does color matter?

[fishin fool]

Does color really matter or is it like all other fishing?  By this I mean sometimes it makes a difference, but usually it matters more to use what you have confidence in.  Just curious.

[fishermanjake]

yes color really matters.  When fish are finiky they need natural colors. when aggresive, bright colors work better.  Bright colors are more visable and natural colors are less spooky.  When i fish for burbot at night i use glow in the dark because its more visable and attracts fish from farther distaces.  It really depends on the fish, water, time of day, etc.  there are alot of variables, but haveing the right color nearly always makes a difference.

[Melbs7]

just outta curiousity.... and i may sound dumb here.... but **censored** is a burbot?

[ButchT]

A burbot is a fresh water cod. They are also known as ling, eelpout, cusk, lawyers and probably a lot more.  A lot of people consider them "trash" fish, but they are excellent table fare (some refer to them as poor man's lobster).  I skin and filet them, then they can be fried, broiled or boiled and dipped in melted butter.  Ymmm!!!

As to the importance of color, it definitely makes a difference.  I don't understand it myself.  I mean, how many aquatic creatures have you seen that glow in the dark or are chartreuse or hot orange?  But under the right conditions, those colors can be really hot and make the difference between success and "the skunk".  Keep changing colors til you find what is working at that time.
Tight Lines!!

[genz_man]

Yea it may matter before you down the 12 pack but by the end believe me you won't even notice  

[iceguy]

   color does matter!!!!! that is why you need to carry every type jig... in every color ever made!!!   that way you may have a chance to have the right one they are feeding on that day.....  or just to drive your self nuts trying to figure the right-one to start with ..... By the way.....you could never have enough jigs.

[PERCH_INC.]

iceguy, Is right on. Never too many jigs and colors!!

[Fish Monger]

I think so. I was doing well on a silver swedish pimple with an orange strip one day. I switched over to an exact same size swedish pimple that was painted white with a green strip. My action stopped. When I switched back over the action started up again.

[alaskanman]

I think color does make a difference, I've had a similar experience as Andrew Dumond from bright orange to all silver and from silver to bright orange.  PERCH_INC. and iceguy do have a points, lots of hooks, and lots of colors are good to have.

[grumpymoe]

i wouldn't call it a rule of thumb, but darn close. in murkier or stained waters, jig with darker colors. in waters with higher clarity, use lighter and brighter colors. i think the reason(s) for this are flashier is more unnatural in waters where light penetration is reduced, and is predominant in clear waters with high light conditions..grumpy

[Fish Monger]

Hmmmm, good reasoning. If I remeber right I read somewhere to fish with silver on clear days and gold/bronze on overcast days (open water fishing) and I would imagine it is the same principle.

[grumpymoe]

andrew dumond.. you're exactly right with the silver versus the gold... the light penetration is different... now make it work for you..grumpymoe  

[fishmann]

I remember once several years ago, opening weekend for walleye, most of the group had went home Sunday, but a buddy and I stayed till Wens. We found just the opposite, it was silver clouds, golden sun. That's how we remembered what was which. Sunny out, all our fish would come on gold blades on long lindys, cloudy out, better have on silver. That was only for a couple days time, and have had mixed results since then. I still like to experiment, there are always exceptions to every rule.

[LoveIce]

 Brooks gold

[fishermanna82]

yes

[CLUB 32]

Yes color matters.  I fish with a guy who doesn't like to switch to what is the hot color unless he is the one who finds it first.  I've had days where I did real well and he didn't....until he'd finally give up and switch colors.  And vise versa.

[slipperybob]

or follow a very general rule for colors.

Chartruese most of the time.
Gold or silver on sunny days.
Glows on low light.

I also just like fancy color combo's or patterns.  It just looks fancy.

[Swift]

Size of the presentation can be as, if not, more important than color more often than most will admit

[icejunky]

I can use a very recent example, I was out crappie fishing yesterday and the bite started off slow, my buddy thorws on a red northland bloodworm and starts to hammer big crappies with with, Im marking fish all morning but nothing to commit, so I change up and start hammering them as well.

the groups around us where bringing in a crappie here and there, but we caught fish all day, red was the color today, nothing else worked

[fishermanna82]

i always have found natural colors work best. but in some situations i throw pink if natural colors aren't working and that almost always works.

[Rat-Man]

If color didn't mater then I wouldn't have box's full of different colors,  would I ?

[icontact]

I rarely attribute success to color, although I will admit it can make a difference with stationary presentations.
On most species sight is usually the last sense the fish use to target food. Vibration (lateral line) scent (on some species) are usually the first attracters for a fish, with color only becoming important when they are very close to your lure already.
I think lure size, speed, shape,finish, have much more to do with fish attraction than color, but then that is just my opinion. I have seen many anglers, who will continually change lures, and then when they catch a fish, they often reference the color of the lure first. I usually pay more attention to the shape of the lure, speed of retrieve, depth, finish, weight, bait, you get these right and I think the color rarely matters.
We dont have any crappie, or sunfish, bluegill around here so I have no idea about fishing for them.

[Ice Cream Headache]

I just want to point out a couple of things:

1) Fish may or may not see color; and if they do, they don't necessarily see it the same way humans do
2) Light penetration into water is a function of wavelength - the longer wavelengths (red) do not penetrate as far.  If you fish at 100 FOW, the fish most likely won't be seeing much color at all.  This doesn't even consider all the particulate matter floating around which makes things even worse.

So, what we see when we look at a lure may be nothing like how a fish sees it.

My current opinion is that it's not the color that matters so much, but the contrast in the colors.

[tipup_time]

if you fish walleye, then yes, color matter! walleyes can see color in a different way than humans.. reds are brighter to them, so red and orange are always a good bet.. however.. the number one thing with color people need to know is WASHOUT! basically, at so many feet underwater certain colors turn grey.. red may turn grey or washout by 15 feet or less.. green by 20.. however,, purple and blue stay intact at much deeper depths!....

[GCD]

Well... when you're fishing 2 rods and colors, and pink is outcatching chartreuse 4-1... is it just a co-inky-dink???... I don thin so!

... give the feeshes what they want!!!

[holehopper]

For me it is all about water clarity.  In clear water, go with a more natural pattern.  In stained water, go brighter or glow.  Same with light conditions.  Go brighter the darker it gets. 

[Champlain Islander]

Color does matter. I commercially fish for both perch and flatfish ( gills, seeds and crappie) and having all the colors is important. When the color is on the bite is solid and they practically hook themselves. Then you will notice they are bumping it or grabbing it and spitting it out and the bite isn't as solid. Change the color and the bite will pick up aggressively again when you find the right color. I develop patterns of colors and always have some proven favorites.

[GCD]

For me it is all about water clarity.  In clear water, go with a more natural pattern.  In stained water, go brighter or glow.  Same with light conditions.  Go brighter the darker it gets. 

I agree with the clear and natural!... but you should give dark colors a try in stained/muddy and low light conditions, you might be surprised.

The majority of my Crappie in the spring muddy water come off of black/blue, black/chartreuse, and/or junebug grubs with a red or black jig head. On sunny days and clearer water I like yellow/white and blue/white with a yellow or white jig head. Green/yellow and blue/yellow are great for stained water that is clearing.

... and don't even get me started on pink/purple!

[Tlacey21walden]

Yes it dose and I would suggest reading "what fish see"