Does Color Mean Anything!
Craig Baugher
does color mean anything to the fish or just to us humans? Let's be honest
with one another, unless we are fishing in gin clear water other colors
(than black, white, chartreuse) don't mean a thing. With one more
exception: chrome & gold because they reflect light. Bass react to sound &
action more then they react to color.
Let's break it down. To effectively catch fish any time, any where, you
must first and foremost find what depth level the fish are holding. Second
most important thing is to determine what speed the fish (bass) are reacting
too. Third most important thing is to determine what sound & action the
fish are reacting too, which is also related to speed. The fourth factor is
to determine what size the fish are reacting too. Fifth & Sixth is color &
smell, which can flip flop depending on water conditions. The clearer the
water, the more that color plays a role. The dirtier the water the more
smell plays a role. The last factor is feel. So let's review:
1. Depth (40% of the puzzle)
2. Speed (30% of the puzzle)
3. Sound/Action (20% of the puzzle)
4. Size (4% of the puzzle)
5. Color (2.5% of the puzzle)
6. Smell (2.5% of the puzzle)
7. Feel (1% of the puzzle)
So based on the above, if I can find what depth level the fish (bass) are
holding at and can get a lure to hold at that level I have a 40% chance of
catching a fish. If I can determine what speed the fish are reacting to a
lure I have a 30% chance of catching a fish. But if I can determine what
depth and speed, I have a 70% chance of catching a fish. If I can determine
what sound & action the fish want I have a 20% chance of catching a fish.
If I can determine what speed, sound & action I have a 50% chance of
catching a fish. Where if I determined the depth, sound & action I would
have a 60% chance of catching a fish. But again, if I can determine depth,
speed, sound & action I have a 90% chance of catching a fish. 90% chance of
catching a fish and it wouldn't matter what color of lure I would be using,
or even what it smelled & felt like to the fish.
Now done of this is new. Professional Bass Anglers, Biologist, and well
know sport enthusiast have been telling us this for years. What the haven't
done that I did, was assign these factors a ranking weight (in percentage),
based on the importance these experts before me put on them in their reports
and from my own practical experience on the water. I will give you an
example: In Kevin Van Dam's book on bass strategies, he told a story about
him and three other pros fishing the same weedbed. Each was fishing the
weedbed using a plastic worm. Each was catching fish, and each was using a
different color & sizes. What they had in common was, depth, speed, sound &
action, the ingredients necessary to rise to the 90% level. The color
factor only means something to us humans and our confidence. Know that
confidence is a major factor in catching fish, but if you were fishing the
right depth, at the right speed, and creating the right sound & action on
purpose or by luck you would be catching fish and that would increase your
confidence.
I would only agree that color may play a factor in fishing success at any
given point in time, when the water is clear and finesse fishing is called
for to land a fish.
Anyways, that is my opinion!
--
Craig Baugher
Belleville, Michigan
r.o.f.b. website: http://r.o.f.b.home.att.net/
Pat Goff
Sometimes it indeed makes a tremendous difference. I used to think like
you, that it was a secondary ingredient in the array of combinations of
depth, etc.
However, several times I've witnessed a tremendous difference in a
particular color scheme over others. I'll give you an example.
A couple of years ago, on Toledo Bend. South end of the lake, the fish hold
in the hydrilla beds, period. That is where you better be if you're gonna
catch a 5+ lb. average. We stumbled onto a color scheme on the jig, black
w/blue flake, NO blue strands, junebug Larew crawfish. I think I fished
nine tournaments between May and November there, and without exception, that
color severely strapped it on anything else thrown.
Now this is with some tremendously good fishermen that I drew in some of
those tournaments. I can remember fishing that year with Bud Pruitt, John
Hale, and Paul Rossi. All of them very successful pros, all of them were
begging jigs in a couple of hours. This is fairly deep grass, between 18
and 22 feet deep. The cover was very dense, it took at least a one ounce
jig to penetrate the grass, so you would think that they just simply
couldn't tell the difference in color, but they could and did. Way more
than coincidence. Way enough for me to believe that something about a color
will entice a bite when everything else won't.
On the same note though, I've seen it many times also, when it made no
difference whatsoever what color you threw, they'd bite anything.
And, just as important, if you think it's the right color, you'll catch more
on it. If you don't, you won't. Confidence and attitude make a tremendous
difference in your success also.
Not trying to start an argument, just a different view.
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Wtb%6.16483$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Brad C.
