Lure Colors For Largemouth Bass A Time Tested Process
Whether it’s hot, sunny, cold, raining or dead calm, fishing is fishing the conditions. Every body of water has a current of some sort, whether it is man-made by boats, dam control, river flow, tide flow, or storms, there is always water movement. It may be subtle but could still affect a fish’s location. There are multiple factors when pursuing game fish, but Depth, Speed, Size, Action and Color will make or break your day.
Bass Lure Selection
Color is usually an individual preference when it comes to fishing; it is also based on the preference of the fish’s food source. Water clarity will play a major factor on the color which I would choose to catch a large mouth bass. If the water clarity is one foot or less I will use a black, black and blue, red and black bait, because these colors are most visible under that condition, as well as at night.
Remember the fish do not only use their eyesight to feed. A bass can identify its prey but it only has a small cone shaped window in front of them, the side vision is not that well defined and can detect motion then the fish will turn and face the object and determine if it will consume that object or not. The fish has a lateral line which helps them feel what is happening around them and with that they can sense the water displacement. Tests have proven that fish can feed in dirty water without being able to see their prey but by using their lateral line they can target the exact food type and location.
When fishing in clear water I use natural colored crank baits such as: shad, blue gill, crappie, trout, bass, etc. Soft plastic bait colors may be white, red, pink, brown, green, blue, purple and orange. We all have confidence in certain colors from past experiences. Water clarity will change the color of your bait. If it is algae colored water your green bait will become a darker green. The red colored bait in green water will become more brown. Light penetration can play a role in the bait color selection as well. Professional anglers deal with color variances daily but sticking to the basic colors will simplify the process.