What Color Lures to Use on Sunny Days
Knowing the all-time colors to select for bass fishing tin can be a very unproblematic thing. Seasonal impacts do play a function, but the two biggest factors are water clarity and sunlight conditions. When water is clear, fish with natural "ghost" colors that are translucent and volition resemble baitfish in that clear well-lit water. As water visibility is reduced, go with solid patterns and less wink. In murkier h2o, become with white or chartreuse colors that will be visible to bass and draw big bites.
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Best Bass Fishing Colors
Just almost whatsoever color lure will take hold of bass but I prefer to break them into 3 categories: natural, solid, and bold. E'er start with natural "ghost" colors, and then try solid colors, and then whites or chartreuse if the water is stained and they aren't responding to the first two colour categories.
When I am talking nearly natural colour, I am looking to trick fish. I desire the near natural looking presentation I tin find. Ghost colors are the best. These are those translucent "run across through" colors that really exercise mimic a baitfish in articulate water.
When fishing in articulate h2o, bass will written report your bait. This is especially true in finesse baits. You desire to trick them into believing your bait is the existent thing. Solid colors are your colors where there isn't a ton of dimension to the bait. You have those solid dejection, greens, blacks just they aren't "ghost". You can't run into through them.
These baits don't expect realistic to your naked centre but they will provide a singled-out shape for fish to see in more stained h2o or under cloudy atmospheric condition. Solid colored baits work best for bass when h2o clarity is reduced in the lake and they are no longer hitting ghost patterns. When water clarity actually peters out in stained or dirtier water, go with white or chartreuse.
These colors volition be easier for bass to see in stained water. Something similar a chartreuse shad color is ideal. Sexy shad, which looks pretty realistic but has a simple chartreuse lateral line can be keen for articulate water with a little bit of tint.
Realistic vs. Bold
Realistic lures work best when you are trying to trick a fish into biting. Your goal is to present a colored allurement that looks and moves only similar the real thing. Natural colors like greens, watermelon, and translucent ghost colors are prime examples of natural colors.
These realistic colors can catch a ton of bass, peculiarly in clear h2o or when finesse fishing. Finesse fishing particularly requires a natural wait because bass have a ton of time to study a allurement before biting. Assuming colors are your brighter colors. I'm talking about oranges, chartreuses, whites, and pinks.
Many of these colors are not plant in any natural allurement but nevertheless describe bites. These bolder colors actually tin can stand out in stained or muddy h2o and too on cloudy days. More importantly, these colors can be used to incite strikes from bass. Use bold colors on reaction baits like jerkbaits as they get a bass'south attention and can aid describe out that attack instinct from the schoolhouse.
Bass don't have hands so when they meet these weirdly colored baits, they are curious simply their all-time way of figuring out the weird bait is past using their mouths. Now when you are talking nearly reds and some oranges, these are crawfish colors.
These can be really realistic if the red or night brownish is "ghost" with detail or can be bolder similar a firehouse red or orangish. The latter works great in murkier water but when bass are really targeting crawfish, especially early on spring earlier the bass shift focus to school baitfish.
Weather condition: Best Colors for Bass
H2o Clarity
Water clarity is the most important factor when it comes to color selection. Generally speaking, clear water is all-time fished with natural "ghost" colors, stained or water with reduced visibility is better with solid colors, and whites/chartreuse colors piece of work all-time for limited visibility water. At present, call up that water clarity is relative.
If y'all are fishing on a waterway that has water normally in the one-two foot visibility-range, then ghost colors tin work really well fifty-fifty if y'all can't hardly see your bait right beneath the water's surface. Fish adapt to their normal atmospheric condition and they will react to that baseline water clarity condition.
Sunlight
Sunlight does play some impact on the colour of allurement you select. If y'all were to sentinel baitfish swim underwater on a sunny day, y'all would notice a good corporeality of lite reflecting off those fish, especially shad, shiners, and silver-sides. On the other mitt, nether cloudy skies, you would discover very piddling if any flash coming off.
Bass are definitely not dumb. They will be looking for those tell-tale signs the bait is legit, especially on lakes that get a lot of fishing pressure. On bright sunny days, y'all want to throw something that puts off flash. American shad, for case, is an excellent jerkbait color.
