As I have grown and developed as a fisherman, I have more and more become an advocate that color can mean the difference in a winning stringer or not! I always been in the belief that vibration, erratic movement, stop and go retrieves and speed were much more important than color. However as our lakes have become more and more crowded it is making a difference that you choose a color that the bass will bite.
Unfortunately the color craze is constantly changing, at the moment the Kevin Van Dam sexy-shad color and the development of the colors around it is catching fish. They have developed a way of matching what baitfish look like in different types of stained and clear waters, and their catching fish and he is winning tournaments with them. The bad news is this color pattern as all do will run out and a new color pattern will develop over time.
Some general concepts that I believe in with color are pretty basic. First I try to match the color of the water especially with soft plastic baits. Bass see differently than we do, and a worm that appears to blend into the water, stands out to the bass and are real looking in the water. Next clear water presents an opportunity to go with light baits, if the water is clear the white blends into the clear water and appears realistic and visible to bass. Fishing top water also presents challenges with color. At one time I believed anything on top would get a bite as long as you moved it erratically, now color is certainly changing the top water bite. Cloudy over cast days you need to blend the color with the clouds and sky and go with stained type colors. The bright sunny days change all that and as the clear patters have proven whites or light colored baits are more effective.
Color does and will change your fish catching ability; work with different colors on tuff days and you will see a difference and catch more fish.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry