Black jigs

[CrappiePappy]

Actually, panfish DO see colors very well, and even a lot better underwater (in less than ideal/clear conditions) than we can. There was a study done many decades ago, showing that Bass could distinguish 11 shades of grey ... and we already know that their rods/cones setup in their eyes are quite capable of seeing colors, various shades & hues of colors, and being able to distinguish one from another.

But, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are always particularly picky about the colors of our baits. Many times they are not able to see the actual color, but just the silhouette of the bait against a lighter or darker background. That's one reason many people use 2 color baits that have a light/dark color contrast ... thereby showing a silhouette against either light or dark backgrounds.

You just have to remember that color isn't necessarily the prime factor in whether a fish hits your bait or not.

[Lonnie84]

Then why don't they just make monochrome jigs, every shade black to white?

Because fishermen see color!

[NIMROD]

There is some residual light above the water, so the black bait creates a more visible silhouette against the sky/water's surface. Fish looking upwards can see that silhouette. Even fish looking forward or downward can distinguish the black profile of the bait against the "not so black" bottom of the lake ... that same residual light will illuminate the lake bottom to a slight degree, but the black bait will not reflect any of that light, so it appears "darker" than the background (lake bottom).

"Slowboat" is also correct in that the curly tail will throw off vibrations (pressure waves) that can be detected by the lateral line of the fish.

It's also known that Crappie do tend to feed during the twilight times (first light & post sundown) and often do so in the shallows ... which is also where many of the baitfish minnows are at those times !!

We used to fish spinnerbaits for Bass at night and favorite colors were black and purple . We have even used white on moonlight nights . It is like crappiePappy stated they are looking up at a profile against light from above . But sound and vibration helps them find your baits also because of their lateral lines .

[snake River]

For many years I have used black and fishing for crappie also and Bass fishing also with crank baits and plastics I think the most deadly color that there is for by us is black especially at night. is far is using black jigs during the daytime we have done quite well especially in the evening just before dark also after dark has done extremely well like it has been mentioned above they mainly go by vibration sends a shockwave through the water which triggers the fish to strike if you noticed in muddy water that you cannot see down more than a foot the fish are more apt to go by vibration then they are to see a shade or colors in Clearwater I believe it has a big factor on what you are presenting to them this is why most of us guys carry a wide variety of colors not to mention a different variety of plastics and jigs each one of these will affect different input operate different vibration along with what they can see in Clearwater. we were using a stonefly plastic early this spring the color was black it was about a foot underneath the water when a giant crappie stroke it was over 16 inches he was going by the fact that it looked like a bug to him just underneath the surface which the stonefly has no action at all they were gone by the appearance of it looking like an insect. I find the best time to fish is early mornings or late in the afternoon when the sun has gone down completely and just before it turns pitch black or dark they usually will go on a feeding frenzy and come into the shallow water to feed on small prey we have caught plenty of crappie into 2 foot of water in the late evening hours . just a few comments about the combination of rods that I use are use a graphite custom-built topped off with either a forbearing real we only use 4 pound test try to use clear line this is a deadly combination this is just my two cents worth after 55 years of fishing America's number one game fish the crappie.

[metamorph00]

Then why don't they just make monochrome jigs, every shade black to white?

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

Biologically, you're probably right. But, hey, why do 'they' sell cat food with veggies in it. Marketing to help you feel good about buying it. No fun selling jigs in light grey, dark grey, not quite white, and super black. - That said, I think you're on to a new business idea...based on fish science!

[Eagle 1]

I would be a believer that the curly tail had more to getting bit than the color . I actually use a lot of black . Black gnats for flyrod , Sliders for bream and Jokers for crappie .

[hugastump]

Monochrome would not catch the fisherman

[hdhntr]

marketing lures is about catching fisherman, not fish.

[FishStik]

marketing lures is about catching fisherman, not fish.

Always works on me......

[scrat]

So now you tell me I bought all the colors of the rainbow in grubs, tubes, and crankbaits for nothing. Went I could have just bought one pack of gray baits because fish only see gray. Now I know why I keep going back to minnows when crappie fishing . Minnows just come in one color.