If yous are fishing with soft plastics, wait for flakes and iridescent coloration that will put off some sparkle and imitate natural fish. Now when information technology comes to bladed baits, y'all demand to exist conscientious.
A fiddling flake of wink goes a long way. Use silvery blades in clear h2o and gold blades are amend for stained or muddy water. In clear water with a bright sun overhead, a big bract can put off mode too much wink and plow fish off. Instead, get-go fishing first with smaller blades and up-sizing if you lot need to. A footling flash is natural, and swimming LED calorie-free is not.
How to Choose the Right Color
There are some gorgeous colors on the market amidst crankbaits, jerkbaits, and spoons. There are likewise some goofy looking ones. Just the truth is with so many endless colors and paint jobs out there, selecting the right color can seem daunting.
When you get on the h2o, bank check water clarity first and the bachelor sunlight second. If the water is crystal articulate, go with more natural colors that closely mimic natural food and baitfish. If the h2o is stained or clarity is less-than-perfect, go with solid colors that volition amend bear witness upwards to bass.
Chartreuse and white are two colors great for stained or muddied water where bass have a hard time seeing prey. On sunny days, opt for baits with a bit of wink every bit that sunlight volition reflect off baitfish just the aforementioned. On cloudy or overcast days, flash is useless and could await unnatural.
Match the Hatch
It is of import to match whatsoever it is bass are naturally feeding on. Most lakes and ponds have some dominant baitfish species similar shad, ciscos, shiners, fathead minnows, or pin minnows. At that place could likewise be crappie, bluegill, bother, and perch.
In many western lakes and reservoirs stocked with trout or kokanee, those will be huge bass producing baits. Bass grow huge feeding on trout and kokanee. Of course, frogs and crawfish are always going to exist good bass baits regardless of torso of h2o.
If y'all are line-fishing on articulate days and going for that realistic bite, you lot need to match what bass are feeding on. If y'all're going more for that reaction bite, sometimes going bold with more unnatural "jarring" colors can be what information technology takes.
Color Categories
Natural & Ghost
Natural colors are my favorite to fish with. I love tricking bass into biting. When line-fishing with premium hard baits like jerkbaits, crankbaits, and lipless baits, you can notice some $100 paint jobs on baits costing less than $15. They look good.
Go for ghost translucent colors, where in water, y'all tin imagine the true outline of the bait would exist harder to brand out. That is exactly how baitfish wait in clear water nether sunny skies. Paint jobs out of Nihon are especially striking and realistic.
Look for colour names like ITO Wakasagi and Wabi-Sabi. These paint jobs wait incredible. You lot will be able to fool fish with these premium paint jobs just also draw that reaction bite if y'all work the bait right. With soft plastics, natural colors like pumpkin, watermelon ruby-red flake, and shad colors work really well in articulate water.
Solid Color
Solid colors are groovy for bass when fishing in murkier water or under less than bright sunlight. Solid colors show up a lot improve to bass in dirtier water. I'm not talking well-nigh reduced visibility, not necessarily dirty water.
Just like a shad or minnow shows up translucent looking in clear lord's day-coated h2o, those same baitfish prove upwardly more than solid with divers outlines in murkier water or on cloudier days. These fish are likewise a lot easier for bass to meet and hunt.
Some really solid colors include browns, green, blue, and blackness. You could also become with natural colors similar watermelon but try to avert baits with a ton of flake which reflect calorie-free. Also try to avoid ghost colored baits that are partially come across-through. It won't testify up as well and won't await nearly as natural.
White & Chartreuse
When the water has reduced visibility, it may be time to switch to a white or chartreuse colored allurement. Chartreuse is merely a fancy word for greenish yellow color that is oftentimes simply yellow looking just anglers become bent out of shape if you phone call it yellow.
It is a colour that shows upwards actually well in darker water, in muddier water, or when the clouds are out. It also catches a ton of fish. 1 of my favorite allurement colors is the sexy shad which is a natural solid looking gray with a thin chartreuse lateral line. Information technology looks great in the water and is a little fleck of chartreuse bold with a lot of natural shad coloration.
Craws
Craw coloration work well in any water clarity level and nether any light condition as long as bass are feeding on or near crawfish. Crawfish are one of the very best bass colors. Menstruum.
