A question on color

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B52 bugger

A question on color

Lead

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Posts: 145

08/10/08 17:39:46

Registered Member

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For over fifty years I have heard the same argument on color. This goes way back in books that I read about plug and fly casting at night. The authors and friends told me I should use black lures and flies. Well I never have and never believed it. My dad would use black colored Jitterbugs and he did paint one purple. I have use the frog color Jitterbug (my main lure) also used red and white, yellow, coach dog- I am a firm believer use any color. My hair bugs, yes I do use white, also natural deer body hair. If things didn't produce for me I guess I would have used black a long time a go.

I am a firm believer you have to experiment for yourself. Fish with what you believe in. Amen

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spinzo

#1

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Posts: 1067

08/14/08 06:27:24

Master Guide

For topwater I don't think color matters much. Fish are mostly seeing shape/silhouette in those situations. Sub-surface I think there are times when color matters. In saltwater I've observed what I think to be an indication of this when, fishing out of the Piscataqua, I enjoyed good success catching stripers on a chartruese streamer in the river, where the water was a little turbid. Out of the mouth, where the water was clear, I'd see fish swim up to the same fly and reject it, but they'd take a white fly of the same style. Granted, this is purely anecdotal, but I think it suggests that color may play a role. I'm most concerned with size/profile, however. A fish's lateral line will pick up the presence of bait in the water long before it sees the fish, and there are times when it's important to have a bulky fly and others when you need to be more subtle.

All that said, as soon as I figure out what really matters, I'll be a millionaire by selling the secret.

Mike

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Wee Hooker

I'm a believer

#2

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Posts: 334

08/14/08 16:32:25

Guide

Good topic, AJ! I fully argee everyone should experiment for themselves and fish what they have confidence in. ( A lure /fly fished without confidence, is usually poorly presented IMHO) In my case, I have learned to have confidence in a few colors but have also learned that switching color can share the same rewards as switching, size, presentation, etc. i.e There are times when bass will hit a Frog jitterbug as well as a Yellow one but there are as many times when one or the other will outfish the other hands down. More specificly, It's my experience that this color prefference can be predicted by certain water, light or forage conditions. Sometimes the lesson learned was a quiet personal one, othertimes , it was learned from a downright spanking by a snickering guy from the other end of the canoe. ( One specific and odd summer comes to mind where only a completley clear topwater lure would produce on my home water that happened to be abnormally (gin) clear! Took me two weeks to figure it out. Then I was that snickering guy! :-) )
FWIW, this is my rule of thumb in basic color selection:Yellow and Frog are the two TOP topwater colors in murky waters and/or average light. White & R&W rules in clearer water and brighter light. Black (w touch of red) or Frog again at dusk /night. For sub surface, it's not so cut and dried but based on my rubber worm fishing OJT schooling ,I find that black and purple are my go to colors in average conditions. Red, orange or brown in low light/dingy water. Olive, blue, Orange when forage has the same.
Having said all that, I've learned long ago that you can easily go overboard in stocking similar sized/shaped lures/flies in a rainbow of colors. Been there. Done that. as the kids say. Not only did it force me to drag around a breadbox sized tackle box, it got real expensive too! Now, I stock all my topwater offerings ( fly or conventional) in 4 primary colors. Yellow, Black, White and (now and then) Chartruce. (I'll throw in green or chartruce to imitate natural insects when tying with foam..)
For subsurface, I stock Black, Brown, Olive as my primary colors for bugs/bottom crawler imitations. White, Silver or Gold for baitfish. In both cases, I may add a splash of a secondary color to meet expected conditions. With these basic colors, I've got the confidence to fish anywhere bass are found. Just as importantly, ( to me) if I'm not "banging them", I've got the peace of mind that it most likely wasnt that I didn't bring the right color offering.

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Gerbubble Bug

A QUESTION OF COLOR

#3

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Posts: 670

08/26/08 11:39:30

Master Guide

"Yellow or Black and you'll always bring fish back"
Simon Gerfubblenub
1955

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pearow

#4

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Posts: 411

08/27/08 04:19:03

Master Guide

I started fishing using a fly rod 50+ years ago; then i discovered the zebco 33 and began fishing with lures. When I went back to fly fishing I would design my flies with the color scheme of what was successful in bait casting. I think there are base colors that basically work all time, and seasonal colors that work very well at certain times of the year. Chartreuse is such a color. It is generally a spring color. Orange is also generally a spring color. I used a gold rogue mostly in the spring. A gold rogue was black on top, had gold sides, and a orange belly. I caught my largest bass ever on a rogue with a black top, chartreuse sides and a orange belly. Red is a good early season pattern, but does not do so well in the summer. Black and yellow are good summer colors, but not so good in the spring. In the summer the gold rogue remained in the tackle box and a silver side, black top was the better choice. Fall kinda brings back the spring colors, although theyre not as effective as in the spring. I said all that to say:I tie my flies with some basic colors in mind as I described. I don't think its based on anything but preferance and experience, but thats how I do it. I'm only a moderately successful fisherman but I guess the key is to use what you have confidence in; then get LUCKY.

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BigJim

#5

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Posts: 49

10/25/08 17:49:44

Sport

Hi Folks, it's been awhile since I've been here, so I'm going to jump right in!

It's my opinion that color is just one part of the equation of fishing. There are many variables & they change constantly. Color has various degrees of importance as other variables evolve. For example, white is a common baitfish color, and in clear water it may be a great imitation of baitfish. As the water clarity lessens, white is often less visible, so it becomes less important, and a bright or dark color may be more visible, so a baitfish imitation in another color may be better in the changed conditions. It may also be important that the imitation be larger in order to be visible enough to get eaten, especially with flies, but this may not always be the case. With lures, especially with those that make noise, color is likely less important than with flies. Vibration is likely much more important initially, then possibly color, size, shape or silhouette, and not necessarily in any specfic order of importance. Things are always changing.

When I tie, I use a lot of different colors, as I also like to experiment. However, with flies or lures, I use 3 colors the most, white, black & chartreuse, as I've found them to be the most productive for me under a wide range of conditions. They're my "go to" colors, and I have the most confidence in them. I also feel they cover the color spectrum from light to dark & in between. But, as I said, I tie in a wide range of colors, because I know there will always be times when the conditions will dictate that my 3 base colors just won't get it done. Some of my tying is based on naturals, some is just basic attractors, and I feel that both have their place. I'm not one to try & make exact copies of the real thing, but rather generic imitations instead. I have confidence in anything I use, as I feel that any color or combination will catch something when the conditions allow. I don't always catch fish using specific colors on any given day, but that's fishing, and just adds to the learning curve & enjoyment. I feel I often learn more on the days I don't catch anything. I have yet to find a color that won't catch anything, or one that always works!

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