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| I think I have heard it all over the years. Match the lure color with the dominate forage in the lake. Pick something in a color other than the dominate forage in the lake, muskies like variety just like we do. Natural colors on clear water, bright colores at night and in stained water. Then I read where in ALL conditions and clarity of water, BLACK lures can be seen the best anytime, anywhere. What's up with all the color choices? Are we catching the fisherman or the fish? Let's hear from some of the experts out there.
Thanks.
Bill
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| Lot's of views, no comments???????
Anybody know more than me here?? | |
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Posts: 1168
| Bill,
I'm no expert by any means but the whole color thing is a big interest of mine. There are other guys who will chime in who are much more experienced than I am but in a nutshell here is what I try to follow:
Clear water go with more blues, purples, etc. Stained water go with more reds, oranges, browns, etc. Rule of thumb being the light that is reflected by the water you are fishing in. Stained water reflects light in more of a brownish/reddish tint so that's the direction I'll go...same can be said about clear water. You look out across it and it appears blueish to us because that's the light it reflects. Just match what color the water appears and pick something that is somwhere in that neighborhood. You might think to yourself; "that doesn't make sense, it will just blend in." Don't think about what we see as humans but what are those fish going to see and remember that the eyes of a muskie are different than ours and they are looking at these baits through a big light filter which is the water so it will change things quite a bit.
As far as black is concerned, my thought is that it's not so much the properties of color that makes it good, it's the fact that since it absorbs all colors of light, thus appearing black, it's appeal is that it provides consistent contrast. Color and contrast being two completely different things here but it's something that is easily thought of as the same. In some situations though a bright orange bait will provide better contrast than black will, it's just that in ALL conditions black remains consistent.
Again, I'll defer to those with more experience than I have, but once I dug into the physiological properties of a muskie's sight and sat down and studied different aspects of color, contrast, flash, water clarity, etc. it really changed how I approached bait selection in different types of water and my catch rate really improved as a result. Case in point, opening weekend this year was the first chance I had to test some of this stuff out and while on a significantly stained lake we had fish following from everywhere on baits that were reddish/brown/orange. Switch to something out of that part of the color spectrum and nothing. Same exact bait, just different color. Switched back to the reddish stuff and there the fish were again. Had a chance to test this stuff out on a clear lake and the same deal happened. Went to the blues/purples and fish were coming in from everywhere. Changed to reds and oranges of the exact same bait and nothing. This has held true for me pretty much all season and getting dialed in to a new body of water has been much easier because I use this as a starting point and branch off from there.
Bottomline though, muskies are silly creatures and if all else fails there will be a dumb fish somewhere that will go after firetiger.
Edited by ulbian 11/7/2005 11:06 PM
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Posts: 32954
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | This subject has been discussed quite a bit here, which is why you probably see few responses. Go to the search bar and keyword Lure colors and patterns. LOTS there. Make sure you select all posts, not just since last login. | |
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| Thanks so much for the info. I was beginning to think nobody had an interest or opinion on lure color selection.
Thanks.
Bill
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| Just to put out my two cents. I tend to lean towards contrasts in colors to increase visibility. Black anywhere is always good, weither it is strips or the back and head are black, etc and have this over a bright color or light/neutral color. This will give an outline to the lure and "should" add in visibility of the lure. I personally think lure size and action/presentation are the key to success and picking a color that will aid in visibility only makes it better. There is nothing in all of gods creations that looks like a Believer crankbait nor is there anything that swims that is Firetiger, but put those two together and it seems to work wonders. I think colors catch more musky fisherman than anything and I won't deny that I LOVE to gaze upon some fine craftmanship and artistic abilities from time to time. It just builds confidence in me that the lure will work and I tend to use it more if "I like the color." This didn't answer your question but I don't think there is a single answer to be told.
Good Luck Fishing!
Mike | |
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Choice of lure color