whats you top producing crankbait colors? 2024

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

I'm sure conditions may vary, but I was just curious what some of your guys best producing crankbait colors are? Here are some of mine that I've done well on. Bomber model 6a in redfire craw, brown craw, bream and Bandit model 200 spring craw and model 300 in Tenn. shad.

http://s689.photobucket.com/albums/vv251/SnappinTurtle_photos/Regular%20cranks/?action=view&current=Favregularcranks.jpg

Carrington reply :

id tell you but then id have to kill you

jdw174 reply :

I fish mostly shad finishes. Which finish depends a lot on water color/weather.

Sam reply :

Sexy Shad

Chart with blue back

Any Shad color

Firetiger

Depends on the water clarity.

Red reply :

Bandits pearl/chart back

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

Mine lately has been the Storm Big bass texas craw. I bought it for $3 at wal-mart and this thing has produced some good fish. I think probably cause of its low price tag, i am a little more willing to throw it close into cover and not be afraid to loose it. Here's the lure...

Primus reply :

Bluegill patterns have done well, Brown & Green craws and I also use Ghost colors a lot.

Grey Wolf reply :

Usually white and char/root-beer.

Wayne P. reply :

Bandit-Mistake

Trap-Baby Bass

tholmes reply :

1. Chrome with either a blue or black back. Basically, anything that looks like a shad.

2. Chartreuse w/ black, firetiger. etc.

3. Brown, red or orange crawdad.

4. Bluegill patterns.

Tom

senile1 reply :

I use colors that imitate the forage in my lakes usually so that would be shad, sunfish, and baby bass colors. I will throw others when nothing is working.

MMan16 reply :

White With Purple back

Bluegill

Baby bass

Lucky craft wakebait tomato shad.

Vinny Chase reply :

Chartreuse/Blue back hands down

BrASSmonkey reply :

I also try to imitate the forage in my lakes. As such, I tend to throw a lot of perch and bluegill patterns.

A-Jay reply :

Later this Summer and into Fall the Strike King Sexy Ghost color has proven itself a welcome addition to my ever growing collection of baits. The clearer the water the better.

A-Jay

lightsout reply :

Anything brown that looks like a craw and any natural shade of white to imitate a baitfish.

Bankbeater reply :

Anything with a dark crawfish pattern.

KYntucky Warmouth reply :

Strike King Series 5-6 Rootbeer, Sexy Shad, Shad

Lucky Craft RC 1.5 White Shad, Copper and Purple Perch.

Fat Free Shad Pearl Shad, Grape Shad, and Citrus Shad

riverat reply :

I try to keep it as simple as I can. I basically use two shad colors, 2 bream colors, and one crawfish color. Year in and Year out, the four colors listed produce the vast majority of fish I catch on crankbaits.

Louisiana Shad

Tennessee Shad

Black and Chartreuse

Green and Chartreuse

Brown Craw

NateFollmer reply :

I feel that contrast is more important than color in most situations. Light colors in clearer water, dark colors in muddy water.

Favorite light shades - Sexy shad, chartreuse and purple, clear and white

Favorite dark shades - Blues, blacks, browns and reds. Perch and bluegill are great dark colors also.

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like many of you try matching the hatch, and what is a little odd is a few of the small watersheds I fish the main forage is bluegill and/or shad, pretty clear water, but I do best on loud colored cranks, Bomber redfire craw 6a/7a.

Have you ever had the bass just flat tear up a certain crank for maybe a year or two, and then turn flat cold and not buy a fish? I've had several colors just turn cold over time, or, I tell me fishing buddies that the bass just went to " school" , or got the word out. ;D

guitarkid reply :

silver black back or Bandit's black back herring.

-gk

JDK. reply :

chartreuse with blue or black top

chartreuse sexy shad

tn shad

chrome and blue

brushhoggin reply :

1-black and yellow

2-white

3-rootbeer

Thad reply :

The color I have the most confidence in is rootbeer. I prefer a bone body with a green back and a little orange on the chin.

I feel with this color you can imitate a craw, a bluegill, or a shad depending how you fish it. It's what I start with in clearer water and I adjust from there.

RoLo reply :

Quote
Chartreuse/Blue back hands down

How bout that...and I thought it was only me ;D

Roger

Stringjam reply :

Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.

If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

WanderLust reply :

Quote
Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.
If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

Nice lure!

When I throw my firetiger stuff around here I always end up with a Northern..

Ghost minnow, bluegill, sexy shad and perch work well for me.

gobig reply :

I pretty much have my crank baits down to four colors. Chartruse with a blue back, spring craw, red and black and sexy shad.

