Why crappies like such loud colors ?

[kyron4]

Is there any "scientific" explantion why Crappies are so attracted to loud bright contrasting colors like hot pink/chart., blaze orange/lime/chart., etc. None of these colors or patterns are found in the minnows they eat. Just curious and somewhat bored.

[slabbandit]

I have no idea...these colors don't look anything like the bait fish. Lime/Chart. out produced everything else that I tried today below the spillway.

[CrappieKillerJigs]

its like you...if you see somthing diff. you dont see every day then you are going to have to take a closer look at it...well this is what i think about it....just my .02

[slabbandit]

You're probably right CJ! Today Lime/Chart. beat out Red/Chart., Orange/Chart. and even a Tenn. Shad lookin' Bass Assassin with Glitter. This was when I was using 2 different color jigs under a bobber.

[fish_4_all]

Glossy fluorescent colors keep their contrast better and show up better in the water. Muted colors get dulled down when wet and glossy bright colors reflect more light.

Best guestimanation I can think of.

[CrappiePappy]

Is there any "scientific" explantion why Crappies are so attracted to loud bright contrasting colors like hot pink/chart., blaze orange/lime/chart., etc. None of these colors or patterns are found in the minnows they eat. Just curious and somewhat bored.

... when you mentioned "contrasting colors". Crappie are sight feeders ... the more visible the bait, the more likely they are to see it. Contrasting colors show up better against the darker background of their underwater world. They are curious fish, too ... so, seeing something "different" can sometimes pique their interest, and they might just decide to take a taste to see if it's edible or not. :p

I disagree with the concept that "none of these colors or patterns are found in the minnows they eat". They eat more than just "minnows", or Shad. They also consume the fry and young of various other species of fish ... like Bass, Sunfish, etc. Those fish have a variety of colors in their pigmentation ... greens, blues, reds, oranges, purples, and so on. Not everything a Crappie eats is black/white or silver in color.

.. cp

[fish_4_all]

Don't forget too that a minnow will shine with almost every color I have ever seen in the right light conditions. Underwater I know that the colors of a minnow can be very brilliant and in a small school they can cause some really interesting light effects.

Not to mention that in the numbers I hear and see everyone on here catching them they are going to eat anything that moves so that their buddy can't have it.

[Flat Foot]

They were golfers in a previous life????????????????

[macon123]

As far as multi colors, they work well with walleye and smallmouth bass as well. There are very good answers on this thread. Good fishing, Mac

[Nightprowler]

The shad I've seen, reflect every color of the rainbow! I think that light position and strength (dim or bright) can explain some of the reason certain colors work sometime and not others. If you keep a log of what colors works for you, in time you will see the light.