I have had experiences where I was fishing a bait with no/few bites at all and
changed to a different color and "presto" the bite was on or increased. This
has happened enough (several times a year) for me to know that it was not due
to the fish suddenly turning on. The only variable changed was color and many
times it was a subtle change, such as from watermelon to green pumpkin which
are both eual confidence baits for me.
Brad
Carlos
Carlos
ABE WATSON
You have some good points there but i am from the old school !! I
believe in the three Components of fishing for these beauties.
(Confidence, Presentation & Concentration) Along With the color, dark or
stained water i go to Dark colors & sunny days i go with the Light
colors And at night i go to All dark colors.I forgot to mention the
other important thing is "Patience" Which in my opinion,only about 10%
of the Bass Anglers today have Any Patience & the worse ofenders are the
tournament anglers.(They have 0 patience) :-)
Gone Fishin
"Catch & Release"
Abe Watson
Dave A
news:9hjij5$ncp$1...@nntp9.atl.mindspring.net...
> Craig,
> Sometimes it indeed makes a tremendous difference. I used to think like
> you, that it was a secondary ingredient in the array of combinations of
> depth, etc.
>
> However, several times I've witnessed a tremendous difference in a
> particular color scheme over others. I'll give you an example.
This is an undeniable, but strange phenomenon. I too have witnessed
amazingly finicky fish. My brother (avid walleye fisherman) never tires of
telling me about being on a lake with a lot of other boats while jigging for
walleye. Nobody in his boat or any other boat was catching anything. He
replaced the beads above his jig with a different color and he got bit. The
other guys on his boat did the same and they all began regularly catching
fish.
Another incident involved some friends trolling for salmon in Lake Michigan.
Every boat on the water knew where the fish were and at what depth, but
nobody was catching. My friend's friend had some custom blue/silver
streamers he had just made that ended up being the ticket that day. Other
blue/silver lures didn't produce, but his streamers in other colors also
didn't produce. He ended up selling some of his lures to a charter boat
captain because the guy was desperate to put his clients on fish.
I could go on, but I won't.
The point is that this phenom isn't limited to bass or just a few species of
fish. I cannot understand how any fish can afford to be so picky. Sometime
the colors that are hot for the day are not colors that one would think
resemble the fish's food. I have no idea why color makes such a difference
at times.
I also agree with Craig's post. Normally color is a consideration that
isn't very important. Certainly location of fish is always most important.
Certainly getting the lure as close to the fish as possible is also
*usually* important (some times the fish will come from great distances).
But, every now and then, color is the difference between fishing and
catching. Unfortunately I know of no way to determine the "magic" color
other than trial and error.
Dave A
warren's all-stars
two very similar but different colors.
Warren2
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Wtb%6.16483$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Bob Rickard
read this, which would have been right on target if written in 1283 along
with other old beliefs about how the earth is flat and all those other
preposterous scientific beliefs of the day.
Let's look at reality. It is a fact that fish see far more colors (ie: a
wider color spectrum) than we do, even if they are color blind at night.
Mother nature did not give them (and allow them to retain) this capability
just so they could better enjoy that big box of crayons when they are kids.
Their favorite foods, other fish species, are colored with every color
combination possible, and that is one of nature's ways of protecting their
own species from extinction. Do you think that this all happens because only
black, white and chartreuse count in their world? Of course not. It IS a
fact that we don't know squat about what fish really think (if they really
do) or what their instincts cover. We can spend days on the water without
catching anything and still declare that we we have got it all figured out?
Only if we admit we like being wrong.
Now let's leave the fish's brains, the absolute unknown, and go into what we
do know, which is some areas of pure science. We absolutely know that
different wavelengths (colors) are filtered out by water and the particulate
matter in the water. What this means to us is that we can accurately
determine what colors will remain available in particular situations for the
fish to see. For instance, chartreuse fades to gray as depth increases. At
20+ foot depths in light stain, red will be an almost invisible gray and the
blue on that chartreuse & blue crankbait will be far more visible than the
chartreuse half. In shallower and clearer water color becomes even far more
important.
We may not always rank color today very highly on our list of important
factors today because we know so little about it, but that will change as
knowledge about the use of color increases. One thing is certain: a highly
capable fisherman such as yourself who disregards the use of color will lose
badly in the long run to one with the same abilities who uses colors
properly and makes the informed use of color a part of his/her arsenal. And
that's a fact!
--
Bob Rickard
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SECRET WEAPON -- The world's finest spinnerbaits!
The next generation in spinnerbaits is finally here.
