Does color actually matter ?

[Les Young]

Actually, it’s the scent trail it leaves as it’s dissolving in the water. Hold it just below the surface and you’ll see what I mean.

I'm using a mixture of bang crawfish shad scent & a shot of gulp alive shrimp spray in baits that i make & they're work fine. I also tried some fluorescent pink unscented plastic salmon eggs & they bit them & one lasted all day too so it's way cheaper than buying nibbles. Slabeyes scented scent sticks work very well too.

[NIMROD]

I feel only dark or light . Specific colors no big deal . Eyes are for fishermen .Scents do not help except for things that have small eyes and feed by smell like Catfish . Profile and presentation is 95% of getting bites . IMO .

[Ketchn]

without an LS unit to put a bait on the nose of the crappie , it helps immensely to put a scent trail down there . all fish use them fishee nostrils , just saying

[keeferfish]

Scents do not help except for things that have small eyes and feed by smell like Catfish

That's a funny statement. I've owned a few Brittany's and they all seem to have a very good sense of smell with normal to small eyes.

[mozingo1952]

Yesterday , it appeared to me that color did not matter , but profile did.

MO

[Ketchn]

That's a funny statement. I've owned a few Brittany's and they all seem to have a very good sense of smell with normal to small eyes.

beady lil eyes ? or pretty lil doe eyes is the question ?

[wannabe fisherman]

beady lil eyes ? or pretty lil doe eyes is the question ?

My Sophie has "Pretty Little Angel Eyes"

[MSCrappieChartr]

I think profile is more important than color.

[Spoonminnow]

Ketchn asked for it with that question so here goes:

Soft plastics in general get it done and moreso than any other kind of lure. Why? Everyone have read my novels regarding my opinions why fish strke and what they strike. But fish IMHO are simple animals that evolution has programmed to strike lures showing a combination of traits that put color selection last:
1. lure size
Too big - no go

2. lure speed
Too fast - inactive fish will yawn as the lure speeds past; slow is best a majority of the time

3. the wrong lure action
sometimes a curl tail grub will do as well; at other times a hair jig will do better. Why? How the H should I know? LOL! Really though, many lure actions can work on the same day - some not so much.

4. angler-imparted action / presentation
slow with pauses? under a float and dragged a bit? jigged off bottom? steady retrieve? You pick.

4. #3 depends on a few things:
lure shape and the material the lure is made of.

5. color?
is in the eye of the beholder based on many factors such as water clarity, depth, sun or clouds, night or day, heavy weeds, no weeds, fish looking up at a lure vs sideways or down (looking up against a bright sky=no color unless translucent)

Hue is always coupled with color brightness and whether solid or translucent. Question foremost in my mind: what effect does color impart to a lure's shape/profile and action? Do fish give a *^#%? Probably less than we think.

For the H of it I made some soft plastics using clear plastic with no metal flakes and caught just as many fish as those with color:




What do fish see when looking at a clear-colored lure as in the above examples? Depends on all of the above and whatever a background color comes through.
While you're at it, don't forget the light reflected off the lure's surface or flashing off internal or external metal flakes - a whole new ball game depending on plastic hue, clarity/ translucence, flake color, etc.

One last thing - promise!
Does a flashing blade or chrome surface distract a fish from noticing the absence of color like in the clear plastic examples? Are the bright flashes the thing it attacks? Chrome is not a color but light flash or a mirror of its surroundings. Regardless, it has done well for me.

Foregive the long treatise, but color choice is simple - the reasons not so simple but relevant.
Plus it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep due to a cold. Ah chooo!

[Ketchn]

Ketchn asked for it with that question so here goes:

Soft plastics in general get it done and moreso than any other kind of lure. Why? Everyone have read my novels regarding my opinions why fish strke and what they strike. But fish IMHO are simple animals that evolution has programmed to strike lures showing a combination of traits that put color selection last:
1. lure size
Too big - no go

2. lure speed
Too fast - inactive fish will yawn as the lure speeds past; slow is best a majority of the time

3. the wrong lure action
sometimes a curl tail grub will do as well; at other times a hair jig will do better. Why? How the H should I know? LOL! Really though, many lure actions can work on the same day - some not so much.

4. angler-imparted action / presentation
slow with pauses? under a float and dragged a bit? jigged off bottom? steady retrieve? You pick.

4. #3 depends on a few things:
lure shape and the material the lure is made of.

5. color?
is in the eye of the beholder based on many factors such as water clarity, depth, sun or clouds, night or day, heavy weeds, no weeds, fish looking up at a lure vs sideways or down (looking up against a bright sky=no color unless translucent)

Hue is always coupled with color brightness and whether solid or translucent. Question foremost in my mind: what effect does color impart to a lure's shape/profile and action? Do fish give a *^#%? Probably less than we think.

For the H of it I made some soft plastics using clear plastic with no metal flakes and caught just as many fish as those with color:




What do fish see when looking at a clear-colored lure as in the above examples? Depends on all of the above and whatever a background color comes through.
While you're at it, don't forget the light reflected off the lure's surface or flashing off internal or external metal flakes - a whole new ball game depending on plastic hue, clarity/ translucence, flake color, etc.

One last thing - promise!
Does a flashing blade or chrome surface distract a fish from noticing the absence of color like in the clear plastic examples? Are the bright flashes the thing it attacks? Chrome is not a color but light flash or a mirror of its surroundings. Regardless, it has done well for me.

Foregive the long treatise, but color choice is simple - the reasons not so simple but relevant.
Plus it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep due to a cold. Ah chooo!

if they be on freshwater ghost shrimp a fella with a small clear plastic will clean up on them in these parts for sure ....
seen that before .....just saying