Pretty much any red, brown, pumpkin, watermelon, or orange colour is patterned after crawfish. The general rule of thumb is to throw natural ghost craw patterns in articulate water and bolder oranges or firehouse red colors in muddier water. Tardily winter and early spring is the all-time time of year to fish for bass with craw patterns.
The all-time communication I can requite you is to throw ghost craw colors that are more translucent in winter and into very early on spring. At that place volition come a fourth dimension when bass will switch off that ghost craw blueprint and bite heavily on orange or bright solid reds. You will notice the change.
Bass will keep hammering craw patterns until the shad and other baitfish start getting corralled into trap-zones by schools of bass and the bass shift their focus onto shad. Once this happens, stop throwing craws and start throwing shad baits.
For a complete article on how and when to throw craw patterns for big bass, this article I wrote will actually open up your eyes. Now one bonus tip for you. If bass are pinning shad against a rock bluff or rip-rap, in that location are still crawfish at that place. A blood-red craw pattern can draw big bites from bass even when they are focused on shad or shiners.
Specific Bait Colour Guide
Worms
Bass seize with teeth plastic worms because they await like baitfish near commonly. Sometimes they seize with teeth them considering they look like a pocket-size trout, small bass, or bluegill. Now obviously to the man eye, a plastic worm looks absolutely zip like a deep-bodied bluegill only you lot aren't a bass looking items in 15-feet of water.
Your goal is to mimic any fish it is that bass are feeding on with your worm. The general color rules exercise all the same employ. Go with natural colors on sunny days and in articulate h2o. Go with solid bold colors in reduced visibility and overcast conditions. I dear watermelon red bit, greenish pumpkin, and emerald shad color in clear water and purple or morning dawn in murkier h2o.
Soft Plastics
The in a higher place rules actually use to all soft plastics simply they have some specific caveats. Brute baits are any kind of crazy floppy, dense, or tentacle-y bait that mimics some kind of water fauna on the bottom.
Most ordinarily, they mimic crawfish. Treat them like crawfish. I almost ever recommend angling watermelon red bit or green pumpkin in articulate water and in murky h2o, go with a soft plastic that has watermelon carmine chip mixed with dark bluish.
The less visibility, the more I want yous to put that blue side facing upwards towards the bass. You tin dropshot or ned rig creature baits but my favorite mode is on the trailer of a jig. When you go this approach, y'all are going total-diddled craw pattern and bass volition hammer them.
Swimbaits & Glide Baits
These are the big bass catchers. In this category you tin can have realistic and bold. Bold is at that place to describe a reaction from bass and realistic is there only to trick bass. I prefer fishing realistic baits for bass considering you tin usually target the biggest females.
If you are line-fishing on a clear reservoir out west that has trout or kokanee, that is the color pattern you need to get with. If your lake gets rainbow trout stocked in it frequently, get with a darker trout. If they don't stock the lake oft, a lighter trout is better.
But if your lake has kokanee and trout, fish with a kokanee pattern. If you alive elsewhere and don't have trout in your lake, y'all probably have bluegill and some type of baitfish similar shad or shiners. I know shiners are the baitfish for bass in Florida.
Match whatsoever information technology is your bass similar eating. When yous are talking nearly soft swimbaits like a Keitech, I recommend going natural in clear water and bolder in muddy h2o. Pro Blue Crimson Pearl or Natural Shad are great natural colors and at that place are a variety of Chartreuse colors that work great when the water visibility is downwardly.
Bract Baits

For bladed baits, brand sure yous lucifer the water clarity of the water with the color of the bodily allurement. I've covered that plenty by now and then I want to focus on the blade itself. Match the bract size with the sunlight exposure.
If the dominicus is bright overhead, go with a smaller blade. I have found poor results fishing with large silver blades on sunny days. I recall it is just as well flash and spooks bass. Dial down the size of the blade until bass start smoking that bait.
Now on cloudier days, you can upsize your blade a scrap. I prefer silverish blades over colored blades and golden blades most of the time. Golden blades tin can piece of work better than silver blades in dingy water though. I don't treat colored blades unless they are carmine and you throwing a craw pattern spinnerbait.
