changes put on a color similar to the chart and one to many times I start catch fish. I can see the value of match the hatch or colors that catch fish in you region but some days you throw a bubble gum color and you can't keep the fish off the lure. I think color is important tool to help fisherman catch fish but you got factor every thing else season weather type of water to fish.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

As for the OP - I'll say that since 95% of the waters I fish have at Least 10 ft of vis (and at times some have 20 ft +) my version of match the hatch revolves around a baits working / presentation depth, size, speed (or vibration) and lastly color.

What has worked quite a bit for me is to use colors & patterns that actually camouflage the bait; sometimes only partially other times as much as possible. Shades that match the bottom color whether it's a weed, sand or even clay (not much rock here).

When using a non-bottom contact moving bait in & around natural cover, often the same recipe is effective. And don't forget that totally or even partially clear bodied bait, works in a similar manner as well.

A-Jay

Justin Donaldson reply :

I have fished some lakes where color seemed not to matter too much, but I fish a few lakes where a certain color is just always the best, and I don't really know why, but that's just how it is...

Jigfishn10 reply :

I don't think that color is being dismissed, I still want my lure to be seen in the water column.

i fish clear (to me) waters and some days I'll find that a particular lure I'm using may have too much flash and I'll switch to a more subdued lure or vice versa and find success.

Who knows what a bass sees, j don't know and I'm not qualified to make statements of how they do see. They do have eyes and I want to appeal to that sense. As Demny Brauer would say in his book: "It's one more thing to think about that can put the odds in your favor."

So in terms of making my bait match the surroundings? Yeah, I'll buy a price of that pie ... on some days ... but I'm not all in.

Location, depth, presentation and then dial in the color to the light and water conditions.

janeandsteve60@yahoo.com reply :

Dr. Loren Hill spent years on studies on how fish see color in the water column it's broken into 3 sections muddy stained clear. That's what the color collector is based on light traveling trough muddy stained or clear water at the top of the water column to the bottom is how color is seen in different conditions. That is proven science.

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Match the hatch... Or off the wall 2024

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