Fish and Lure Color | The Woodsman Hut | Forums

Over the past few months I have been trying to read up on different lures, lure colors, lure actions, and basically anything to do with why fish will hit a lure or why they wont.

I am learning that color has something to do with it but that its also coupled with water color, light conditions, and past or impending weather conditions. Its quite a lot to take in. But I think its worth it to know. For many years I would just tie on lure after lure hoping that one would eventually work. As I have other responsibilities in life my time on the water is often short so I want to know what will work best without having to waste an hour tossing random lures.

I came across a good article that gives some basics:

http://www.tacklemak.....?pageID=12

Keep in mind, however, that these water color filtration rates assume that the water is crystal clear. Pollutants, sediment, and wind can drastically affect these numbers by rearranging the filtration order and decreasing the overall depths of all colors. Under these circumstances, red-orange seems to be the most visible, assuming that your lure depth is not greater than 20 feet. That said, here are some tips from anglers on how to pick lure color:

Super Clear: White or clear. Use glitter for color. All colors are visible to 10 feet.

Clear Water: Blue is most visible. White is visible. All colors are slightly visible to 10 feet.

Green Water: Green is most visible.

Stained Water: Orange, green, and chartreuse are most visible. Red is slightly visible.

Muddy Water: Red is most visible.

Here are some additional suggestions to help with low light (first light until sunup), medium light (sunup until the sun reaches 20 degrees to the horizon), and high light (from 20 degrees to the opposite horizon) conditions:

Low Light: Blue, purple or black work best. Use with silver flash.

Medium Light: Red and orange work best.

High Light: Brown or gray work best. Use with fluorescent accents.