RoLo reply :

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

As we all know, crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

Vinny Chase reply :

Quote

Quote
Chartreuse/Blue back hands down

How bout that...and I thought it was only me ;D

Roger

Roger, Great minds think alike 8-)

choupique reply :

baby bass

Louisiana shad

chrome blue back

chrome black back

florida strain reply :

shad and perch color

scattergun2570 reply :

Silver/Black has always done well.

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

Quote
Firetiger....in any condition, water color, or clarity.
If I could only have one color to cover any situation, that would probably be it.

Here's my personal variation of FT.....a little more subtle than straight-up FT.

Stringjam, I haven't done real well in the lakes I fish on FT, but maybe its because I haven't gave it an honest effort. But, man, that is one bad looking FT color that is an awesome paint job!

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

Quote

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

As we all know, crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

Roger, very good post. I guess just when we think we got the bass figured out, they throw us a curve, and thats maybe their defense against their predator(fishermen). :-/ Some of the watersheds I fish have real clear water, and I seem to do best on loud colored crankbaits such as the redfire Bomber, Imakatsu red craw, or Bandit spring craw, and the main forage in the small lakes is bluegill and shad. ;D

Missouribassman95 reply :

I've always had the best luck with Firetiger.

Vinny Chase reply :

Quote
id tell you but then id have to kill you

But I like to keep it simple. No matter what body of water I fish I always start with this

Bankbeater reply :

brown crawfish

baby bass

pearl

chrome/blue back

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

Quote

For those who may be unfamiliar with natural "counter-shading", let me explain.

Nearly every animal on earth exhibits a darker back and lighter colored underside.

Except for a few apex predators, all animals are targeted by several predators.

Predators that lie below their forage see mainly the light belly, which tends to blend

into the lighted sky above. Predators that lie above their prey mainly see the dark back,

which tends to blend into the darker bottom below.

When a given species of forage becomes over-abundant, Mother Nature seems to turn

game fish into morons that become fixated on a given shape, size & color.

This is a control mechanism I first experienced in saltwater, and to a lesser extent in freshwater.

crankbaits attempt to mimic prey fish, which swim in midwater,

As we all know,

whereas jigs attempt to mimic crayfish, which crawl & hop along the bottom.

If bass are currently keyed-in on a given baitfish, why would an angler

intentionally tie on a "crayfish-colored" crankbait or spinnerbait, which are floor-dwellers?

Maybe I'm missiing something here

Roger

Good post but not all crankbaits are to be fished mid water. Actually for me the best producing one is the one i posted earlier because i bounced it of the bottom. I find that the more i get a crankbait to deflect of something (usually the bottom surface) the better chances i have of something wanting to eat it.

Wayne P. reply :

Rolo, yes you are missing something.

From the arborgastlures.com web site:

Mud-Bug

This is one of the all time favorite crawfish imitating crankbaits. The Mud-Bugs quick diving wide wiggle creates a hard vibrating action and ensures its ability to run deep and bump the bottom. This unique action has made it a big fish favorite of serious anglers. Its high floatability allows it to back out of heavy cover on a slack line eliminating potential hang-up situations. One of the best times to fish a Mud-Bug is during the early Spring when the big bass are in a pre-spawn situation. Make sure that the lure comes in contact with the bottom and surrounding cover to ensure more strikes. Heavy line is a must when fishing this lure through and around thick, heavy cover.

Triton21 reply :

Tenn. Shad is my best producing color. I also like Parrot and Rayburn Red.

Kelley

Revo_Carrot Stix reply :

Stained waters in Kansas = Firetiger or anything with chartreuse.

Dwight Hottle reply :

This is one of my favorite colors. Kinda looks like a Mud-Bug does it not Wayne P.? Anyhow it worked for Mr David L Hayes.

J Francho reply :

Nice! Good for 11-15. 8-)

Wayne P. reply :

Yes, Dwight it has the Mudbug diving lip but it is not bent like the Mudbug lip is. It may be a version of the Mudbug. The web site shows a white Mudbug in the larger size.

It just may the original Bomber before all the other versions like the Mudbug and Waterdog were marketed.

Dwight Hottle reply :

Wayne it was a wooden bomber according to Mr Hayes written account.

TennesseeShad reply :

Bandit Orange Craw

Bandit Solid Black

Strike King Gizzard Shad

BassThumb reply :

Gold chrome, gold shiner, Tennessee shiner, rootbeer, brown/chart, etc. I think one of the main forage fish on my favorite local lakes are baby carp and redhorse sucker, so any crank, chatterbait, or spinnerbait that mimics them is a good place to start.

piscicidal reply :

Citrus Shad, Sexy Shad

GrundleLove reply :

mine are yellow and red

6531

whats you top producing crankbait colors? 2024

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