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"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Wtb%6.16483$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
warren's all-stars
color meant the difference between getting skunked & loading the boat. I'm
not talking about varying blade colors on spinnerbaits, but about soft
plastics & jigs. Lures the fish actually get to LOOK AT before eating or
rejecting. I was once on a fickle bite up on the Hudson River, pitching
brown jigs to visable targets on the main body. Couldn't buy a strike.
Then I tried another brown jig with a few bright orange strands mixed in &
immediately started hauling in lots of bass. Just to see if it was a fluke
I went back to the all brown jig & once again couldn't get a strike. A
second try with the brown/orange combo loaded the boat.
Granted there are days when even the kitchen sink will garner viscious
strikes, but when the bite is tough to non-existant often a color change
will do the trick.
Warren2
"Bob Rickard" <r.r.r...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3Em%6.24164$J91.5...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Craig Baugher
also identified that there will be rare occasions where color will make the
difference between success and failure, depending on water clarity and
presentation. But I will bet money that I could go out on any given day and
catch just as many fish using only black, white, chartreuse (with Chrome or
Gold or a combo or both) as anyone that wants to get into the boat with me.
Why, because Depth is 1st, Speed is 2nd, Sound/Action is 3rd and if I
discover these three things I am going to catch fish and a lot of them.
Know my favorite colors in tubes are Smoke/Blue Flake (dark color), Pearl
White/Silver Flake (Light Color), Dark Melon/Copper Flake (Dark Color), and
light melon/copper flake (neutral). Worms & grubs I use black, White,
Chartreuse, and Purple. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits I use white/black (shad)
with chrome or chrome & gold blades, Lime Green/Chartreuse with gold blades,
pearl white with chrome or chrome/gold blades, and Black with black or
chartreuse blades. I also have one very special spinnerbait that is
white/chartreuse with white/chartreuse blades that will catch fish almost
any time, any where. Crankbait/jerkbaits/stickbaits I use chrome/black,
chrome/blue, gold/black, blue/chartreuse, green/chartreuse, and white
hologram. I also carry a black permanent magic marker so that I can put
stripes on my lures when I own the bass are feeding on perch, and a jar of
chartreuse dye.
If I could only use one color for all my lures it would be black. Why? It
is the easiest color for a bass to see under any light conditions. Second
would be Chartreuse and third would be white.
Pat Goff
I tell you what. Anytime between now and December, you wander on down to
Toledo or Rayburn with just the jig colors you just listed,
Black/White/Chartreuse. And I get to use whatever I want.
We'll stand side by side on the front of the boat, both pitching in the same
grass bed. I'll put any amount of whatever you want, it won't be close.
Sorry bubba, but this time you are way off base.
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3Pr%6.25352$J91.5...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Craig Baugher
Central B.A.S.S. Opens, so I will come down a day or two early and you and I
can go party on the water!
AL
think about it the priorities or rankings you give each factor is much of
what I have been gravitating to to set my plan of the day or hour. From
that I change color from my standard startup one. I guess asked
independently and unthinking I would have ranked a change in size as higher
portion of success than you have assigned with a like decreasing of the
speed success ratio. But who am I to argue about the details. I appreciate
the collective thoughts and organization you have proposed and given.
AL
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Wtb%6.16483$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> snip
warren's all-stars
fishing within 300 miles of here Craiger!
Warren2
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:4ps%6.25427$J91.5...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Bob Rickard
(that's all it is) until we actually start understanding how it is used and
perceived by fish. All that can be actually proved today is that color DOES
matter, and some seem to work better than others in average conditions. But
we are basically clueless and need to learn.
--
Bob Rickard
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SECRET WEAPON -- The world's finest spinnerbaits!
The next generation in spinnerbaits is finally here.
www.secretweaponlures.com
------------
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"AL" <ac...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Tws%6.99925$mG4.47...@news1.mntp1.il.home.com...
Craig Baugher
things continue to go well, I will stop and say hey, and then you can show
me how you fish the Potomac or Champlain.
Dan
"ABE WATSON" <SLW...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5358-3B3...@storefull-107.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Dan
perceptions have changed through the years. I used to be like Craig in his
views but have since modified them.
Have a friend who is a "secret bait" fiend. Always knows THE bit to throw,
knows THE color, and will not deviate from it. Can't tell you the number of
times he has come up to me after a tournament and say, "this is the only
color we got bit on" ergo in his mind, this is the only color that will
work. I usually ended up telling him to check with the top 10 finishers in
the tourney. Usually you found 10 colors were used. Not always but usually.
