The Great Color Debate

 

Ask a dozen anglers about using certain colors at certain times and you'll probably get a 50/50 split on their answers. All the "experts" weigh in on the subject, someone catches a big fish on a certain color and they sell off the pegs, this color in dark water, that one in clear…well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say color has nothing to do with catching fish. There, I publicly said it so let the fallout begin. But I do have something to back up the claim...proof, if you will.

What kind, you ask? Pretty darn good, if you ask me. I'm colorblind and when you start mixing up those greens, browns, reds, yellows, chartreuses and such, well, I just can't tell the difference. I can sum up my fishing in one word. Contrast.

 

I'm big on contrasts. Nearly everything I own, save jigs, feature a good contrast in color. By that I mean my bucktails will have a light blade and dark tail, or the reverse. Cranks, jerks, topwaters, all have a dark to light or opposite layer. If I have a red hook, it's by accident because I can't see it. I can't tell the difference between bronze and gold on my spinnerbait blades. Sunrise and sunset tails? Looks the same to me. Purple and blue? Same thing. So, what do I do? When I start seeing baby ducks disappearing on the water I actively toss my topwaters for muskie. In the spring, it's a weedless jig and a minnow for walleye. And I keep them all in one spot and just grab one, regardless of color. The one's I like to use don't come unpainted so I just put my finger in the box and whichever one sticks, I use it. The minnow doesn't care. I boat lots of fish so they must not care either. Just the "experts" care, I guess. It all boils down to that old fishing adage, "location, location, location."

 

On my TV program, "The 60-Second Angler" I used a BP measuring stick as a fishing rod to prove it's how you use something, not necessarily what you use that can catch fish. I'm going to prove it again this season with another unorthodox method, this time a "lure". I may even use the stick again just to reinforce the fact that fishing doesn't have to be as complicated as it's made out to be. My good friend Joe Bucher even backs me up on that one. Most of what's out there is made for the shopper. I defy any recreational angler to tell me the difference between a 5:1 and a 5.3:1 gear ratio on a reel. But, I digress.

 

This piece is about color and I think I've driven home the point that it doesn't make any difference. I laugh out loud when guys come into the sport shop where I work and want a specific color. After qualifying them a little about the conditions they'll be fishing in, I discover they want to use it at night!!! Now, I ask you what difference color is going to make at 2:00 in the morning? I'll never figure that one out.

 

For me, if the lure says perch and the lake I'm fishing has perch in it, it's a no-brainer. Besides, how may "firetiger" fish have you seen swimming around lately? But, that particular color has…that's right…contrast! If I'm fishing artificial lures, especially for muskie, they have to be noisy. I could care less about color. Unlike their cousin the northern pike, muskie don't see all that well and need to hear things before they decide to chomp on it. So, I'm ready for the flack now. But look in my boxes. Talk to the guys I fish with. The lures are natural in color or feature contrasts. It's that simple.

 

See you on the water...