Frogs & Topwater
If you are fishing topwater baits mimicking shad breaking the surface, go with a white, black, or natural coloration. Don't waste matter your time throwing ghost colors. Instead, select solid grays, whites, or blacks. Frog colors are actually merely important when you're referring to the belly color.
Bass don't get a groovy look at the torso of a frog simply they do run across that belly. For me, it is a white-bellied, yellow-bellied, or black frog. I prefer white-bellied frogs but a lot of bass anglers claim that a pure black frog works all-time in the dead of summer. Experiment for yourself.
Best Colour for Cloudy & Overcast Days
The best color for cloudy or overcast twenty-four hours bass angling would be a more solid colour like black, grayness, white, or chartreuse. These colors will really stand out confronting the backdrop and even in limited visibility h2o, bass volition find them.
Translucent ghost colors work smashing on sunny days in clear h2o but go for solid colors in cloudy weather condition. Personally, I would even so stick with more natural colors similar green pumpkin or watermelon blood-red flake but I would avoid ghost colors or anything with a ton of flash.
Best Colour for Night Bass Fishing
For night fishing, I similar night blue or blackness. I take heard of other colors working, just for soft plastic worms or jigs, nothing beats a blue and black color. At night, y'all really shouldn't exist line-fishing any moving baits.
You need to boring downwards and go finesse so the bass can observe the bait. The only moving bait I recommend would exist a chatterbait or buzzbait because the pulsations and noise can draw bass in and give them enough to locate the allurement. I still recommend worms or jigs in bluish or black 100%.
Seasonal Guide: Bass Lure Colors
Spring
I like to interruption bound downward into 3 time windows: early jump, pre-spawn, and spawn. In early spring, bass are likely still in deeper water keying in on crawfish. During early-early spring, you should be throwing translucent ghost craw reds or browns.
Equally jump progresses, bass will flip a switch and showtime hit bolder oranges or firehouse red patterns better than the natural ghost reds. Bass volition brainstorm schooling up and pushing baitfish into bottlenecks whether that be against ledges, into deep coves, or into the backs of shallow bays where they tin dismantle the schools and feed.
Once this happens during the pre-spawn, go with the baitfish colors like natural shad, sexy shad, or emerald shiner. During the spawn in late spring, bass will exist in shallow water and will respond all-time to bed robbers.
Bluegills, crawfish, and salamanders are the primary culprits that bass want to kill. My favorite blueprint is a bluegill pattern. Either get with a bluegill colored jig or a bluegill colored swimbait and creep that thing into the bed. The ambitious male will be the first one to seize with teeth the allurement but you are actually after that big female person that volition take a little extra convincing.
Summertime
Once the spawn has ended, bass will practice 1 of 2 things. Some will branch off and caput deep. The rest will remain shallow and stay there all summertime. Bass that caput deep will be feeding on shad, trout, and kokanee.
Fish these bass with big swimbaits in early bound and then deep diving crankbaits, flutter spoons, or swimbaits the rest of summertime. I prefer to fish these bass with natural patterns that have realistic paint jobs.
For the bass that remain shallow, think about what other allurement remains shallow. I think primarily bluegill, crappie, crawfish, and frogs. Those are the patterns I recommend you throw at them. Those colors volition be awesome all summer long.
Fall
During fall, bass are eating mostly schooling baitfish. At present let me say this, in early autumn some bass volition key in on crawfish. But most bass volition exist feeding heavily on shad and other schooling baitfish equally presently as that fall transition happens all the mode until the terminate of autumn.
Go with natural ghost shad colors. Also, throw some larger jerkbaits and flukes. I recommend Smoking Shad if y'all are line-fishing with Zoom Super Flukes.
Winter
During winter, you should slow way downward and fish finesse. I really like fishing with ned rigs and blade baits. For ned rigs, go with morning dawn, green pumpkin, black, and translucent shad depending on the water clarity and sunlight conditions.
For blade baits, go with aureate or chartreuse in muddy water and natural baitfish colors in clear water. That should exist the design y'all follow most of the winter. Once Feb rolls around, first tossing craw patterns. Get with natural ghost reds and browns to catch those bass feeding on craws.
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Source: https://freshwaterfishingadvice.com/bass-lure-colors/
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