does color really matter ?

[NIMROD]

the "color" most visible to a crappie in whatever the water clarity conditions might be is the color that matters to me.

Both colors I use show up good in off colored water but they bite in clear too . Never saw anything Crappie normally feed on look bright colored . Here Shad is major prey and always same color . Crappie have big eyes and lateral lines so they are sight feeders and possiably feel motion in the water . But all these scents and colors not so sure but if it gives you confidence keep using them .

[Spoonminnow]

Crappie have big eyes and lateral lines so they are sight feeders and possiably feel motion in the water . But all these scents and colors not so sure but if it gives you confidence keep using them

Sight and motion detection are essential for fish survival. What they attack and why they attack it are open for discussion and based on opinion.

Never saw anything Crappie normally feed on look bright colored

...and yet they do strike fluorescent colors.

My point: lures are easily detected by a fish's senses as well as anything nearby that moves. Prey may not be struck yet a lure is. Why? All I know is that the many different lures I catch fish on in one day can't all be interpreted by fish as prey - if any even are, especially because the action of each is unnatural. The colors I have confidence in are also unnatural - i.e. clear soft plastic for example. Any lure that looks and moves like a real animal is purely coincidental and nothing more.

Lures agitate fish to strike and when agitated enough, fish will strike the same lure many times on one or two retrieves. Prey when attacked, are on the menu for that moment regardless fish, frog or insect.

[Ketchn]

I think the keyword word is "agitate" here and am not sure if it is exactly the right word my friend .
The word that likely fits the scenario best is "interest" .....disturbing and or angering a fish might entice a bite ,but if "interest" levels move to the next step , then dancing possibly occurs , just saying.
most of the fish I "agitate" leave the area for less upsetting waters .....
lets look at it like this , if you make me upset and or angered by waving potential food in my face , it isn't likely I will bite it .
but if you" interest "me with it visibly and then I get a whiff and it smells good , it is highly possible I will take a bite , even if I ain't really hungry .

[Rojo]

Too many times I have been on a group of Crappie where you see refusals on the screen. I switch colors only, head & body, and watch the fish race to eat my jig.

I will keep painting my jigheads and maintaining a combination of colors on board my boats to "Tune In" the bite in my favor. Just doing 90% will put fish in a angler's cooler but doing 110% puts 3000+ Crappie a year on the end of my hooks.

Respecting others opinions allows us to be friends, but playing "Your Own Game" allows you to respect your own performance at the end of the day.

[Ketchn]

Too many times I have been on a group of Crappie where you see refusals on the screen. I switch colors only, head & body, and watch the fish race to eat my jig.

I will keep painting my jigheads and maintaining a combination of colors on board my boats to "Tune In" the bite in my favor. Just doing 90% will put fish in a angler's cooler but doing 110% puts 3000+ Crappie a year on the end of my hooks.

Respecting others opinions allows us to be friends, but playing "Your Own Game" allows you to respect your own performance at the end of the day.

there is a reason I hammer day in and day out and it is NOT because of a closed mind , some days they just refuse to eat what ever color item they were intended to eat , it can be presentation for sure , but it can also be them seeing something that "interests" them , to stand out and look different to a predator species is to be on the possibly a food item list , looking like the pack is not always the way to go , the ones in the pack that are the odd balls are often the prey of choice as intended by mother nature .

[Spoonminnow]

Maybe a better phrase would be: lures irritate the senses kinda like the instant irritation of a small ant unexpectedly crawling up my leg causing me to swat at it blinding. I look at it not from the need to feed as much as the need to stop that (i.e. lures) which don't belong in their space. A flashing blade with its strobe-like flashes does get attacked, but not because fish thinks: hors d oeuvre, YUM!.

As far as smell is concerned, air born odors are carried by breezes and air currents very fast especially in small spaces; not so sure how fast scent disperses in a water medium to fish even a foot away and especially if the lure is stationary for a minute. (I'm lucky to have my lure near a fish for even 15 sec. before casting it again.) As far as a fish striking a scented lure on the move, was it the scent or a simple reaction to something that moved the right way and at the right speed that caused fish to take interest and then strike? I'm for the latter explaination though, whatever floats your boat my friend.

[Ketchn]

Maybe a better phrase would be: lures irritate the senses kinda like the instant irritation of a small ant unexpectedly crawling up my leg causing me to swat at it blinding. I look at it not from the need to feed as much as the need to stop that (i.e. lures) which don't belong in their space. A flashing blade with its strobe-like flashes does get attacked, but not because fish thinks: hors d oeuvre, YUM!.

As far as smell is concerned, air born odors are carried by breezes and air currents very fast especially in small spaces; not so sure how fast scent disperses in a water medium to fish even a foot away and especially if the lure is stationary for a minute. (I'm lucky to have my lure near a fish for even 15 sec. before casting it again.) As far as a fish striking a scented lure on the move, was it the scent or a simple reaction to something that moved the right way and at the right speed that caused fish to take interest and then strike? I'm for the latter explaination though, whatever floats your boat my friend.

I watch fish and their reactions to an unscented lure versus a scented lure and in most cases there are 3 ways they react to said smells in the water , and YES they have nostrils on them fish faces for a reason . Neutral , positive and negative are the 3 responses to scents in the water .
that said...in testing labs it is done that way when they manufacture scents for "fishing" , my techniques are considerably more "hands on " when I test if they like the smell or not ....

[Yak Fish]

This is coming from about 1,500 hours worth of observations scuba diving over the past few decades. I believe diving has made me a better fisherman, because it is easier to imagine and concentrate on fish's behavior based on what I've experienced & witnessed. I know not all fish behave the same way and different species have different preferences. But, there are natural triggers and involuntary responses from the predatory fish. The prey that get eaten first are usually the ones that look or act different from the rest of the school. When a predator attacks a school, the different, injured, or oddly moving ones are the first ones to get picked off. The ones the look or act different from the rest have a bull's-eye on them. That's why tossing a lure into or around a school of shad and allowing it to sink through the school before starting the retrieve is so effective.

I pull crankbaits behind my kayak and when I see crappie schooling under a bait ball of shad, getting the right lures to the right depth pays off. It have done it long enough to know that if you're using a color they don't want, you're pretty much wasting time and just getting exercise. Though when you hit that right color combination, it's ON! Success seems to mostly to be about having a suitable lure at the right depth, however if you find an acceptable color, you're in for some great fishing. I suppose there is no one absolute key to triggering the strike response in crappie (or any fish), aside from having your lure at proper depth first. But I have gone from not having a single strike, to loading the boat simply because I hit on a color that triggered the strike reaction.

Jim

[Spoonminnow]

I still question the use of smelly baits. Would the fish have struck the lure regardless of scent added? On a normal day of fishing, how many of the total caught were - for certain - caught due to scent/taste?

[wannabe fisherman]

I still question the use of smelly baits. Would the fish have struck the lure regardless of scent added? On a normal day of fishing, how many of the total caught were - for certain - caught due to scent/taste?

You can find out for yourself by using a jig with NOTHING added to it and then after a little time ADD SLAB SAUCE GARLIC to it and see what happens.