Here is my take on it.
1. Location, depth, speed, and presentation are more important than color.
2. You can have all the other factors worked out and if you do not have the
proper color, you can still not get bit.
3. Touring pros have to take a bit of a different tact. We cannot carry
every color on every trip. We try to get enough info on the waters we are
going to so that we get the productive colors for that local. However, we
have favorites that work most everywhere. That doesn't mean that those
colors are the best. It just means that they give us enough information to
fine tune our presentation. I know that if I start out trying to find a worm
bite with a black grape worm, I will find it if it exists. With that I can
fine tune depth, speed, presentation, and color! It provides a reliable
starting point. If I can't get bit on that, I can feel confident that there
is not much of a worm bite.
4. There are times when bass can be super particular about what color you
are throwing. Most likely cause is that the bass are keyed in on a
particular forage and are being super selective on that forage.
5. Location, depth, speed, and presentation are much more important than
color for the catching of bass. HOWEVER, to assume that you do not need to
fine tune the color is a fatal mistake that I have made often myself. Once
you get the rest worked out, then try to find the color that is the most
effective.
6. There are colors that flat out will not work in one place that kills in
another. Bubble gum comes to mind out here. A real dud. But very popular in
other areas of the country. Out here, if you are not fishing natural looking
colors, you are not catching as many fish. The interesting thing is that
also aplies when the water is stained or dirty.
Dan
"Craig Baugher" <caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Wtb%6.16483$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Michael V
only. Haha
Mike
"Pat Goff" <pg...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:9hli0v$2c0$1...@slb3.atl.mindspring.net...
Dwayne E. Cooper
<caba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Other than Black, White, Chartreuse (Which is Super Bright White to a Bass)
>does color mean anything to the fish or just to us humans? Let's be honest
>with one another, unless we are fishing in gin clear water other colors
>(than black, white, chartreuse) don't mean a thing. With one more
>exception: chrome & gold because they reflect light. Bass react to sound &
>action more then they react to color.
Craig...told you I had a lot of thoughts on this thread re: Color
you started. I found this post I made to the group way back in 1998:
On Sun, 20 Sep 1998 19:38:53 -0400, "Mark D. Hall"
<skipp...@erols.com> wrote:
>I have kind of a basic question. I realize pros hauls hundreds of lures
>around with them, but how many should the average/above average fisherman
>have? When shopping, it's so confusing because there are probably at least
>10 different colors available for each type of bait.
>
>Take worms for example. What different colors should someone have? Are all
>dark colors basically the same?
I don't think so...at least in some lakes, I think color is
extremely important. All in all, I think there are a lot of factors
in choosing a plastic worm...
Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that color and the
fish's sense of sight is often the most important factor in choosing a
worm or any bait. However, for many fish, it seems that simplicity
seems to be the biggest attractant. A simple black or white is often
the best choice...perhaps because these two colors are the most
natural colors in their environment that surrounds them. The white
represents the flash of baitfish and the black mirrors most everything
at the bottom of the lake. Plain and simple, it is hard to go wrong
with a simple dark black/grape or junebug color in a worm...and I find
that I'm fishing one of these 2 colors most of the time.
Going further in this area, I believe that varying degrees of
"flashes" often will produce more strikes. Whether that flash be a
red, like in a red shad worm; or a chartreuse, in a black or
brown/chartreuse worm; or a blue, in a black/blue worm; or an orange,
in an brown/orange worm; or a pink in a junebug/bubblegum worm...that
certain "flash" will give you an incredible edge in getting more bites
in many lakes.
I think vibrations are also an important factor. Without a
doubt, there are times more fish will be caught on a large wobbling
tail; a small crappie jig-like tail; ribbon like worm or a
straight-tailed worm.
In my opinion, smell is way down the list and is not a serious
factor for catching fish in most lakes...unless I guess the worm
smells like gasoline...right? Now, after saying that...I have to
admit, however, that if Mann still made those Aerosol spray cans that
came in different flavors (ie. Strawberry, Blueberry, Blackberry,
Grape)...I would use them religiously on my plastic worms. Anise oil
is also an outstanding fish attractant. BTW...what happened to that
6" black and grape Creme and Mann's worms that helped us catch so many
fish for us in the past?
And let's admit it, taste is not a factor...unless you are
fishing a lake where the fish are so accustomed to "your" baits that
your fishing experience has become like feeding goldfish in a bowl.
--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email: dwa...@cooperlegalservices.com
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Favorite Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosiertradingpost.com/FishingTackle
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner