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Posts: 572
| When selecting a bait, do you consider the belly paint? Orange always come to mind for fishing darker color water and white or light color for clear water. But, does it make a difference on type of baits too?
When fishing a top water or sub surface bait, does the belly color make a difference in attracting a muskie? If the muskie is looking up, does it make any difference to what the top part of the bait is painted. It is merely looking at the belly paint. Then, there are jerk baits, like the Suick, which although I believe are mostly attacked from the side, I wonder how much the belly paint attracts the muskie.
So, does the belly paint make much difference in selecting your bait? |
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Posts: 1084
Location: Aurora | It matters to me because I believe it might matter to the fish.
Example, just pulled the trigger on some new mag dawgs and instead of getting another all black one, I opted for one in the "Killer Whale" colour cuz it had an area of white on the belly.
Does it matter when they're hungry?
Does it matter when they're neutral?
Who knows, but most baitfish have a white / off white belly so I look for that colour when i'm pickin out terrestrials/naturals but depending on conditions I also throw bright contrasting colours that I believe are triggers like hot pink, chartreuse/black, orange/black.
I've had all of the above work regardless of conditions or water clarity but I still go for white bellies when it comes to terrestrials baits. |
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Posts: 177
Location: ON | Yes. Provides contrast especially when the bait rolls/wobbles in the case of a crankbait.
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Posts: 283
| I feel the belly of the bait is more important than the top. I think that most baits will be above the fish (especially a topwater...lol) and relative to the eye position of the fish, the majority of the time a fish will approach the lure from below. This mostly relates to the type of baits I use which are shallow running baits (gliders, shallow cranks.....). Obviously if you are working a rubber bait on the bottom or crashing cranks into rocks, that is probably a different story.... |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | I see hockey and football fans painting their faces didn't realise you guys were painting your belly. Next slow day I will try it. |
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Posts: 20255
Location: oswego, il | Cal - 2/20/2014 7:48 AM
Yes. Provides contrast especially when the bait rolls/wobbles in the case of a crankbait.
what cal said. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Topwater baits - fish are viewing the bait from below and can see the belly and maybe sides of the bait depending on how it sits in the water, and if it rolls side to side much or not.
Any bait that tends to be above the fish (normally we try to present the lure above the fish), they will see the bottom half of the bait more than the top. Lots of baits they probably get a pretty good side view of the bait.
Crankbaits or glide baits that roll side to side a lot fish will likely see all sides of the lure.
I'd say think of where a fish will be viewing a bait from and how that bait behaves in the water, and then add in your belief of how important color is to help make the decision of how important belly/back/side color is.
Though I have some comfort colors, I don't think color is usually all that important, though different shades in general should offer different/better levels of visibility or profile view than others.
Tucker |
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Posts: 426
Location: Perryville, MO | One of the video clips from last year's online Muskie Shop show had Heiting sharing his preference for an orange-bellied Suick. It's proved effective for me in stained water, though I still use a lot of black and white in clear water situations. |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | It's my opinion that the paint on the bottom is 90% for the fish and 10% for the angler. Where as the paint on the top is 90% for the angler and 10% for the fish. Paint on the sides is an even 50%/50%. 'Catchy' painted baits are meant to catch fisherman 1st and fish 2nd.
Just my .02 cents |
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Posts: 260
Location: Almost Heaven | Well, that settles that. Everyone needs to start painting the bottom of their baits and leave the top clear. That way you save on buying 20 different colors of paint and the price of baits will be 5 bucks instead of 50 bucks. Hmmm? Lol. |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Muskies look up. That's how the eyes are positioned. Can't look down unless they stand on their head. Good visibility in most cases is few feet anyway. Bottom paint is more important than top for sure. |
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Posts: 1333
Location: E. Tenn | If it feels good... chunk it! |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | I think it makes a difference by adding a flash of contrast as the lure rolls. It very easy to see on a Zalt or Zam. On ToddM all its going to get is a lot of laughs!
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 1530
| definatly very important. more then you can imagine |
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Posts: 906
Location: Canada | woodieb8 - 2/21/2014 6:23 AM
definatly very important. more then you can imagine
Yes. There's days we can run the same color and it's the yellow belly that gets hit all day where the white belly just gets washed. |
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Posts: 243
Location: South Central Wisconsin | I'm not buying it. While I think it is somewhat important, the sides of the bait in my opinion are most important. I personally think that fancy paint jobs , while they look really cool, and I do applaud the guys that have the talent to do them, aren't needed. The first thing a musky sees, is the color of the bait. They see that by the flash given off from the sides of the bait. At 10, 12, 20 feet or what ever, they see color. Jail bird, black and orange, black and chartreuse, all of these very productive colors give off contrast and help attract muskies from a distance. If you have a HOT fish following, much of the time they are right on it and probably can't see much of the bottom anyway. If they are following deep, they more than likely (exceptions of course) aren't going to eat right then and there. The general rule is, if its a clear lake, fish natural colors, stained, fish bright. The whole paint job/package, is what matters.
I think sometimes people put too much thought into muskie fishing. Their brain tells the to eat, spawn, and seek shelter, It's the size of a nickle. There isn't too much more room in there. .. |
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Posts: 1275
Location: Walker, MN | I agree that the belly color is most important. One other thought...an all black crankbait might have a larger looking profile from the side then a black back white belly in certain water conditions. In clear water with bright conditions, an all white crankbait might have a larger looking profile then a black/white combo. |
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Posts: 260
Location: Almost Heaven | Black is the shade that silhouettes against any background in daylight situations. Most everything above it is lighter. On the color thing I have this. I fish with a couple hall of famers with well over a thousand fish registered. When I look at some of their baits, i would not think they were worth a dime. They are over half void of paint with stains and chunks and wood showing all over. I have asked them if they want me to clean them up and repaint some. They say no, no, no. They are afraid it will affect the fish catching magic of those baits. Now if I could just force myself not worry about hook rash, paint chunks missing, and start fishing what catches fish I would be fine. All of the fancy stuff goes out the window once these guys start tossing or trolling a lure. I saw one bait that i changed colors for one guy last year. I would be ashamed to tell anyone i painted it, if they saw it now. LOL. |
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