color c lector

[deedoe]

about 20 yrs ago I had one when they first came on the market. my neighbor and I were fishing Whittington (ms river oxbow)and hadn't a bite by midmorning. I pulled out the c lector and it called for purple which we had no purple jigs . we took a manns grape jelly worm, broke it in pieces and immediatly started catching fish. true story but it is the only time ican say the thing worked. just wondered if anyone is using the colorclector now?

[yikess]

I have one and still use it but like you I'm not sure that it's helped except on a couple occasions.

[kycreek]

My brother-in-law swears it works.

[CrappiePappy]

Had the original Lake Systems Color-C-lector ... and the only colors it suggested was blue/chartreuse (well, mostly, anyway)
Then again, I only tried it out on one lake, at a depth I knew the fish would be (for the times I used it) .... and I already knew that blu/char was a good color combo. :p
I sold that unit, and later on bought the Combo-C-lector :D (color/temp/pH) And, I still have that unit :p .... though I rarely use it.

As you see here ... some will say it's junk, while others will say that it works.
IMHO .... they do what they're intended to do, which is give you information about what colors are "most visible" at the depth of the probe, given the correct water clarity is dialed in & the unit is properly calibrated. The downside to this information, is that "most visible" may not always be the most important factor ... plus, having to be calibrated correctly could mean that the unit is NOT showing you the proper color(s). :o

One thing the units DO tell us ... whether or not we even have one, or use them ... is that "contrasting" color schemes, on our baits, is a visual aid to the fish, & could help the fish notice & locate that bait.

... cp

[beagle man]

had two, old and new couldn't say anything bad about them but just not to much good either.

[deedoe]

you would think with crappie being so color sensitive at times that if the thing really worked we would hear more about it

[Hotpepper]

Had the old one and it worked each time I used it, it stopped working but I still have it. Maybe buy the new one.

Pepper

[buffalo13]

The times I have used it, it has worked for me. Don't use it much though, usually forget about it..

[old fuzzy]

I have one of the combo units, got it when they came out sometimes the color was correct sometimes not the different color bands around the main color that it indicated was helpful ,but during the craze of tracking p/h changes it worked well
jmo

[split handle]

Think of the problems in getting a reading that is the same as what you'd get where the crappies are. Suppose they are suspended in open water on a sunny morning. You would take the reading on the sunny side of your boat, of course, but if you just lower it over the side, your boat will be blocking light from the sky that would otherwise enter the water where your boat is. If your boat has light or shiny sides, it will reflect downward sunlight bouncing off its sides. Will the net effect be the same light intensity at the meter as where the crappies are? Who knows?

If you take an open-water reading and the crappie is in the shaded roots of a stump, then what? If you take a reading in the shade of one stump, how good will that be next to a thinner stump, or if the crappie sees the lure while it is in the sunlight? If you are fishing a line of docks, the light penetration could be different under every one of them, depending on their closeness to the water, width, slat width, and things tied up to them.

I don't doubt that people sometimes catch crappies on the color recommended by the unit, but I bought one of the original run units and after three trips or so decided it wasn't worth the boat space.