Lost in Colors...

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: COLOR SELECTION

     With such a wide variety of colors available for both hardbaits and softbaits these days... How do you choose? Well, for me personally-colors are the last thing I care about in a bait...."but, but, but, tequila sunrise and california 420 are the best" you say. Don't get me wrong, color is an essential part of the equation...but one of the less important factors. Really in most cases, the finish on a bait is made to sell the bait to the angler. I always laugh when I see an "ultra-realistic" finish on a crankbait. When a bass hits a crank, it makes a split-second decision to react. It does not study a bait and then "decide" it is real. A bass lacks the brain power to make those observations into a thought process. Instead, the bass relies on instinct. So a productive bait is getting an instinctive response from a combination of the bass's senses working at once. As far as visual cues go, I believe bass react more to shape and action than color in a moving bait. Now, what about plastics? Once again, I believe the most productive plastics are ones with realistic movements and scents. Many plastics only slightly resemble the creature they are mimicking. It is the movement of the baits that I believe produces the predatory response. Of course, matching your bait to what the bass are keyed in on also helps with a quick decision to strike the bait. All this said, here are some things to consider when picking colors.

BASS VISION

Bass eyesight has been studied many times and biologists have found that bass can indeed see colors but their color eyesight is limited. Bass see shades of green and red the best. Interestingly, purple and blue colors simply fade to indistinct an dark or light shade to the bass. That's right, bass can't see blue! So what makes a particular color appealing to bass? Well, probably not a  specific trigger in a color but simply how visible or non-visible the color makes the bait. So how visible is the bait to the bass? You must consider water clarity, depth and light penetration to pick your colors. Yep, the old dark day-dark bait, bright day-bright bait rule is a good one to follow. There are, however, exceptions.


CONTRAST

My No.1 favorite color is....Black! My No.2 favorite color...White! As visual feeders, contrast plays a huge role in color selection. It's no secret that black is one of the most productive colors. I believe it is because it helps the bass see the bait better. In clear water, a "lighter black" would be your blues and purples...if that makes sense. A green pumpkin color plastic is also very popular because it is dark and has contrast against it's surroundings as well as a natural color that bass can depict. Natural colors for plastics like browns and greens might not look the same to bass as it does to us but if you are matching local forage then bass are seeing a color they are used to seeing. When it comes to crankbaits, spinners, etc. I especially go for contrast. Not only do I like strong contrast against the water or sky, I like my paint scheme to have contrast as well. Simple two tone baits have a natural appearance. I'm more interested in stark contrasts on the paint job than actual colors.


SHINE AND GLOW 

Bass like shiny things. It is only natural as sunlight reflects off of baitfish creating a shine or glow. In murky water, light refraction shows up more in a glow while in clear water it is a bright shine. This also depends on the amount of sunlight hitting the water. So, in dingy water I like to throw chartreuse and bone as these colors give off a glow. In clear water, I like chrome with black or blue to give contrast but if it is really bright and clear out I will usually opt for simple natural contrast. I also will use gold in certain situations. Often it is less about a preferred color as it is a color that helps send instinctive cues to a bass by way of shine or glow.

SEEING RED 

There is a theory among some circles that bass respond to the color red because it represents blood which can trigger a predatory response. Most biologists seem to agree though that a bass relating the color red to wounded fish is likely beyond the mental capacity of a tiny bass brain. Bass don't make cognizant observations like that especially on a moving bait. That said, red can be both a natural and a very visible color to bass making it very productive at times. Nearly all colors at times can catch bass though and that in itself should tell you about how important color selection is. Bass are less likely to reject a bait due to color than other factors. Keep it simple and use common sense. Don't overestimate a bass's power of deduction, instead concentrate on what produces an instinctive response in the presentation of the bait. Remember, most of the time a detailed finish or highly realistic paint job is there to look good to the angler and sell baits. Start with the basics of bass vision and feeding cues and then let the fish write the rest of the story.